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.

   

Phir nahi Mile Sur

    "Mile Sur Mera Tumhara" (MSMT) has been relaunched as "Phir Mile Sur" (PMS). It definitely brings back the old days and makes you feel nostalgic but I have to say that it is mediocre. The photography and the presentation is good but it does not have the flavor of India which was in MSMT. As with any other thing, we get to see only our movie stars in PMS. We just do not want to venture into any other Indian achievements.
   
   

Is bollywood all we got ?

    Bollywood has infested every aspect of Indian television including primetime news. Media is obsessed with movies and the lives of movie personalities. 15-20 years back we used to have nice T.V shows be it serials, quizzes, songs, art, science programs, mushiara/kavi sammelan etc etc. Everyone used to wait for those programs.

That time of the year again: Padma Awards

    This would be my last blog posting about padma awards, I am done with it. I had written about my resentment towards these awards in the past. The unfair treatment (or a preferential treatment towards some) meted out by the Indian Government still remains in effect. This year I saw Ilayaraja's name among the list of other padma bhushan awardees like AR Rehman and Aamir Khan. I am happy for all of them but I feel this award has come too late for Ilayaraja.
   
    If Aamir Khan could get it, then there are much more deserving people in the film industry like Kamal Hassan, S.P.Balasubramaniam, Om Puri, Mani Ratnam (he has not even received Padma Shri yet, I guess)  etc just to name a few, who should have got it much before. Rekha gets Padma Shri now, after so many years, and after so many other actors (much younger) who received these awards much before her and who have hardly achieved anything in Indian cinema. It is clear now that it is all about how you position yourself in the awards market.
   
    This is just an example from our film industry. Imagine what would be happening in the other fields. I hope the Indian government wakes up to it, otherwise very soon these awards would cease to have any value at all (or may be it is already so).

African American Quaterbacks - Lack of talent or discrimination

    I am still a novice when it comes to football. I just started watching football very recently, just this season and have probably watched 6-7 games totally. I could not help but ask myself about the number of African-American quarterbacks in all the teams put together. As far as I understand the game, quarterback is the most important and strategic position of all. They are the highest paid position in the game.

    Currently the African-American quarterbacks constitute only 16% of all the quarterbacks put together (127 total quarterbacks). I did some research through the NFL.com website on the player profile. I find it very odd that the game which is almost 70% (websites quote that number, which seems plausible) dominated by African-Americans has such a low percentage of quarterbacks.

    What is the reason, if any ? Is it lack of talent ? Or Is it discrimination ? I do not want to pick either. On one hand, I find it very hard to believe that there is any lack of talent, hard work, enthusiasm or skills that is required to become a quarterback. On the other hand I sincerely hope that there is no discrimination. I am still waiting for the answer.
   

Organ Donation

    I do not know much about Mr. Jyoti Basu or his politics, except that he was the longest serving chief minister of West Bengal (for that matter any Indian state), one of the eastern states of India. He had been the beacon for West Bengal politics and had been a mentor for many of his comrades, including the current chief minister. He breathed his last on Jan 17th, 2010. When I first heard the news of his death I thought it was good that he did not struggle for his death, which was good for him and the state. States usually would spend tons and tons of money on their politicians, just to keep them "alive". But he went one step ahead, in his death he has shown us all a path towards immortality. He decided to donate his body for a very noble cause - medical research.

    This reminds me of a story that Prof. Barry Shwartz had once mentioned in one of his articles. He said that it was seen that British donate their organs more often than Americans. It was not as if Americans were less inclined to donate, rather it turned out that the driver's license in America had a default opt-out of organ donation whereas Britain had a default opt-in. So, it was just the difference in how the policy was framed.

    It is in human nature that we want to take the path of least resistance, therefore we do not take active steps towards addressing these issues. I am sure if it is made easier where in every country adopts this automatic opt-in policy for organ donation, people would agree to it and would come forward to do so. In that sense Jyoti Basu has been a true leader.

3 Cheers for 2 Directors

    One is basking in the glory of his most recent success-3 Idiots and the other quietly showing his prowess without any fuss. I am talking about the well known Rajkumar Hirani and the not so well known Shimit Amin. Both of them have given three back to back hits . Raju Hirani - Munnabhai M.B.B.S, Lage Raho Munnabhai and 3 Idiots. Shimit Amin - Ab Tak Chappan, Chak De India and Rocket Singh: Best Salesman of the Year (not sure if it is a hit yet).

    I liked each one of these movies. Each one had a message which was served in a very engrossing and entertaining way. Although, I have to say that I liked Shimit Amin's movies slightly better because of his subject choice. In fact, my favorite Shah Rukh Khan movie to date is Chak De India (mentioned in one of my other blog postings earlier). Shimit Amin breaks a lot of stereotypes and the protagonist of the movie is the story and narration itself. There was not much publicity about his most recent movie, Rocket Singh. It is a very well made movie and it definitely deserves a look.

    Both these directors have been able to get stellar performances from their cast. Both of them are humble and do not hog the limelight. Their work talks on their behalf. Indian movie industry is changing and I guess changing for the good. Having said that, the ratio of bad or pathetic movies to good movies is still huge. The Indian movie industry needs such new breed of directors who can bridge this gap. Directors and film makers always hide behind the excuse for making bad movies (repetitive theme), that the audience is not mature enough to accept different types of movies. I think the contrary is true, audience is always eagerly waiting for these directors to give them fun and meaningful cinema.

    We need stories which resonates with people and touches a chord in them. Movies, if used properly, could become a medium which could bring about revolution or which could dumb down people. That is not to say that every movie should have a social message. Tell stories and the movies would get made by themselves. Let us make India the biggest movie maker in the world in terms of quantity (which it already is) and quality.

Platform of Success

    A few days back I read a news article which talked about a few villagers in Taj Nagar, India, who built their own railway platform. Taj Nagar is just outside of the national capital Delhi. It now has two platforms and some trains would make a scheduled stop there. This would help the residents of Taj Nagar to have a better commute to work and in turn to have a better quality of life. For this project to materialize, each resident contributed Rs. 3,000.

    Indian Railways had, in the past, declined to construct the platform because of budgetary reasons and the insignificance of the place. The one good thing about this whole project was, that at least the railways did not create any hindrance in the people's effort and rather agreed for some trains to make a stop, if the residents built their own platform.

    It is a great example of team work, will power and perseverance. This just goes on to show that if we decide we could achieve anything. Think about a bunch of villagers taking over a giant, the "Indian Railways". I sometimes feel that the city dwellers lack the enthusiasm and drive to change the society, that the people from small towns and villages have. Urban people want the system to change but they do not want to take any steps to change that. I include myself in this group. The only meaning we, as citizens of India, have understood of democracy (people power), is to destroy the state machinery in the name of protest.

    I hope this platform becomes a launching pad for many more such successes for India. I also hope to be a part of at least one such success story in the future.