In this election season, you cannot be blamed for mistaking the title of this post for a war cry of one of the National political parties say the Congress or the BJP. I.e. to capture Karnataka today and India soon after. After all, as Karnataka votes today for its destiny driver for the next 5 years (hopefully), the ball has been set rolling for a string of state elections to follow and then the final Loksabha election mid next year i.e. if the present dispensation lasts its full term. War cry of a party is last of my bother. But, loud cry I keep hearing of the Mango people is.I cannot but avoid sympathizing with my Karnataka friends as they brave the hot may be not so hot sun and exercise their democratic right today. What is the choice they have?• Do they again vote and bring back BJP – which made a royal mess of its maiden Southern venture?? 3 Chief Ministers in 5 years, rampant factionalism and infighting, the honour of making “Garden city” a pitiable “Garbage City” today, Corruption charges galore, No governance… have made BJP a party with No difference.• Do the people of Karnataka repose their faith on Congress – which must take responsibility for the lack of basic infrastructure like roads,… even after ruling the state for more than 50 years since independence? Is there a leader in Congress in the state who can make it happen in the “IT” State?• Or they throw their weight behind Janata Dal (Secular) helmed by Kumaraswamy Gowda an Ex- Chief Minister himself. If Bangalore is sick and languishing at the bottom of the economic growth table, this secular party has to take fair share of the blame.• Or finally will the Karnataka praja make my worst nightmare true? Is he actually readying to make Yeddyurappa of Karnataka Janata Party the King or a Kingmaker?For the citizens, today is a stressful day. The choice they have is to choose the Best among the Worst. As a nation did we opt for democracy to choose the good among the rotten? No wonder there is so much apathy among people today to go and vote. Frankly, if I feel that the candidates in the fray are not worthy of my vote, do I have a choice to express the same?Though sitting in Mumbai I’m not in a quandary today, I’m worried. Worried because what my Karnataka mates are going through today, many of us have to endure when the time comes to vote for the party/front at the Centre. It looks like “A scam a day may soon keep Dr.Manmohan Singh away”. With an early election looking imminent, the dilemma for the voter gets bigger.I presume that most fellow Indians have had enough of this Congress led UPA and are craving for a change. For them to satisfy their craving, they need options to vote for in the next General elections. In states where BJP is strong (and that is only 6-7 states I guess) may be they have the option of voting for BJP. But in most of the other states one has to dive into deep-sea to escape from the Congress Devil. In many states where BJP is absent or present in absentia, the people have no choice but to exercise their “Best among the Worst” rule while voting. When they do that, they give fillip by default to parties like the Trinamool Congress, CPI/CPM, YSR Congress, Janata Dal (Secular), Shiv Sena, Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party,…,…which again start extracting their pound of flesh when the Government formation time comes. Irrespective of the national sentiment for change we may yet get a Government we never wanted. Because under the present system who will rule is decided not by “National mood” but by “Rational Greed” (Money bags, ATM Ministries, Rajya Sabha nominations,…) of the fringe parties who claim to promote the cause of Regional and Sectarian aspirations but in reality have been furthering their own “cases”.I call this the “Democracy by stealth”. So does this “Democracy by stealth” provide the famous “Government of the people, by the people, for the people”??? I doubt.Problem definition is always easy. Finding solution is not. Yet, let me attempt. The way forward is certainly to “CHANGE” the present system. That could be in the form of electoral reforms which include• Clearly defining and identifying National parties which have an influence in more than few states• Mandating only “National” parties to take part in Lok Sabha elections• Government formations only based on declared “Pre Poll Alliances” and not by convenient “Post Poll Alignments”• Election Commission to define a template and minimum criteria for an “Election Manifesto” essentially making the document a “Minimum Agenda for Governance” for the party coming to power.• Election Manifestos of parties once released during election campaigns must be registered with the Election Commission• Parties not fulfilling 70% of their manifesto promises should be disqualified from contesting in the next elections. So that there is accountability along with accounts.Some of the above ideas are indeed outrageous and outside the realm of today’s political imagination. However I strongly feel that small changes may not work. We need paradigm shifts. So that we actually see Democracy at work and not some “Democrazy”!!!Related articles
And does my vote count?
No, I am not saying that we shouldn’t vote.
But Getting to ground reality, just one week before the election day, all those loud speakers, “Please vote for me requests”, and stuff, and all those celebrities, politicians, and advertising campaigns shelling out “Do vote , its your duty”, “vote now, else they will show you the finger later”, “be a responsible citizen , Vote!” are impressive, but is it really enough?
I mean , i voted, i helped bring a great governance to power, and is that it? all the problems with the system is solved is it? Probably i am a little immature to talk about politics, but let me put things my way.
Its not just getting good governance to power, its also about improving the system. And its taking hell lot of time to make this happen.
Lets face it, Indian democracy is namesake.
In a article in TOI , it read
In our parliamentary setup, the politicians holding office has 1,826 days to have his say; the voter has just one.
Here it is. The problem statement. A voter just votes. The entire system is handled by those who are in power. And what we do? Nothing. Misconception i say. First lets look at the things about What we do?
- Sit and complain
- Vote
- Expect a lot.
Do we really have only one day to contribute to our working democracy? Is that it? I guess no. For those whom we vote, the main problem is all the candidates are all almost same. They, are sweet before elections and forget their duties after elections. Ya, that’s the dialogue we hear everywhere.
The problem the common man faces in India is that they don’t have much choice in selecting a candidate. They are given a choice of corrupt men standing in elections representing major political parties. So, the voter chooses a candidate not based on how good or how bad the candidate is, but based on which political party he belongs to, which caste or religion he belongs to, or how less he is corrupt, or how nice goodies he distributed last time he won..
And the advantage these candidates take is, just because Indian mentality is always a little “buy off” and “OK to being a little corrupt”.
So, my point here is, my vote should not only bring my candidate to power, but also, make a better governance.
A clear picture says, Indian politics is just a game of pulling chairs, or a blame game, and mere survival of the corrupted.
Now that we have a problem Statement, lets get to solution,
- Dear media, Please show sensible news, we are not interested in which actress said what? and why and how she was foolish to join a political party, we are interested in which candidate is better for us. Biased media, is a curse to our nation.
- Dear politicians, be accountable to common people. We trusted you and brought you to governance, take care of our country, don’t just sit on “that” chair and create scams.
- And those who are on oppositions, Please don’t play cheap hide and seeks and blame games. Be a good politician.
- And common man, Its not just voting that does enough for your participation in making a better governance, Identify a better candidate, don’t just sit and complain that he had promised this and that, go ask him to get it done. You are the boss.
“I Fought For My Life…And Won” – Sohaila Abdulali #mustread #Vaw #Rape
Ask yourself, why do we still see the children working?
Ask yourself, why do we still see the children working?
Child labour is any kind of work children are made to do that harms or exploits them physically, mentally, morally, or by preventing access to education.
Our country is sadly one among the top countries to have Child Labour Problem.
How it all starts?
Most people on the poverty line force their kids to get into work (mostly household chores) to support family.Child labour and poverty are inevitably knit together, if it continues to use the labor of children as the treatment for poverty, we will have both poverty and child labor to the end of time.
Lets keeps aside all the after effects of Child labour for a minute, think on the child’s part,
I interviewed a 12 year old girl Lakshmi. I asked her, from when is she working , she said since 1 year, I asked her where she worked before, and she told about her village,” I used to work at “saukars” house, and memsaab was a very nice person” , she used to give her old clothes and leftover food too. Also a very good diwali bonus, I asked what would she do with the earned money, she said she handed it over to her dad, and my last question, don’t you want to go to school ,and she said I went to school before, appa din’t had fees money to pay, so I left school. I want to go back to school, I loved doing homework, my teacher always appreciated my homework and on asking her favorite subject she said maths. I had no more questions!
And for those who fall prey for extremely horrible form of child labour , the only outcome is they become criminals in future.here I recall the movie Slumdog millionare and the whole begging business, once a friend of mine asked is it this “terrible” in India and I was ashamed to say yes.
Child labour exists because:
- People have accepted it.
- Employers are happy with the cheap labour,
- Poor families are not aware of necessity of education.
- And last but not the least we have not done enough to stop it.
Make A Move That Could Help Reduce Child Labor!
Don’t let your child know that , there is something called as child labour.
All I wish is that, Child labour didn’t exist ….
India, Where are we going?
“A developed country is not a place where the poor have cars. It’s where the rich use public transportation.”
–by Mayor of Bogota
Photo Source:http://www.climaticoanalysis.org/post/reforming-public-transport-in-india/
Last week, I was one of more than 10000 people who re-tweeted this tweet.Well, Isn’t it a Sensible thought? But my question is, Is there is single country which is succeeding? I agree its is a nice quote, but before you can do anything with it we need to get a handle on how we could implement it in India.
It all means that public transport should be acceptable to the level that even rich people find it comfortable. That is,it should be better if public transportation would be so good and efficient that everybody likes to use it. As the famous Quote from the movie “Rang de basanti” goes “koi bhi desh perfect nahi hoti, Use perfect banana padta hai”.
All the analysis conclude to the point that, almost all counties are certainly built in a way which make public transport difficult and personal transportation necessary. No One’s Giving the thought to the point that ,natural resources are limited, and this includes energy(fuel) which every individual wastes which could have been saved if it used in public transportation.But, for obvious reasons it is not an acceptable aim. Well, it surely means that our fellow humans and our descendants will have less resources for them.
Of course , the point to focus is how the country like ours can improve in such things. Implementation of Metro rails in various cities was a very primary step.Next possible Step could be very standard and easy availability of City Bus and intercity bus!
Will the Rich change their mentality and start using public transport? Every one knows the answer! But the biggest question still remains ,will the rich and poor border lines fade ever? Will, India Ever be a developed country.Question Mark!Talking Shit! — A Down to Earth Approach
Well, Now that i hear lot of hype about waste segregartion in Banglore, let me give it a thought.
Oct 2 , Times of India, Banglore reads that “Waste segregation just 20% successful”. The news Channels , the radio media, new papers
every one has a negative perspective. I see negative results, pictures , and news published about the same.
Now, Thinking logically, nothing can be achieved in one day. Oct 1 was the day we decided to start the waste segregation. We have to be positive about the same.
Bangalore is the only City in India where this crucial step is being taken. At least we are a step ahead.
Secondly, before giving any views on the topic, make sure you are doing your part.
It takes time, for the people to understand the procedure. Most of them won’t do it, until they understand the need.
Half of the public is under conception that “It’s not my work. why do we have waste collectors then”. No one is giving it a thought that
the waste sent in segregated(wet and dry waste) form would help them to convert into bio-gas out of wet waste and recycle the dry-waste.
Japan is one of the best countries for its methods and the extent to which it practices waste management. This is how it happens in Japan.
The people are required to follow sorting guidelines established by the municipalities. The sorted waste is then collected by the municipalities and
stored for collecting by the recycling company. Manufactures and business entities using containers and packages have to pay a recycling fee, to the
Japanese Container and Package Recycling Association (JCPRA) a government-designated organization, in accordance with the volume they manufacture
or sell. Each year recycling business entities are selected by a public bidding in every local municipality where a waste storage site is located.
They are assigned to collect and transport the waste from the storage sites to recycling facilities. To make sure the waste is getting recycled,
these recycling business entities receive payment only after showing a delivery report, signed by the recipient of the recycled products.
Source : Wikipedia – Recycling in Japan
Be positive about , at least we have taken a step forward, we surely be successful in having a Awesome City and a Clean Country.
Take a Step, Make sure you do your part.
–An Indian.
SILLY ME!! 