Sporting India

A glance at the following link makes all of it clear.

http://www.ndtv.com/news/sports/frustrated_bindra_may_call_it_quits.php

Frustration of our hockey players found a temporary solace and they are back to practice. Not very long ago iconic P T Usha got humiliated. India’s finest woman chess player and world no. 2, Koneru Humpy is having her share of problems with Chess Federation. Now, Abhinav Bindra wants to quit out of frustration!

What our sports federations and government fail to understand is that international sports, like higher education of international standards, need a special focus. They should be in safe hands of people who understand what it takes to be a sportsperson of international standards. Only in the hands of those who can empathize with sportspersons and respect their individual needs to achieve at international arena. They need freedom to perform and excel.

I guess the comparison of international sports with higher education of international standards is fair. If anything, in international sports, the shelf life is much shorter.

One must admit that our senior politicians like N D Tiwari, however, do excel in the only sport which Indians are familiar i.e., the one confined to bedroom.

Euthanasia

Please read: http://www.ndtv.com/news/cities/brain-dead_in_mumbai_hospital_for_36_years.php

The question of legalizing euthanasia crops up time and again. Whenever public comes to know of the situations mentioned in the above news item, some limited debate does take place and inevitably such debates do die down as fresh issues arise. While some countries and some states of certain countries appear to have debated and made certain legal provisions, most countries remain largely insensitive to the issue. In countries like India where human life (except those of politicians, film personalities and cricketers) is least cared for, the apathy of the government and judiciary does not come as any surprise.

This issue can be viewed from two different angles. The first one is when the person concerned wants to end his/her life for reasons like long suffering, disease without any apparent cure and perhaps even in the situations where he/she feels that there is no hope of leading life to a personally acceptable level of dignity. Even if there is a faint hope of some likely medical developments in near future for a particular ailment, the benefits of such developments do not immediately percolate to a common-man - they take time to reach and become affordable. It is better to leave it to the judgment of the concerned individual and keep him/her informed of the factual situation by eminant people and social activists. There is no reason why such a person should be denied euthanasia as long as certain safeguards are taken in the interest of his kith and kin and the society. If someone wants to die under the legal provisions of euthanasia with an intention of emotionally blackmailing someone else or threaten the peace of the society (these days we hear about far too many such threats in the name of fake ‘hunger strikes’), it should not be allowed.

When it comes to brain-dead people or people who are in such medical situations, as in the news item mentioned above, there should be proper legal guidelines. Totally abandoned brain-dead life for 36 years is too long. Bombay has become Mumbai and Raj has virtually taken over from uncle. Things have changed beyond recognition. It is a longer sleep than the famed one of Rip Van Winkle. By the way, what happened to the culprit? Laws of Euthanasia need to be formulated carefully to ensure that there is no scope to commit legalised murders in the name of euthanasia. Every care should be taken to ensure that it is done in a fair manner and there should be no engineering from behind or political maneuvering.

Tiger Wounded by Whores

Nearly a dozen whores wounded a Tiger recently.

The western whores have the knack of hunting their prey methodically. They select judiciously. Wait patiently. Build up record. Keep legal advisors at hand. Engage ghost writers to write their ‘autobiography’ ready to publish at an opportune time and make sure they become best sellers and outsell Vatsyayana on the day of book release itself. They kill Tiger at one stroke.

Their oriental counterparts have a different upbringing. They preserve customer identity; they do not betray their customers. Distinctly oriental. Centuries old tradition. They do not come out in dozens and hail: there goes my customer!

Rewarding Disclosures

Disclosures are not new to nearly 80% of 1.2 billion Indians. Their poverty and hunger are so thoroughly exposed and there is hardly anything for them to disclose. Some have so much and their disclosures are sure to give voyeuristic pleasure to beholders. What is the exact purpose of these disclosures, who will verify their veracity and what is the proposed action plan based on the information made available or not made available?

Few have come first in disclosing and none of them had anything worth disclosing! It is difficult to hazard a guess but the number of those who have something substantial to disclose could run into many thousands and not be in many lakhs.

One cannot attach any true significance to any such unofficial disclosure activity, till it becomes official and comes with a) full details of the scheme b) time frame for compliance c) awards and penalties, if any, for full-disclosures, partial-disclosures and non-disclosures. I am positive that none in the P-class, B-Class and CBS-Class (for definitions, please read: http://tarantula-apolitical.blogspot.com/2009/11/rags-to-rags-stories.html ) have any suicidal tendencies.

To make such a scheme a whopping success, a model scheme on following lines has to be developed:

Voluntary Disclosure Scheme - 2009

For the benefit of those who are compelled to hide, for the last 62 years, their wealth in different forms, places and names to protect it from becoming an object of glare by voyeuristic communities like media and public, a scheme of relief to restore and multiply their self-respect and dignity is announced with the features mentioned below:

1. This comes into force from the date and time of publication in the Gazette.
2. This scheme, in the present form, closes after its 100th day and is non-extendable.
3. A two-tier rewards are announced for the disclosures: (a) Top (by the value of disclosed amount) 1% will be awarded the nation’s highest reward Bharat Ratna; next 10% with Padma Vibhushan; next 40% with Padma Bhushan and the rest 49% with Padma Shri.
(b) Government of India, will also honor its citizens/political parties/associations by way of crediting the amount equal to their disclosed amount directly into their Swiss accounts within seven working days from the date of closure of this scheme.
(c) Both the amount disclosed and the amount rewarded by GOI, are fully exempted from all forms of taxes.
4. Those who made partial disclosure under the present scheme may be given a second chance by the GOI, solely on its discretion, after the Phase-I which is time bound. In such cases, GOI retains the right to avoid double credit mentioned in 3(b) above. Purpose of this scheme is also to attract those who have not disclosed in the first Phase; to rope in during the next phase by the demonstration of success of its first phase. Their eligibility for rewards under 3(a) shall be reworked suitably.
5. By bringing suitable amendments to the constitution, making any comments in any form on the disclosures, by media, public and bloggers, will be made punishable.

Rags to Rags Stories

All over the world, storybooks are replete with the Rags to Riches Stories. Riches to Rags stories are far too dull to publish or read. Rich to Rich stories are monotonous. It turns out that the Rags to Rags stories are the only ones worth disclosing voluntarily!

Setting a nice precedent recently, few people of eminence have made voluntary disclosure. The disheartening part of it is there is nothing to behold! No wonder they came forward to show what they do not have. Hope the Government does not institute a CBI inquiry to investigate how they got disproportionate poverty and leaves them alone. I request their colleagues to forgive and leave these poor people, who are a blot on their society, alone.

How can everyone voluntarily disclose private wealth? It would be obscene, is it not? Disclosing something that is purely private on a web site is no fun. If it is for the cover page of Playboy or Playgirl, it is a different matter altogether.

One journalist recently interviewed several notable people of P(oltical)-Class, B(abus)-Class, CBS (Contractors, Black-marketers, Smugglers et. al.) category people. The motif of the interviews is their collective view on disclosures. Apparently, all these honest people are eager to disclose voluntarily. Here are some of their concerns:

- Absence of suitable award systems, say Bharat Ratna, for disclosing the highest amount
- Doubts like: to show the tip or disclose the entire iceberg
- Absence of clarity on what to disclose and what not to
- Some are eager to give very precise data but are uncomfortable with the fluctuations in the Swiss franc to Rupee conversion rates
- Most of these people have so much, they do not know the exact value of their assets and they are eager to avoid giving wrong information.
- Some people want to have clarity on whether the disclosure should include what they kept in benami names, in the names of kith and kin and relatives and also their pet animals.

Place of Living

During early ‘70s, I held strong views on issue of brain-drain and people leaving India for greener pastures - admittedly, influenced by peer-level views and also, to an extent by a movement which had started off in late ‘60s (not the Hippie culture of early ‘60s) which had some influence on the minds of people at impressionable age. It was conscious decision on my part, rightly or wrongly, to stay back in India despite better opportunities available in the outside world. While I am not the habit of wasting much time regretting/rejoicing the past, I do feel that I am not justified in expecting the same from the next generation.

The choice of a place to live is very personal. At least the right thinking ones make a choice of where to live based on numerous factors - not just on emotional factors or attachment to country of birth or family roots or some other personal reasons that clip their wings of freedom. Some critical point could be whether the society one elects to live in will accept him/her or not; give opportunities to demonstrate capabilities and lead a respectful life like the person next door, provide a space to grow and so on. In addition, one takes a decision based on the level of confidence in his/her ability to make adjustments necessary to bond with the society of his choice to live in harmony. Not everyone is blessed with such a freedom of choice but some of those who have it, will think aloud and exercise. Migrations have happened since time immemorial, are happening now and will happen tomorrow and day after. The history of migration of living species is much older than the entire human history! Now that availability of water on Moon is established, people will start going to Moon for shorter durations, much earlier than expected. Once the other inhabitable places are identified, some explorers will start migrating to other planets in not too distant a future. Nothing stops the human spirit to explore. Obviously all the seven billion do not dare, it starts with a first one like Columbus or Hillary or Gagarin or Armstrong…

My India is Great, undoubtedly. Am I not equally correct in saying: My Mother Earth is Great? Tomorrow, coming generations will call it a narrow view and might say My Universe is Great. Perceptions vary with time and space.

Dr. Abdul Kalam

I am an admirer of Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam. I have read his book Wings of Fire. I follow news related to him. I keenly follow his interaction with children and enjoy. Yes, he is a role model worth emulating.

If I get an opportunity to meet and chat with him anywhere, I will ask him two simple questions: a) What he felt like when politicians denied him second term as President, which he so richly deserved b) Treatment given to him by Politicians other than two PMs he worked with as President of India. I look forward to hear his frank answer straight from his heart looking right into my eyes - not just a polite answer for media and public consumption.

Whose Life is at Risk?

It is an enormous strain on the exchequer to provide security to so many politicians and their kith and kin. What goes into it is the hard earned and honest money of taxpayers; mostly from salaried class. There are some levels of security and it is a status symbol to get the highest. The official figures probably run into several hundreds of crores. Most of the expenses would have been conveniently booked under some other expenses to show smaller figures to public – a normal accounting jugglery. Like the low or even negative inflation figures when all prices double every year.

What one fails to understand is why security at all? In some developed countries politicians and ministers (including Prime Minister) travel without any security and carry their own briefcase to office. Even some Kings, ceremonial equivalent of our President, are known to travel by public transport. Local people who recognize the face of such an important person might leave the seat next to him unoccupied as a matter of courtesy and some visitor, who is not so familiar, might even occupy the next seat.

What are our politicians afraid of? Who are they afraid of? PEOPLE? If so, why do they SERVE people 365x24? If people of the country are out to murder them at next opportunity, what makes them serve the prospective murderers so sincerely? This defies all logic. On the contrary, if they are afraid of their own political rivals, party dissidents, goondas, mafia, smugglers and so on, who are their one-time or current or future bedfellows, coalition partners and allies, why should public pay for their security?

Given an argument that some functionaries are important as they are constitutionally key figures, people will accept some reasonable security for their PM and President and no one else.

In reality, in the name of high-level security to these politicians, few thousands of trained people becoming sacrificial goats and if at all something happens, it is these low paid highly trained security personnel who lose their life and their family gets pittance and virtually die of hunger and without any reasonable means to survive in the absence of bread winner. Public apathy is not understandable as it feels that these security people are paid to die, so what is so great about the lives these people? In our country the lives of politicians, cricketers and film personalities are very important and not the lives of 1.2 billion common people who comprise the real India. In the name of providing employment as security staff, government is putting the lives of thousands of people at Risk.

Brief History of Murder and Morals

This is not a sequel to any works of Stephen Hawking or Bertrand Russell. With due apologies to Toynbee, the entire human history can be aptly sub-divided into few major chapters based on the progress it has made in the area of morality of murder.

- To start with, there was a period when the concept of murder was unknown
- The concept slowly took shape in the minds of people and they were afraid that entertaining a mere thought of murder is as heinous as the murder itself
- People have started committing murders here and there but were soon feeling remorse and used to plead guilty
- People have started committing murders on larger scale without feeling any remorse; invent ways and means of escaping punishment. The feudal lords of pre-independence era, if it is inevitable, used to bestow the privilege of surrendering on one of their trusted servants or someone innocent in exchange of taking care of their family for rest of the life. A proxy used to take the punishment.
- People started committing murders with impunity and use sophisticated techniques to erase all evidence.
- People started committing murders and implicate the innocent (two birds at one shot technique)
- People started outsourcing murders so that they are free to focus on their core competence areas.
- The Corporate Sector started making foray (ex: Bhopal); administrators are busy picking up dollars strewn all over for decades and forget all about the murderers and the victims.
- Gradual nationalization is taking place – (ex: state governments have started murdering people by supplying so called drinking water with abundant E.coli enough to kill few hundred people in few days flat by way of cholera. They maintain fictitious records as though the water is treated and tested before supplying.
- National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) indulging in mass genocide in style; by way of not warning the people and ordering evacuation in time to save at least some souls during floods.

Murders committed by Nations in other nations are traditionally called wars and hence fall outside the purview of the present discussion. Similarly, causing extinction of other species, the global murders and attempts to exterminate human race in next few decades by not caring for the environment is a separate subject on its own.

Multiple Choice Questions

Soon after taking charge of HRD ministry, Kapil Sibal started seriously thinking: why, not all students are performing well in the examinations? He wanted to form a committee to go into the matter and come up with solutions within 100 days. He could not entrust it to academicians as they are not trust worthy for such an important task and besides there is always a fair chance that it is the academia, which is responsible. If such is the case, according to his HLS trained brilliant legal mind, truth will never come out and the very objective of forming a committee of academicians to investigate the faults of the system, to which they are a party, get vitiated. Hence he formed a committee comprising of all party parliamentarians to come up with recommendations.

Members have laboriously studied various types of question papers since 1947 pertaining to all types of examinations held in India. They have noted two startling lacunae in the examination systems in India. Being very responsible persons, they refrained from blame game; more so because some party or other was in power in some state or the other at one point or another. Hence, they have recommended that the examination system needs an urgent and thorough overhaul. HRD minister, who is impressed, requested the same committee to recommend a new system. However, the members hesitantly accepted the additional responsibilities with a clear understanding that such a task needs some more time and they shall endeavor to complete the assignment within additional 100 days.

In order to understand and appreciate the forthcoming changes, it is only fair that one should understand the observations of the committee first. They are as follows: (a) none of the regular question papers ever carried the answers: how can a student answer a question when no answer is given? (b) all the multiple choice questions, which have mostly carried four options, found to contain only one right answer as against all the remaining ones being wrong! Committee felt that this is a blatant way of misleading the already misguided youth and such a form of question papers should cease with immediate effect. They wanted a silent revolution in the Examination System of India.

After long deliberations, they have come up with a uniform system of examinations, for all purposes, across the length and breadth of the country. Have a glimpse of the model question paper under recommendation by the committee, which is expected to provide equal opportunity to score for all strata of society:

Q. When did India get independence from British Rule?

Answer: (A) On 15th August 1947 (B) One Day after 14th August 1947 (C) One Day before 16th August 1947 (D) All the above.

Q. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is:

Answer: (A) Daughter-in-law of Amitabh Bachchan (B) Wife of Abhishek Bachchan (C) Miss World in 1994 (D) All the Above.