The money trail or trial

It is believed that there is around 1.4 trillion dollars worth of black money stashed in foreign account by Indians. While the neo-BJP had the core issue of development on its side, it did play the black money card to extend their dominance and make the Congress irrelevant in the political scenario.

In the last couple of weeks, there had been huge hue and cry on making a list of possible foreign account holder who might have evaded tax and stashed black money abroad. To begin with, this list was a leak and not an official information provided by the banks. Though the government has/has not been making effort to get additional details on the transaction for these accounts, there seems to be little or no progress.

There have been allegations that the government is trying to shield these people because they are the rich elite. Even if these allegations were true, I really don't see what is to be gained by making the list public and shaming them. From the foreign banks perspective, the Indian govt would be encroaching the private affairs of people without substantial proof, this would only derail further cooperation from the banks. The so called "good intentioned" politicians across parties are making it worse by trying to portray individual wrongdoings as the party's responsibility. Doesn't this further deter the lawmakers of the country to work in the interest of the country because it harms the image of the political party overall? This issue has been milked so much that even a political nobody like AAP have become champions in foreign relations and treaties and are hogging prime time space on television. Don't even get me started on the idiots on twitter, who tweet and retweet the Rajiv gandhi and 10K crores stashed list.

It becomes even more stupid when the Supreme court tries to dictate terms in administrative matters and the morons on the news channel hail its judgement as historic. For some reason Ram Jethmalani and Subramaniam Swamy become the most sensible folks for these people. Hope sense prevails and the supreme court keeps these names confidential till all investigations complete.

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/black-money-case-fallout-india-pulls-out-of-multilateral-information-sharing-agreement/509414-7.html

My Love-Hate Story

So much is being said about the grand new Aam Admi Party which according to a lot of netizens is going to take this country out of the abyss that it is in. Like many on the internet, I have also been involved in a number of debates of which some were insightful and some meaningless. Some ended with "that makes sense too" and some with "Go fuck yourself". While a lot of people are having multiple orgasms on what AAP has achieved in 12 days 5 hours and 14 seconds videos, some are criticizing AAP; some rationally, some with conspiracy theories and some for the heck of it. btw I have no clue which category I am in.

Chapter 1 - Twilight
For me, AAP is like the girl you adored in school even when she was not pretty, and later she flips you when she becomes this hot chick when puberty kicks in and sleeps with the badass of the college and does nasty things. As much gay as it may sound but I have had a love-hate relationship with Kejriwal. It all started when IAC was still budding and holding anti corruption rallies in metro cities. Not the big Freedom park, Ramlila maidan type ones, these were little known then. That was when I first saw her...err.. joined the rally. I dragged my lazy ass out of my bed at 7 am on a Saturday to join some 80-100 folks and took it to the streets shouting slogans in Kannada. The movement picked up pace with Anna Hazare's anshan and so forth. And then slowly I started losing faith, interest and hope in what was to come in the near future.

Chapter 2 - Eclipse
It started with IAC holding the the government ransom to their version of the bill. And then the long scuffle on whether the PM should be included in the purview of Lokpal or not. All the three parties involved the Govt, Opposition and IAC made sure that the Bill is not passed. A couple of more hunger strikes later AAP was born the incorruptible party, for the common man which will bring poorna swaraj. Though I was skeptical about the idea of activists entering into politics, I still had hope that this is for the better.

Chapter 3 - New Moon
AAP swelled ranks with all the newly agitated educated youth who had no clue what should a government be doing other than being non corrupt. There were rallies,charity shows by music bands,protests to garner support. AAP fielded its candidates in all the constituencies in Delhi. Soon began the three-way allegations, mud slinging and name calling. The black day in Delhi's political history will be observed when Raghu from Roadies campaigned for AAP and called the other candidate Haramzade. How awesome is it that the crowd was awed by the messaiah who preached women equality on his show by calling one behen and madar chod. Kejriwal said "we will form the government and show you how it is run". Promises were made like any other party makes, cheaper electricity, water,gas and I guess cheaper Dhoom 3 tickets too. The 90%(Katju quotient) voters went ga ga and bowed to their savior. I too wanted to see AAP to power and show how a good a state can be administered. But I was afraid that if it wins it would want more. One can never be satisfied with the power one has. Everyone wants more, thats what Pepsi has taught us all these years. I was afraid that they would go national and might destabilize the economy with their immaturity and I was not overly optimistic about their freebie idealogy as well. I just wanted that there is a stable government other than the UPA at the centre. I dint care about who the new PM may be as long as he can speak more words than a 3 year old ( or 3^4 year old, tht MMS age 81->you see what I did here). Gods were kind and instead of a majority to AAP, the elections resulted in a hung assembly. Finally AAP formed the government with outside support of Congress' support after a never before publicity gimmick- The SMS elections. AK backtracked his "I will not take support of Congress or BJP, we will sit in the opposition" and followed the mandate the people of New Delhi(read anyone with a cell phone across the globe).  .

Chapter 4 - Breaking Dawn I
Heart-broken, my love turned to hatred. And it keeps piling on as each day of AAP in government passes. The decisions they have taken in hase and keeping 2014 elections in mind are extremely disappointing. The word FREE brought back Sharman Joshi back from coma so it was not surprising to see the people of Delhi cheering every subsidy Mr. AK had to offer. Katju coefficient was again empirically proved when people on the Internet, Media, middle class cheered puny publicity stunts like no security, no bungalow, no cars etc.. Austerity became the new "Reservations" which none of the political parties can ignore, even though it makes no difference. With the announcement to go national and contest 2014 general elections my worst fear has come true. With the insensible comments by AAP leaders on Kashmir & Reservations it has proven that it has no clue how a country can be run. It just strengthens the fact that activists running the government is just going to fuck everything up. How ideal would it had been, had they taken their time and molded their idealogies from being activists to administrators and then contested 2019. With the increasing fiscal deficit, weakening Rupee, and huge debt payments due from 2014 onwards, a non corrupt populist government is going to embarrass India on the world stage. So far what AAP has done is like any other political party, it has been populist and opportunistic. It just couldnt control its hormones.

Chapter 5 - Breaking Dawn II
This is not fucking Twilight that it would always end well. In all likelihood with media finding its new found love Kejriwal, AAP can definitely play a spoilsport in the future of the country. Sometimes good things at bad times do more harm than good. Hopefully due to some divine intervention, sense will prevail and we would have a stable government winning majority in 2014 and its not AAP. Hopefully people give more value to what Kiran Bedi thinks than Aamir Khan. Hopefully Prashant Bhushan speaks a lot more. Hopefully, the 10% kick some sense into some of the 90%.

Note: I have intentionally not written much about the specifics of the crappy  insensible decisions, publicity gimmicks that AAP has been involved as it is a good long list even though it is just less than a month in govt. Also it is being widely discussed across the social media.

Vantage point

Manmohan Singh : It all started with Congress sweeping the 2009 polls, emerging as the single largest party and other regional parties queuing up to ally with them for some leftover cabinet berths. The next three years have been the most uneventful years in terms of reforms and growth. He always had the coalition card as an excuse. The focus is still not on the supply side of the economy but on the subsidies and freebies. Agriculture neglected yet again in the five year plans and the numerous budgets. Nor did he push through the neo liberal reforms of FDI. 2G and CWG and madamG news came in between but could'nt shake him or wake him. or I guess madamG put him to sleep. The greatest achievement being renaming NREGA. Then came the Coalgate and the Supreme Court's directive to auction everything; minerals, land and any other resources which can by put under the hammer. Finally came the overseas magazine starring Mr. Singh "The Underachiever". He spoke against the directionless BJP defending the Coalgate which I sincerely believe had been no different if any other government were in power. Now finally he has shown some spine and pushed a couple of reforms the fuel price hike, reduce subsidies and FDIs. But it all seems to be too little too late. All other regional parties have jumped to the occasion and started playing God by demanding a rollback. The only positive I see is Mr. Singh saying "We will not budge, these are positive reforms and non-negotiable. If we go down we go down fighting".

BJP : I could have given the viewpoint from one particular leader but hey its BJP, they have not had a spearhead since the last decade. With 1,024 different PM candidates and hardly any agenda the NDA was further reduced in size in the 2009 elections. Half the campaign time was spent defending Varun Gandhi and his insanely politically stupid remarks. It has spent the next 3 years doing pretty much nothing but just wait for the Congress to blow itself up. A strategy which seemed to be working. The 2G, CWG and what not. Congress managed to do whatever it can, to give BJP a chance to deliver the KO punch. But all the attention had been diverted to Yeddy and his poojas to avert black magic. Now thats a real progressive reform for Karnataka. In came the Coalgate and the stalling of the parliament. The pure desperation of BJP for a mid term poll and their inability to defend their stance. I might be naive, but would'nt the land allocation by Modi to TATA is a similar scam as per Supreme Court's mandate? And BJP opposing FDI is the joke of the century. Can they ring up their allies in Punjab and check whats happening with the Bharati Walmart and how it impacts the supply chain. How difficult is it to understand that cutting out middlemen who offer no value addition but only price addition benefits the producer and the consumer equally. With chances of a mid term poll BJP seems to be at the same place as it was 3 years ago. Unless, it does some serious thinking who knows we might see Mulayam Singh, Didi  or Jayalalitha as the next PM.

Third Front : 2009 Elections. What the hell..! Congress got so many seats. Lets call up SoniaG and hope that we are the first to offer support so that we can get a few cabinet berths. After 3 years the state powers have changed. But a third alliance is still in the making but not distant. With thumping victories in TN, UP, WB and Bihar. The possibility of a third front is very likely. But with so many power centers, its sustainability is an issue. The funny thingfor these regional parties is that they oppose the FDI even though they have a choice not to implement it in their state, which they have declared  they wont. But they threaten to pull down the Govt on it. If they really believe that it is going to harm their people, isnt it politically wise for them to let the Congress implement it in their states. Later they can show their denial as a massive plus for their Govt. given the failure of FDI in Congress ruled states?  Finally, all of them are pretty much clues of whether they are ready for a mid term poll or not. SP though strong in the State might be able to put up the necessary numbers for a Third front in case of a mid term polls. And Mamta.. God knows what she is doing. Half the nation is Communist according to her while she runs a Govt. which dictates that the State is power supreme.

The People : 2009 was a great year for a lot of people. They got their Election bonuses: 500-5k depending on the worth of your right to vote. But 3 years down the lane, after a lot of Govt. bashing we have finally realized that change is inevitable. But I think we should be clear about why we are demanding a change. Its not because of the 2G, CWG, Coalgate. These things have happened in the past and would happen again even if either NDA or 3rdF are in power. The country would need liberal reforms to improve the efficiency of the nation building machinery. Dont forget that BJP had proposed the idea of FDI in the first place. How many LPG does a household need, definitely not 12. And stop believing the crap on FB posts that oil companies make 80000 crores in profits. So, dont be surprised if all these concerns which have popped up like the price hikes dont go away with a change in government. These are pretty much inevitable changes. What we should expect from the new government is the revival of our agriculture sector, manufacturing sector, job creation and better efficient administration to cut down losses and leakages. Thats why we would be voting again. We want a Government which would do something and not wait for things to happen. So dont panic if the next Monsoon session is wasted when the NDA passes the FDI and Congress stalls the parliament. So vote sincerely and be informed about whom you are voting for and why.

28 Rupees a day

Today is a milestone in the history of Independent India. Today is the day when the number of poor people in the country have reduced by 16% in a flash.

Believe it or not, the credit goes to the Planning Commission of India, headed by the greatest economist of all times Manmohan Singh assisted by Padma Vibhushan Montek Singh Ahluwalia. All they had to do is to calculate the poverty line again using some lame calculation by Tendulkar Commission. I must say both MSs (Mannu and Montek) have finally pulled a rabbit out of the hat. A well thought move to deceive a 100 Crore nation which would go ga-ga by just knowing that this was done by "Tendulkar". No one gives  a damn even if the calculation doesnt make any sense. Ironically the poverty line of Rs 28 is even less than Tendulkar's average during the poorest of his forms.

Another surprising fact is that these two individuals have been educated, awarded and honored by the greatest universities in the world. That gives me some confidence in the quality of education provided here in India. Both of them have studied at the University of Oxford. What gems have the institute given us. We are truely greatful to the British to send these beacons of knowledge to fuck us even after 60 years of Independence.

Is it really that tough to understand that one simply cannot survive with twenty eight fucking rupees a day. The salary of Mr. MontekJi is 1.1L a month i.e  equivalent to the amount needed for 130 people to live a comfortable life above poverty line. His tooth paste is worth 2 people for a day. Five litres of petrol in his car is worth 12 people for a day. Even his chaddi might be worth 4 people for a day.

The only thing which gives me happiness is when global leaders, IMF chairmen glorify these people for their sheer intellect. It is more of a sadistic happiness that "yes there are people who are much more stupid than us in the rest of the world". These are the people who want to take India's model of development elsewhere.

These guys have strengthened the argument that the primary education in India should be improved. I wish these guys had a better primary education to enhance their arithmetical skills. The inflation has risen by 20% in the last 1 year but the poverty line has reduced. These guys seem to be the next in line for the Nobel Prize.

"Who needs a Prime Minister who speaks when he can do miracles like these without a single word."

Literally 'Opposition'

Not a day goes by when at least five people around me would not curse the congress for its policies or arrogance. Also not a day goes by when the news channels dont get anything better to show than Rahul Gandhi's India Vihar. I hear people say that the Congress would be totally up rooted in the next elections. I beg to differ though. No matter how bad the congress is the opposition BJP just works as hard to be worse.

I think hypocrisy has been a tradition in India which is followed religiously. And in this case BJP has vowed to make sure it does not miss a chance to do so. Long gone are the days of leading by example. This is the era of 'I ll kiss my own ass' if there is some political mileage to offer.

Be it the supporting the Lokpal bill even though the post has been vacant in Gujarat for almost an eternity for no reason. Be it the anti corruption crusade against the Congress with the Yeddy and the Reddy in the background. Be it the telecom policies which the BJP had a chance to modify when in power. Be it sharing the stage with the TRS which declared that a 12% reservation to minorities would be given if Telangana was granted. And now, be it the the FDI investment in retail sector which they included in their manifesto in 2005.

BJP seems to be reading the book 'How to win an election for dummies' and are actually following it quite seriously.  Being in the opposition for decades have made them forget the logic behind an opposition. The idea of opposition which remains with them currently is 'To Oppose'. To oppose everything everytime everywhere. I doubt if they would refrain from opposing even if the government decides to build a Ram Mandir, as grand as the Colosseum, in Ayodhya.  They seem to be willing to do anything if there is even a slightest ray of hope to win an election.

On a positive note, these acts of stupidity of the Opposition have made the next elections quite balanced. There is absolutely no clear winner. 2014 is going to be the year of the bookies to cash on the act of Dumb and Dumber.

PS : This post was long due given the Congress bashing in other posts of mine. Also Digvijay Singh called me last night and threatened to write this post or else he would tag me as an Right wing terrorist.

Democracy.. My Ass : Part II

This is the first sequel of any of the posts I have written so far. What does democracy mean?

Does it mean that I need to vote as soon as I am 18. Is that it?
All I need to do is pick the least corrupt candidate in my constituency?
Does my right to raise my voice or present my opinion end there?
What the person I vote for doesn't win the election?
What if the person I vote for sells out his followers to a much more powerful party in the quest for greater power?
Above all, what if, because of the "one of the most inefficient and corrupt administration" I don't even get a voter card?

What is real democracy? How can my voice be heard? I am never called up by any News channel for my opinion? How come Mahesh Bhatt, whose sole objective of life is to make sure that you find enough sex on screen gets a chance and I dont? How come Arundhati roy, who doesnt even believe in democracy gets so many chances to lambaste democracy using the so called democracy? How come Digvijay singh gets a chance to speak his utmost stupid thoughts on national TV once every 3 days? You would find more articles on jacqueline fernandez's cleavage and Deepika padukone's boob job than what the common man of the country thinks about its government or its policies. I am literally fed up of watching the self proclaimed intellects on the various talk shows, debates, interviews etc. who doesnt have an iota of understanding of what the real India wants.

A country where you are born with the special right of "Right to give and take bribe", "Right to Corruption". Literally. The first thing you need. A birth certificate. Whom would you raise voice against? Its not an infected body part which you can amputate, its cancer, blood cancer. It runs through the whole body.

The various governments one after other have taken great pain to table and withdraw the Lokpal Bill which is thought to bring the corrupt to justice. Though none of the government succeeded in doing so. The UPA-II has certainly made progress. Not by tabling a good bill, but it surely has given relief to the common man. Now I dont feel too bad while handing over Rs 50 to the traffic constable or the passport verification officer or the civil supply officer. It is just fifty bucks, who the fuck cares in a country which wakes up to a thousand crore scam everyday. Its fucking peanuts.

Though I am not a big fan of Mahatma Gandhi, his ideals surely seem to be working well in the current scenario as well. Anna hazare, the dictator, the person who brought democracy to its knees, the stubborn arrogant Gandhian. Well, these are some of the praises the gifted intellect had to share on some of the news channels. I do hear such pleasing salutations for Mr. Modi, one of the few politicians I admire. In any case there are proven accusations against Anna Hazare's organizations of corruption amounting to 2L rupees. Please refer to Justice Sawant Commission. Does someone who might have been invloved in any corrupt activity have the moral authority to lead a crusade against corruption? I gave it a thought, the first thing that came to my mind is I am a citizen of a country which voted back Indira Gandhi to power even after she imposed emergency in hope of better governance. That says it all. Everytime someone questions the policies of the Govt. either Congress or BJP, the immediate reaction is they dig out some dirty little secret about the person and claim that he does not have the right to question their ill doings.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3y8yuMF8mf0

The video is just one masterpiece of many. Manish Tiwary, alike DigVijay Singh is a gifted intellect who you would find blabbering on the News channels very frequently.

How do I conclude my view on this ever expanding topic? The newspapers say that the middle class is supporting Anna Hazare's movement because corruption is the root cause of the country's problems. Some say that this is the Anger of the people of India which has led to the huge support Anna is getting. Some even praise the restraint and patience shown by the people. Not a single act of violence. To me this is not the anger of the people, it is HOPE that has brought housewives out of their homes, techies bunk offices, dabbawalas strike for a day, autowalas take a day off. This not anger, not at all. It is definitely hope. Imagine why would the autowalas who over charge the passengers often support something against corruption? It is just the hope that has led to this budding revolution. The hope that the next time you visit a government office, you would find the employees there by time. The hope that the next time your family member goes for a driving test all he needs is to show that he can drive a vehicle. The hope that the next time a policewala harasses you, you can fearlessly file a complaint against him.

Will all these problems be solved by a strong Lokpal? Nope. Not at all. Does all those who support the Lokpal movement actually know what the bill is about? not at all. Then what does the people expect from this? To my understanding, it is change. For a change, the corrupt must be brought to justice. For a change, the government is for the people. For a change, democracy is DEMOCRACY.

P.S : I request all the readers to go through the Government's and India Against Corruption's versions of the Lokpal Bill. Simply Wiki it. Please spread the awareness about the bill and support the versions or the amendments you would want to make with justification.

Where is the art?

The Indian "Picasso", as stated in the media today has passed away today. May his soul rest in peace.

Given my artistic quotient, I can hardly spot a difference between a painting and a movie poster. I still fail to understand why people rate Monalisa's smile as wonder. They should listen to Akshay Kumar's laugh(smile) or whatever it is in the Micromax ad. Now that's what I call is a wonder. Huhuha.. How do you type that laugh here...!!!

Not swaying away from the topic, while the artistic community mourns at Hussain's death and blames the Govt. for not doing enough to bring him back from his self exile, the govt. reaction caught my attention. As the Govt. stated " We tried to bring him back but because of the NARROW MINDEDNESS of the communal forces we were not able to". Am I narrow minded? Am I a hypocrite? I enjoyed Sheila Ki Jawani and watched while Munni was getting Badnaam and a lot more which needs to be censored here. Then why does it bother me to see the Gods & Goddesses & my own motherland being portrayed nude. I am not much of a religious person either. I absolutely have no answer to this except for saying that I support Mr. Hussain's exile. I don't think I mind being called narrow minded.

Moving our focus to the broad minded Congress. How broad minded would the Congress government be if Mr. Hussain painted Mrs. Sonia Gandhi or Mrs. Indira Gandhi in bad taste. I want to see if they would still call it art and applaud. Isn't it the Govt. which went berserk demanding an apology from an Australian RJ for calling Sheila Dixit, Di** Sh**. Where did they shove their broad mind then? I might be misinformed, but did Mr. Hussain ever apologise for his pathetic endeavor to paint everything nude which would hurt 80% of the population?

The argument "Why don't you appreciate the good paintings he made". Bull Shit. what comes to one's mind when he thinks of
1. Hansie Cronje : Bloody match fixer
2. Ramlinga Raju : Cheat
3. Nithyananda : Desperate
4. N. D Tiwari : Sexy
Are we able to see the good deeds of these people? I don't think so. And these people have not hurt the sentiments of people in the way Mr. Hussain have.

This post may be in a bad taste and at a bad time. It might have even hurt the sentiments of the artistic few, but hey grow up, don't be so narrow minded, blogging is an art.