So He Spoke

Few days back I read an interesting article in BBC about the Indian union cabinet minister for chemicals & fertilizers Mr. M.K.Azhagiri, who happens to be the son of Tamil Nadu chief minister Mr. M.Karunanidhi. He probably entered Lok Sabha sheerly because of Karunanidhi's influence. He has not spoken a single word in the parliament until now. He spoke couple of sentences in English after the question was submitted to him before hand and he had time to prepare. When there was a follow up question, the speaker of the house Mrs. Meera Kumar intervened and said that the minister of state would take up further questions.

The interesting thing I got to know from that article was that the question in the parliament could be asked in any language (officially recognized Indian language) but could be answered only in Hindi or English. Now, my confusion is, how is it okay for someone to  ask the question in any Indian language but it is not proper to answer back in any Indian language. If it is possible to translate a question in English or Hindi then why is it not possible the other way around. I fail to understand.

How is it possible that in sixty three years of independence this was not an issue ? At least, I had not heard about it. We definitely would have had many such ministers in the past who did not speak any other language other than their mother tongue. To my knowledge there is no requirement in our constitution for a central minister to know Hindi or English. Even the article did not mention if there was any such rule. In a country like India I do not think our forefathers would have included such a rule.

To Tip Or Not To Tip

Why does one tip a waiter/waitress, hair dresser, masseur/masseuse, cab driver but not a clerk at the window, or a person who rings or bags your groceries. What makes some professions/professionals eligible to be tipped and the others not. I have not got a straight answer from any one on this. May be there is none. One reason I have heard often enough is that the people who are tipped are not well paid, so it is somehow imperative on the customers to tip them as if to take pity on them.

Statue Police Approved in UP

    Another political victory for Mayawati. She proposed for a statue police to protect the statues of politicians (read, herself and her mentor's) and the state government (which is herself and her cronies) has approved it. Mayawati started erecting statues of herself and Kanshi Ram all around UP sometime back. Supreme court has put a stay on such construction for now. There has been no opposition to the statue police.

Look who is talking

    Uddhav Thackeray is talking about the right to protest at the Rahul Gandhi rally in Mumbai. Who are the Thackeray's fooling ? They are treating everyone in Maharashtra as if they are their slaves. Now they are asking for their own rights ? Shiv Sainiks were told by the state government that the demonstrations would not be allowed close to Rahul Gandhi's rally or something to that effect.

   

Teenage Suicide

    It was very sad to read that Mumbai is becoming the teenage suicide capital of India. Reason mentioned was that the teenagers are not able to handle their education pressure. The article has blamed the parents for building up that pressure on the teens. Parent's expectations have sky-rokected and everyone wants their kids to be at the very top.

   

Carnatic Music Idol

    Better late than never. At last, there is a Carnatic music competition, like the other idols, on Jaya TV. But the main difference is that judges do not fight or talk crap, competitors do not cry, judges do not discourage and is highly challenging. Singers are tested on lots of nuances. In this age of fast money, people still having passion for the arts, that too for not so well paying art, relative to movie music, is really commendable.

   

Toyota Recall - Better or for Worse

    Toyota recalls millions of its vehicles across different models for having a faulty gas pedal. It is a terrible thing to happen to a company like Toyota. People had come to trust Toyota as a company which makes reliable cars. Even big corporations look up to Toyota as a role model. Now this recall, just goes on to show that no one is perfect, of course. But I was wondering if this is really bad for Toyota's image, after all.

   

Carving Out UP and Bihar

    In all the brouhaha that is happening over carving out a Telangana state out of Andhra Pradesh why cannot we carve out UP and Bihar and make them independent countries. One the state size and population would certainly warrant it as per the western standards (these states are as big as some of the countries in Europe). 

Saif On His Padma Shri

    Today I read in Hindustan Times Online edition that Saif Ali Khan saying "I don't deserve a Padma Shri". I was thinking to myself that at least he had the grace to come out in public and say that he does not deserve it and that there are other much more deserving senior celebrities. Apparently there were some protests about Saif getting the award. So given that, I am not sure if this statement came out of his own or because of the protests.

   

Predictably Irrational

   Topic of this blog post has been borrowed from the book by the same name. I am currently reading this book written by Dan Ariely. It is a very interesting book. I am sure we display and encounter irrationality everyday. This book probably triggered me to write this blog which I might not have written otherwise.