Plausible Power Politics?

Our politicians are never tired of getting despised for all the reasons they know. Point in case, the justification given by Union Minister Vayalar Ravi and Ghulam Nabi Azad to some Congress ministers hailing from Seemandhra. The reason behind the firm support by Congress High command (as they call it) for separation of Telangana is the high probability of Congress getting close to 16 seats from Telangana state in future. They feel that the Seemandhra ministers have failed to lobby enough to keep the state together and more importantly failed miserably in ensuring seats in the next state elections. Looks like YSR Congress will have the last laugh amidst all this. Plausible Power Politics, eh? Definitely not. Fingers crossed. I wouldn't appreciate this geographical division for sure.

Beat the Blues

I wrote the first stanza and the interlude sometime last year and then I didn't know what else to write and how to complete it, because I never experienced physical violence - not a bit of it. I also did not care to step into someone else's shoes to witness it like I usually do for some of my other writings. But, when I read about what a certain girl was put through, 1500 KM away from here, I did not have to think. The words just came by. I experienced trauma. I experienced violence for the first time in my life. I felt like I was in a state of agitation; I still am. I cried. I cried because I felt helpless. I cried because I am a woman too. And, I cried because there was nothing I could do.

This is how this writing was born and done to death, thereupon.

You manipulated me, exerted me

Constructed your alter ego
You construed my silence
And projected me as helpless

Beat me, Beat me
Beat the blues out of me
Beat me, Beat me
Beat the blues out of me

You depressed my spirit
Unleashed wrath against my wit
You turned my pain into pleasure
Shook me up and left me to wither

Beat me, Beat me
Beat the blues out of me
Again…
Beat me, Beat me
Beat the blues out of me

The anger, the madness
Is all gone now
There is some quietness
With the ripples I feel now
There’s no dread no more
I scream no more
The whispers too
Will die down with time

Beat me, Beat me
Beat the blues out of me
Again…
Beat me, Beat me
Beat the blues out of me
I say…
One more time
Beat me, Beat me
Beat the blues out of me

Scary picture

This is the scariest picture I have ever seen. The picture shows a missioner holding the hand of a kid who is about to die of hunger in Uganda.

Demeaning a Nation- A thousand ways

India can brag about such book in the coming future and I think we are not far from it. And, only Indians can come out with newer ways of doing it.

There's this article on Rediff titled 'No one wants to hear us'. I must admit that it is one of the most disgusting articles I have read on the reservation issue. I am going to italicize the Rediff story (adapted to suit the post's need) and my consequent comments would be in normal font.

Mr. Tusha Jagtap, a doctor by profession and President, Dr Ambedkar Reservation Protection Front, a Dalit organisation, says, "My father was a railway employee and if I did not have the benefit of reservation I would not have become a doctor."

He secured 61 marks in the Science stream in his XII standard and got a medical seat just because he is a Dalit. But, nowhere in India you would find an upper caste student with 70 plus qualifying marks, getting a seat (No matter how poor he is). Why this discrimination? How can anyone trust such doctors?

When I (the Rediff personnel) pointed out that there are many Brahmins today who were cleaning toilets for a living because they didn't have better jobs, Dr Jagtap says: "When Dalits cleaned toilets for 2,000 years nobody thought of this. If Brahmins are cleaning toilets today what is wrong in it?"

Mr. Jagtap, the issue here is not about the work that the Brahmins are doing these days, but it's concerned with the fact that many of the upper caste people are living in economic distress just like the backward classes. And, the government should think of them too.

"After so many years of independence Dalit women are being raped in villages and no one takes this news seriously," he says angrily, "but have you ever read a Brahmin women being raped by a Dalit in this country? Never."

Why do you want to discuss an act as heinous as rape based on caste? Any woman, no matter what caste she belongs to, exploited to such an extent will experience the same trauma. Can't you leave at least a few things as sensitive as these untouched by caste?

There were two really good articles that followed this. I am providing the links to these articles below.

The first is Who are the real dalits of India? and the second is Are Brahmins the Dalits of today?. The second article is a must. It reveals some important statistics that we were not aware of. It shows the need to review the definition of economic backwardness in India and why even some upper castes require reservations to survive with the backward classes in India. I hate saying this. Require Reservations.

A firm duel

I felt I should change the title of my last post because in regard to this one, India is not progressing but it seems to be regressing to nowhere. This isn't 'real development for the future of the country' as quoted by the HR Minister, Mr. Arjun Singh. And, one can't stop but wonder looking at the immense support he has been getting from the prime Congress leaders, who were thought to be more sensible and rationale than few such politicians like him.

Most of us thought that the Prime Minister might dispense his power in taking a righful decision at this hour of need. But, he has let all of us down with his dull compromise with foul politics. Read this. Even a Harvard graduate, Mr. P. Chidambaram (Finance Minister of India) couldn't escape the pervasion of selfish politics.

It was a big let down listening to Dr. Manmohan Singh on the telivision. Can a person who is deemed as sensible and shrewd in every aspect not understand an issue that has swayed thousands of students? Sir, we expect more than this from you. We really do. And, why shouldn't we? We chose you to serve the country, to build a potent and secure India. Not to ruin it with your rotten political stead.

Increase in the number of seats in educational institutions is not a really good compensative for the increase in reservation quota as suggested by Mr. Singh. The solution given in the article that appeared in The Hindu, yesterday, is considerable. It divided the whole student community into sections and sub-sections based on their caste, economic status, educational background, household income, etc., and alloted points to each on scale. For example, a government school can be alloted 6/7 points on a scale of 10, whereas, an urban private school may be scaled to 0. And, a student whose household income is above a decent range is given 0 points and 5/6 otherwise. Same goes with the other factors in deciding the overall score and subsequently the importance of reservation for the particular student. This is always a better solution than the proposed one.

I hate saying this, but I have to in the wake of reality. Common man can't help but agonize few things in India and this is just one of them.

And, I would still love to say this. Go, India go. Please.

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Update: Why doesn't the government do the proper clean up at the primary education level itself? The only answer one can think of is that they won't get any voting from the minors (Citizens below 18 years of age) and hence are considered not worthy of attention. Disgusting.

There are so many pitfalls in our system. I am sick of talking about these. If the system isn't proper, then at least there should be someone who can tug it into the right direction. But, everything goes wrong here, the system and even the crusader who's chosen to correct it.