A tribute to an attribute

The more it is written about politics and politicians, the more irritable one gets, the less sense it makes to the dispensation. It has become disgusting to follow the national affairs in India – the Supreme Court ruling that Aadhaar, the Uinque Identification accorded to people, is not mandatory to secure benefits, and the government’s acknowledgement that it is not mandatory, but just a voluntary exercise that the people may opt for (to enroll), does not help in any way in trusting either of them.

The same SC’s order is bound to be overruled by the government through an ordinance – the order that curbs the elected representatives’ rights – like right to vote in a debate, for example – making the order a joke and the judiciary a circus. Anyone wonders what “contempt of court” is? And who are the buffoons?

Why it was mentioned as “people” who are accorded the identification with respect to Aadhaar, and not “citizens” is that Aadhaar may be given to anyone who provides his/her identification proof along with the proof of residence, like a voter’s ID, lease/rent agreement, bank statement, etc. It was once projected to be not an authenticity of citizenship. And the agents who capture the biometrics and other data during enrollment don’t give a damn who is sitting for the scanning! No questions asked. But, the SC has now ordered that Aadhaar be given only to citizens! And, from the SC ruling and the government’s acknowledgement that it is not mandatory, but voluntary, any other mandate thought to be given to Aadhaar also is negated.

Why, in the first place, did Aadhaar, or UIDAI, come into being? Nandan Nilkani would have been happy to be part of the IT space in general, and Infosys in particular, specially in tough times like these, rather be accorded a cabinet rank (with a red-beaconed car, may be!), and be the butt of the biggest joke.

It is well known that a number of people with criminal background or facing criminal charges contest and win elections in India. There are instances where people while serving sentences and being behind bars have contested elections, and have won them, too! And there isn’t much to say about the people who have actually voted for them, either.

 But to contest the apex court’s order and reverse it by way of a parliamentary action is deplorable, to say the least. It shows the utter contempt to the orders of the top-most court of the nation, and the respect it wields from the same people the nation has elected as its leaders and governors. It must be wondered what next step the SC would now take. Or will it at all?

Unfortunately, there isn’t much the nation and its citizens could do, as any other alternative that may be thought of may be wrought with worse dangers – known devil is always better than an unknown demon.

And devils and demons are the making of the nation and its citizens itself, and learn to live with the attribute of theirs – the devils and demons.

Can an apolitical group contest and win elections, and govern the nation? One group showed the way, but lost direction enroute. It would be a great tribute to the attributes of the current crop of politicians.

A piece apiece

2014 isn’t far away – not when looked through the electorate’s eyes, in India. And the signs are already peeping their necks out – with communal riots in UP.

UP is a crucial state for political parties vying victory with a chunk of parliamentary seats at play. And underdeveloped since formation, due to the lack of political will. All with the sole objective – political one-upmanship.

Considering all the problems of the world, it may be seen that politics, polity, political parties and politicians play a vital role in fomenting trouble, and it may also be clearly seen that if that element is removed from the equation, there wouldn’t have been or wouldn’t be any problem!

So much so that politics has encroached other fields of the society spoiling the apolitical space of the world. Trade unions affiliated to political parties, politicians heading bodies, like linguistic, religious, sports, cinema, etc., which spaces are alien to them, the so-called NGOs, which later have converted to political parties – there are innumerable instances where the citizens were made to look helpless.

All of them, the parties, the politicians – all of them, will divide the nation on various lines – caste, religion, language, ecological resources, etc., and will own a piece apiece of the vast country. And, again, the citizens will be made to look like fools.

The media was thought to be a great leveler in such scenarios, but it also has turned to be an opportunistic business, what with each of the channels vying to grab eye-balls of the nation.

Unfortunately, like in the other instance, the citizens were made to look helpless and gullible. Breaking news has broken the hapless spine of the viewers, mocking them with investigative, policing stories, bringing “first-in-this-channel” crap to the drawing rooms. What’s worse – they even go to the extent of “describing” or visually recreating a sexual assault. They have all forgotten that with power comes responsibility – they want one, while disowning the other.

The media also is becoming like a politician – and both of them make for good made-for-each-other partner to each other – using the other one for one’s advantage, and dumping the same bedfellow again on another occasion, for another advantage.

And enjoying a piece apiece of the nation.

Breaking News

Of all the television channels, new channels were, once upon a time, the most entertaining ones, more than the “entertainment” channels. Not anymore. More so with the arrival of new, aggressive players in the scene. “Aggressive” is not the viewers’ claim though!

These channels have, over time, transformed more into “investigative” reporters, rather than news reporters. And here, too, the “investigative” tag was not attached by the viewers.

“First visuals”, “First on XYZ Channel”, etc., have become the normal labels over a news channel screen, now-a-days. It is dog fight out there, with blatant disrespect to the media etiquettes. Once-respected presenters, reporters, media persons have now become such nauseous sight that watching once-favourite programs has now been pushed to the backburner.

A reputed weekly, some time ago, also had carried a piece about what foreign news reporters think of their Indian counterparts, and it did not make for happy reading. Their channels were being linked up to these Indian news channels to bring “live” coverage and “expert” comments from the local reporters.

Of late, a celebrity grand-daughter’s fascination for technology, and gadgets, becomes “breaking news”!

Adding to the melee are the political parties’ spokespersons – official and otherwise. They seem to think the viewers are so gullible that they may be fed even with filth.

Talking of expert comments, the same weekly recently carried a brief on the ongoing Ashes series – and made a mockery of Indian commentators, compared to the ones who come on air during test matches in England. And, rightly so, the note was so true, that the difference between Test matches and ODI and T20s can be felt just by the commentary. More so, when Test matches happen in England!

Not to speak of the advertisements – we are fed with lies and more lies every day and night, when smears and blots would never go with the “best” of washing powders! A Sunday edition of a leading daily also recently interviewed about the effect, or otherwise, of skin whitening creams, and the responses were shocking, made light only by Shekhar Kapur’s tweets (@shekharkapur)!

The lesser said about the regional language news channels the better.

Tom and Jerry are any day wonderful! Certainly better than Toms, Dicks and Harrys!!

Spell cheque

The zigzagged red under-lines in a Word document is as annoying as any that one can imagine. And, specially, for us Indians, who’ve, from the time the English have been here, followed the English way of English, enamoured (now, there’s one!) with their style of spelling and pronunciation.

Licence is license , authorise is authorize, enamour is enamor, colour is color (now, there are as many!); though the pronunciation is the same, accent may not be very dissimilar. Now, for the boys and girls from the BPOs, KPOs, etc., schedule is skedule, who look at us weirdly when we stick to our shedule, as if we’re from another world!

An English language teacher is ardently remembered, and my father’s critiques are often recalled – one who described the language as a funny language, and rightly so; the other anecdotally demonstrated teachers are always right – a lesson to take the funny statements seriously!

Cat and cricket while having a creaky vocal beginning, circus weirdly has both a hissing sound and a creaky one, too! Gigantic is both jigantic in the UK and jijantic in the US! Weird? No. There’s more.

Weigh is wei, tough is tuf. U is pronounced differently in cut and put. Why the f in twelfth, whereas there isn’t in any other numbers?

Whereas, love is actually luf, and oven is actually ufun.

Can’t, don’t, won’t may be an established wont, but ain’t is not, yet you get a red zigzag! Don’t know is dunno. Going to is gonna. Want to is wanna. And all those slangs get red-marked!

Spelled is spelt also. And learned is learnt as well! But, this, only the learned people know, thus learnt the people!

And so is cheque check; chequered checkered! 

Spell cheque? Or check?

Cola ko khola

Pity Pepsi!

What a year was it for the cola major to associate with India’s big-ticket money spinning event – Indian Premier League!

Money-spinning – hitherto it was, or so it seemed, for the league itself, or the BCCI. Legally. But it also turned out to be a huge money-spinner otherwise, too. And for so many bookies and their associates, as it is now known; and may be for so many others like the players, besides their legal remuneration, and, who knows, for some officials, too.

But the one who has lost, and lost huge, is Pepsi, the prime sponsor – the title sponsor, of the event. And it lost not just money, but also a considerable amount of goodwill, for no fault of its. The only fault, if it thinks so, is its decision to associate with the Board, manned by those who know no cricket. And lost have so many others – not money, but interest for the game and respect for the players.

It’s not just the can of worms or skeletons in the cupboard that crept or tumbled out, but Sree and co just uncorked filth on India – filth of filthy money, associated by those who don’t love just cricket, but also those who don’t love the country.

And look where it has come to.

Pop the cork. And out comes the mom of cricket scams.

Sree ne cola ko khola.

Back to school

It’s that time of the year when you see kids trudge to school, more so with that heavy bag of books, made heavier because of their return from summer holidays. Heart goes out to them, as now-a-days, it’s different going to school, unlike how it was when we did. It was as much fun as summer holidays were. And to be in a coastal town like we did, adds to the fun – as if rains were waiting to welcome kids to their new academic year.

It’s different now – what with there being the current scenario of making a career for oneself. More so from the expectations of the parents and peers, comparisons with cousins, friends and neighbours, the kids tend to crouch. Kids’ day starts very early, and goes on till late in the evening, spread over school, extra classes and tuitions. Yes, just academics – there isn’t any time for anything else!

We often share vivid memories of our younger days with today’s younger generation – walking to school – yes we walked, even for lunch and back, playtime after school in the afternoon, before getting to our desks for the homework, retire earlier than kids do today, as there was no TV. No rushing in the morning, as schools start at a leisurely hour, and they weren’t far away. No, the homes were not far away. Or the towns weren’t so big! And crowded.

We see children eat their breakfast in school vans or scooters piggy-riding their parents. Why, even we see kids study on way to their exams!

They could chase just one interest – academia or extra-academia. No two interests run parallel, excepting in those rare cases, where the kid’s capability to balance more than one interest, also matters.

No doubt, television and other modern technological advancements have aided the students immensely, and the educational institutions, too. They’ve all made life easier for all concerned – parents, students and educators. At the same time, it has also taken certain abilities that older generations possessed, when intelligence, or practice for lesser-blessed, mattered.

Also, the options that are available today with respect to the areas of career development are numerous and wide. Even a stream like engineering has a number of flavours, each one having its own advantages in the broader perspective. And the reach is global, unlike earlier years, when going to a bigger town itself was a big deal.

In one way, everything seems so balanced that the toil is harder, but the fruits are more, various, and of course, sweeter! May be, all that makes trudging back to school fun even today.

But the beholder is from the bygone years, reminiscing brisk walks to and from school those days.

The Story of 3 Sri(ee)s. And then there’s the fourth

S Sreesanth has been in the limelight all along his career, for all the wrong reason – there may be just a handful of instances where he is remembered for genuine cricketing reasons. Symonds, Nels, etc., will vouch for his character on the cricket field, which fades his other talent, however much he possesses. It is not just about Sree, but the way cricket, or any other such sport, or event where there are opportunities to wager – and it’s not about legality of otherwise of such gambling, it’s the character which corrupts the whole affair. Wagering happens in India, too, and legally at that – like horse racing. But, the problem lies when a jockey is corrupt, or made corrupt by bribing him, just like how the trio was. It just doesn’t spoil the cricketing game, but also the wagering game.

N Srinivasan has shown to all of us how power and money may be used to stay afloat in position of influence, despite odds being against him. His arrogance, his defiant stand has been the hallmark of his image in the past few days. His son-in-law has been disowned by the franchise, the Board, by the company. Poor Guru – doesn’t he feel orphaned now? Why, these powerful people may disown everything and everyone, too – disown the company, disown the franchise, the board, the daughter, and the wife, too, if need be. His son, it’s understood, doesn’t go with this family, showing the one-upmanship the rest of the family has displayed at home. It is a sorry state of affairs that we cannot kick him out of his office.

Srikanth Srinivasan – first South Asian as Circuit Court Judge in the US – what an honour to just read about him, and the accolades that even Obama has poured over him on his appointment. Agreed, he was educated in the US, but the pedigree is Indian. And, why, aren’t there thousands of others who are educated there, but of Indian origin, yet who haven’t reached such professional levels? This Sri’s case goes to show how a clear dream about the road to tread can be realized, by clearer perseverance, effort and dedication.

Then there’s is Srinivasan Jain, who is lovingly known as Vasu, and his colleagues in NDTV call him so, too. Why isn’t he more on air of late? He is carrying on the pedigree of Prannoy Roy, so different from the other media persons. No wonder why Modi boycotted the show in Times Now, and why such instances don’t occur in other media-houses.