Can Obama bring the promised ‘change’?

let's hope for the best.

Unlike any American citizen my concerns were entirely different while listening to Barack Obama at the Democratic Convention, this morning. Over the years, especially under President George Bush’s term in the White House, has convinced me that the United States of America democratically elects the biggest dictator in every four years to rule the world.

In a speech perfectly blended with prose and poetry, Obama scathingly analyzed the policies of the Bush administration in the two terms and also tried to realistically pin-point the agendas he have, which he is terming as ‘change’.

Certain points which he made, the American people are in strict need of, especially creating jobs in America for the people living there instead of allowing companies to outsource jobs and at the same time getting tax benefits. Democrats in this session of the run-up to the elections have raised concerns about gender equality and quality college education. Being a father of two daughters himself, Obama vowed to ensure equal wages for women, creating better opportunities for quality education, not allowing privatization of social security and tax cuts.

The last two points needs to be noted by our economic policy makers which need to be implemented in the Indian context as well. Better get it done before the Americans do it and set an example.

When he moved on to criticize the Republican policy about giving benefits to those who already have the surplus and hope that prosperity trickles down the social order, it simply brought the thought back that human misery, its causes, is similar and universal. Isn’t it the common belief in India as well that our government too functions in this manner? Obama didn’t stop there, he went on to explain it briefly that the policy basically means that ‘you are on your own’. Isn’t it was the situation in India as suggested by the news reports on 27th August 2008 or when the inflation figures rises northwards every Friday or when there is some terrorist attack?

But what struck me as most worthy of all, was his pledging to decrease America’s dependence on oil from the middle-east. Definitely Obama has hit the nail on the head. If he wins the election and gets this vision of his rolling then half the problems round the globe would be over. Another war like that of Iraq based on false premises could be avoided in future. There would be no silly diplomatic games played by big countries, especially the USA for oil’s sake.

However, so far Obama’s speeches and those made in support of his candidature has been more messiah like, though steeped in idealism, sounds convincing. He definitely has delivered some of the best speeches of the present times. And on the 45th anniversary of Martin Luther king jr.’s ‘I have a dream speech’, as the first African-American Democratic Presidential nominee, Obama has already made history and his speech though steeped in high prose, sounding idealistic wasn’t blind to the reality.

Come this November, the world would get to know whether his speeches have been able to convince America or not, that he is the best man for the White House. And good news is that so far he seems immune to the dictator bug.

27th August 2008 nine o’clock news: most shocking ever

Today’s nine O’ clock news was the saddest things that I have ever seen, except the post-9/11 days. It seemed as if a chaos like situation from pandemonium has suddenly hijacked our nation. Law and order, peace, natural harmony, suddenly has gone missing. And both god and the government have forgotten about its subjects.

So many unnatural stories were reported today, but the reaction, both verbal and physical was nowhere to be found from the people vested with the duty and power to protect us. Neither god nor the government was answering the prayers of the hostages in Jammu or flood affected people in Bihar or the people affected by communal violence in Orissa.

The violence in Jammu and Kashmir is refusing to die down. For more than two months now the state has been in news because of the protests because of the Amarnath land Transfer issue. And for few days the Kashmir valley is trying to cope up with the curfew imposed there. And midst of all these, one also gets to hear ceasefire violations and militants trying to cross the Line of Control. Political parties try to do nothing other than playing electoral politics as the elections are inching closer. When will the normalcy return in the ‘Paradise on earth’? One after another problem is gripping the state but the government and the respective agencies aren’t even able to figure out even produce a gimmick of peace.

It’s not been long, the state of Gujarat has not yet recovered, and another terror attack takes place. Three militants cross the line of control holds 7 people hostage including women and children in a home in Jammu. It took almost 17-hrs for the security forces to gun down the terrorists.

Bihar’s ‘river of sorrow’ Kosi has again changed its course flooding several districts. Over thousands are stranded in submerged houses without food or water, with hope of being rescued. The chief minister has announced for complete evacuation but with the resources available with the administration at the ground zero is telling that such a task is a Herculean one, as the officials are falling short of rescue boats.

Meanwhile a communal clash is in progress Orissa, where Christians are being targeted after a local Hindu leader was killed. Christians there are fleeing to the Phulbani Hills to take refuge.

Why are the concerned authorities not being able to take steps to curb the violence or the problems at stage? Why things are allowed to spiral out of control? Aren’t we alert enough? Probably the militants were right when they mockingly called our Intelligence Bureau, ‘Ignorance Bureau’. It seems like the people in the country are living on the mercy of the god, who is also not been kind these days. Probably the authorities are thinking people will get used to living to this as they have with bad roads, without regular water supplies, irritatingly irregular long power-cuts.

Few days back one editor mentioned in his column that whining is our national obsession. After the situation around us is not at all rosy or perfect. And if you stop making the authorities know that you are not satisfied with the present circumstances then even the ‘late reactions’ that one is getting in form of some compensations from the authorities will also vanish.

Bigg Boss: Curtain Raiser

In the season of reality shows on Indian television, another one of it –Bigg Boss season 2---kicked off on 17th August 2008. The inmates of the Bigg Boss house this time will not just include actors and models, but reality show winner, politicians and jailbird(s). Some of the biggest names involved in controversies have been roped in for this edition of the show.

Gangster Abu Salem’s companion Monica Bedi is probably trying to re-launch her career through this medium. After spending years and months in Portuguese and Indian jail, spending 84 days in Bigg Boss house may be easier for her, as pointed out by last season’s winner Rahul Roy. The other news maker is BJP leader Late. Pramod Mahajan’s son Rahul Mahajan who has been in the news for all the wrong reasons—starting from his drug abuse to physically abusing his wife to his divorce. He played the perfect guide to every contestant, making them familiar with every corner of the house.

Barack Obama and other US presidential hopefuls have used new technological methods to reach audience far and wide. So can our politicians do. Opposition leader, L.K. Advani has also opened a website in the lines of Obama, to reach out to the youth. Congress, the ruling party has outdone BJP, by fielding one of its leaders as the Bigg Boss contestant. So, Sanjay Nirupam won’t have to walk that extra mile like any other leader, he has ensured a slot for himself during the primetime most of the living rooms in India. If you know Shilpa Shetty, then you are also aware of the Jade Goody, the tormentor of the former in the British reality show Big Brother. She is also present in the bigg boss house so that “people in India can know more of her personality”. Welcome Jade.

Besides this high voltage list there are other eleven contestants including TV actors Ketki Dave, Rakhee Vijayan, item girl Sambhavna Sambhavna Seth, actor Payal Rohatgi , non- celebrity-Elina, model-actor Zulfi Syed, music reality show winner Debojit Saha, MTV Roadies 5.0 winner Ashutosh Kaushik, TV actress Shweta Tiwari's estranged husband Raja Chaudhry and famous comedian Ehsaan Qureshi.
Ms. Shetty as presenter would have been okay if she had not tried much urdu. Hope that she catches her act up as make-up and gloss inside the house wears off.

Meanwhile, enjoy being a peeping tom, while being a couch potato, all at the sametime.

Michael Phelps

photo courtsey:GREG WOOD/AFP/Getty Images

I have decided not to come up with a heading for this blog. The name of the man, speaks for itself. I didn’t feel the need to add some adjective to highlight his merit, as the name itself will be synonymous with athletic brilliance. And why not, this young man from Baltimore, USA has conquered 8Olympic gold within a span of nine days, enroute making and breaking world records.

Beijing Olympics 2008 will be remembered for two things—Bird’s Nest stadium and Michael Phelps. This US swimmer has caught the attention of the entire world within a week. Every competition that he participated into has been a world record in this edition of summer Olympics. I won’t label him as the best Olympian ever, but he is in the league of the ‘Best Olympians’.

Nine days in the Beijing Olympics and his is the name that everyone round the globe has become familiar with. On Sunday, 17th August 2008, Phelps broke Mark Spitz’ record of winning of 7olympic gold in a single edition of the Summer Olympics. His 8th medal took the US gold medal tally to 17, still to catch up with China at 29.

Lots of buzz is around regarding how he is biologically perfectly built (the shape of his torso, his lungs hence can store maximum amount of oxygen, his ankle etc) which helps him in his game. But one thing I can see clearly, even though he may be biologically built to be good swimmer, he practiced real hard to make the most of those natural gifts.

The amount of practice he has put in, to be what he is today was revealed on Wednesday’s event when his glasses were filled with water; making him blind during the swim still he was able to complete the event first with a world record. Later it was revealed that Phelps exactly knew how many stroke it takes to reach the wall, so he did not panic. And he won two medals that day, within one hour--- first a 200-meter butterfly and one as part of the United States' winning 800-meter freestyle relay team. This proves that why he can gobble 12000 calories and also stay so fit.

V–J day in Times Square

Whenever i have a look at this picture, the only thought that pass through my mind is: how special and relieving was the news of end of Second World War. This famous photograph taken by Alfred Eisenstaedt captures the mood that was in the public, especially those who were serving in the armed forces--the sailor kissing the nurse-- on 15th August 1945 after the victory over Japan, marking the end of Second World War.

According to Eisenstaedt, when he came in the Times Square, he spotted a sailor on a kissing spree, "grabbing any and every girl in sight". But he waited for him to kiss someone wearing a light colored dress, which will create the perfect contrast. Eisenstaedt was running ahead of him, "Then suddenly, in a flash, I saw something white being grabbed. I turned around and clicked the moment the sailor kissed the nurse."

This is one of the best photograph published by Life Magazine. The magazine has accepted the claim of nurse Edith Cullen Shain of being the nurse in the photograph. She was identified on the basis of her legs by Eisenstaedt. But the sailor has not been identified yet.

I believe, it is one of those rare pictures which captures the immense amount of joy a common individual feels when something terrible is over.

Reality TVs: Encouraging ‘peeping toms’

Recently, Nicole Kidman and her husband requested Australian media and paparazzi not to hound them for photographs as they want to show their kid the places, they grew up in. In short they asked for privacy.

They didn’t want the ‘peeping toms’ around the world to have access to their private family moments. They deserve to keep things like that private. So does every star, whether in Hollywood or Bollywood or Sarkozy-Bruni, anyone deserves to have their privacy. But, what wonders me the most is that none of these stars protest against reality TV programs like Big Brother, Big Boss brought out by the entertainment industry, which does nothing but encourages our ‘peeping tom’ instincts.

In these programs celebrities live in a studio/house, without any contact with the outer world (huh!), where every activity of theirs is recorded and telecasted on TV as daily soap. So, you get to see what the celebs (though most of the time B-grade actors or some what extraordinary common people are roped in as contestants, who becomes celebrities, as the show begins) do when they are not in make-up, gloss and designer outfits.

This is what the paparazzi tries get for the audience, readers worldwide. They want to show the fans, what their stars and heroes do when they are doing acting. Does the pay check that the contestants of such reality TV shows get make all the difference? I won’t jot the universally accepted answer. Because these same contestants would object to paparazzi and media not allowing them live peacefully once they become ‘known’. After all, participating in shows like these can catapult one to a celebrity status that acting and singing in dozen of films and songs cannot do. Like Indian actress Shilpa Shetty, who got international fame after winning the UK ‘Big Brother’ show. Her tormentor in the show, Jade Goody, whom Shilpa accused of being racist will be participating in the Indian equivalent of ‘Big Brother’, Big Boss (season 2), which Ms. Shetty would be hosting.

One cannot ask for privacy, at the same time very well tolerate shows which actually show the stars when they are not wearing make-up. If some one believes that the media frenzy to get exclusives about the private life of stars and people is crossing all boundaries, then one must also voice against such reality shows like Big Brother , Big Boss which records the activities of its contestants all round the clock.

Are we treating our cricketing heroes properly?

Hero-worshipping is common phenomenon of human society. We always praise and shower gifts and respect on those who make extra-ordinary achievements in their respective fields they are performing in, which can range from sports to literature to art, even politics. But we also forget how to respect them when their glorious days are over, especially in the field of sports and entertainment. As soon as the performance of a player or an actor or artist drops, we all demand for their immediate retirement or removal from the team. Any one who follows Indian cricket can relate to what I am trying to say.

Cricket is probably the most popular sport and field in India presently, which most of the Indians passionately feel about. One good match- winning performance by a cricketer and he is our hero. Not so known Ishant Sharma was a hero after a great performance in Australia earlier this year. Nothing wrong about that, the lad deserved that. However, by chance, if his performance drops ( God forbid that) in two to three series, the same public, critic and yes the media people will not live in peace until and unless he is dropped from the team or like a miracle picks up his form again. And that one miracle will be enough to regain his status as hero. Like what happened with Virender Sehwag, whose praises one was not able to stop singing after his double century in the recent test series played between India and Sri Lanka. Why are we being so unfair to our heroes? Why do we forget the fact that they too are human beings who too can fail in their effort like us? Probably when we start considering them as hero we start thinking them as better than all of us. Yes, they are but you cannot deny the fact that they too are humans. They too can err or falter.

Next time before criticizing our team after a defeat, it would be more productive and helpful if we keep our criticism to technical errors done by the player or team, rather than criticizing the individual. This will help the team as well as boost the confidence of the player to give a better performance. In times of trouble, words of comfort and advice are the biggest help, not asking for severe punishment.

Beijing Olympics 2008: Will India be able to improve its medal tally count?

Atlanta Olympics’96: India wins a bronze in lawn tennis event; Sydney Olympics 2000: one bronze medal won in weight lifting; Athens’04: India graduates to a silver medal, won in double-trap shooting event; Abhinav Bindra wins gold in individual event for the first time in Beijing Olympics 2008. Will the Indian contingent in Beijing be able to clinch some more medals and at least end the medal drought that India has faced at the Olympics? Well, fans are praying, the athletes are sweating out to achieve that target.

India and China have been synonymous with the term ‘developing superpowers’ for a long time. Economically, the progress that both these countries have made definitely instills this confidence in terming them so. Both these countries have the human and natural resources, and the technologies to utilize it, which is enviable. But it seems China has outdone India in certain sectors and fields in which India’s progress is still like that of an underdeveloped nation. And the sport is such an area.

It’s a shame that a country of over a billion populations is not able to produce a better result in the Olympics. Well, the other ‘developing superpower’, China certainly is catching up with other ‘superpowers’ not just economically and technologically but in sports as well. In the Athens Olympics China was just behind the US in the medal tally, winning 32 gold medals. Onus will be on the US to remain ahead, as this time the Chinese contingent will be playing in their home ground, in front of their home crowd, which will certainly be shot in the arm to perform better than the last time.

There is a lesson that needs to be learnt from the Chinese. It has been reiterated by the Noble laureate economist, Amartya Sen for long time that a market married to the society will be called development of a nation. The development in market should percolate down to the society. It too must feel that progress. Progressing economically, increasing GDP, getting the Nuke deal with the US done and increasing number of Indians in Forbes’s list of richest people is not the right indicator of India becoming a superpower. Just like a body needs an all-round development to be called healthy, so does a nation needs to develop other than economically and technologically to be called a superpower. And the medals tally in the Olympics is an indicator of that.

All protests in India are heading to national highway

Highways have become a favorite stage for the protestors in the recent times, to stage demonstration. In just about three month’s time, the national highways in India have witnessed to agitation by protestors of diverse groups. The recent one is the blocking of NH1A off Jammu by the Shri Amarnath Sangharsh Samiti, which is protesting against the revocation of Amaranth land transfer order.

Holding the city at ransom by agitators by means of strikes, halting traffic is not new. But withholding the economy of a state by blocking the highways to register protest is something new, which the state administration in India is not equipped with to handle yet. The trend was started by the Gujjars while protesting for a Scheduled Tribe status. It caught the attention of the entire nation when they blocked two arterial highways connecting Rajasthan, for a week in May-June 2007, halting the supply of essential goods to the state. And this year too, they blocked the NH11 from 23 May to 27 June, thus, paralyzing the state’s economy. The protests destroyed public poverty worth crores and also affected the revenue earning that comes from the toll charges. At the end, they reached an agreement with the State Government of Rajasthan, which met their demand.

Taking a cue from the success of the agitation of the gujjars, other protestors also are leading their protests to the highways. Gorkha Janmukti Morcha too blocked the NH13 in June. Later in the month, Sikh- Dera Sacha Sauda row also resulted in blocking of NH10 and NH1A near Sirsa and Jammu respectively.
And the recent one is the blocking of NH1A by the Shri Amarnath Sangharsh Samiti from the beginning of August till date.

The recent one is proving to be very costly to the economy of the valley. This blockade has great political ramification as well. Immediate steps needs to be taken by the government, so that separatist and communal forces are not able to come to their true colors. But there seems to be a lack of political will to find a solution to the problem immediately as the government is loosing its night’s sleep over getting the Nuke deal with the US cleared than resolving this issue.

The Supreme Court bench recently made this remark regarding government’s response to the amendment of the law to prosecute those illegally occupying government accommodations: “Even God will not be able to save this country”. The bench headed by B N Agarwal added that “they (government) don’t have the guts to differ with opinion of the clerks.” This remark perfectly reflects the will of the political bosses in this country. They take decisions, make or undo amendments to please those who resort to hooliganism to get their demands sanctioned and thus, will be a vote bank for the future. Whether these decisions will be good for the country is not their concern, but creating vote banks surely is.

Ramadoss’s take on Article 377

Union Health Minister, Anbumani Ramadoss speaking at the 17th International AIDS Conference in the Mexico city, advocated for the scrapping of the article 377, which criminalizes homosexuality. He expressed that “Structural discrimination against those who are vulnerable to HIV such as sex workers and men having sex with men must be removed if our prevention, care and treatment programmes are to succeed”.

Though the health minister has said it keeping in mind the “stabilization of the HIV epidemic” that India is currently witnessing but this is something which is never imagined of being spoken by a minister. With changing times society needs to change its perception, but barely nine months before the general elections, when the UPA government is trying to be politically safe, such a comment indeed seems bravado. Because, this may upset a huge section of conservatives. The concern of the health minister was totally medical in asking for deleting Article 377, but it has social ramification as well.

Whatever may be the concern and ramification of this suggestion, it clearly indicates that some of the bravest and futuristic comments by Indian leaders can come on foreign soil. Like opposition leader, L.K.Adavni’s comments on Jinnah’s secularism, also came during his visit to Pakistan in 2005. Advani’s comments created unwanted controversy. Hope that Ramdoss’s does not meet the same fate.