Assorted ideas

Guys, before I start this weeks articles let me say that I have recd a great response to my article about Narendra Modi last week. The only other time I have had this kind of response is the article about Sanjay Dutt, (click here to read the Sanjay Dutt article)

All except for two readers thought that I was someone who didn't know his front side from his back side and that Modi had done wonders for the state. I asked all of them to send me any articles they could about Modis contribution towards the state except the standard unsubstantiated rhetoric we see all over the place so that I could convince myself that I was not an pre opinionated SOB.

One person wrote to me on the 12th asking me to check the Eco times of the previous day if I wanted proof of what Modi had done. I checked the 11th and then the 10th to make sure I wasn't wrong. All I found was an article about the growth of the Hospitality Industry in Gujarat.

I don't think under any remote circumstance I can link that to Modi's credit. I have personally worked with companies like Reliance, Ashapura and Gujarat Ambuja and I know how much the heads of those companies have done for Gujarat. There is another bunch of companies whose MDs, Chairmen and boards went all out during the earthquake relief and none of that too can be can be credited to Modi.

Neither can the growth that Gujarat has always enjoyed including things like being a state which encouraged Private ports , encouraged petrochem and textiles and other industries which have all steadily contributed to a stream of cash inputs into the state be credited to Modi and his ilk.

Please , anyone who can find any thing which I can credit to his name directly send me the link / article and lets get the record straight on this.

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I heard a new radio channel on 104.8 Mhz Mumbai FM a couple of days ago, David Ogilvy once said if you cant think of anything to put in an ad put a sock in it. They have certainly put a sock in it by calling themselves the first channel for only women or something to that effect.

I would definitely have known this is an only women's channel even if they had not announced it since this seems to be the only channel which plays songs without saying what they are...there's no " now Gloria Estifan with Conga, etc etc"

There is a VJ on it called Nikki. This girl seems to have lost her passport in USA (Ulhasnagar Sindhi Association) since that is the only explanation for that accent which seems to jump in and out. Frankly, methinks she should stick to Hindi since I just heard her in it and she's not half bad when she's talking Hindi.

She came up with a topic 3 days or so ago about how men think women are inferior. (scratching my head) I don’t see an all male channel. If you reserve something means even if you don’t say it you are making a declaration. Reservations are meant for weaker sections.

Then the next day she had a topic about how women are better at time management. I think she meant better at multitasking but had her terms wrong. I agree women are better at multitasking but time management...........ask any husband who's ready and waiting for his wife to dress up when they have to go out.

I would also wish someone gave her a script. Its so sad when a DJ keeps blathering on just since they cant think of what to say next.

Now you would ask me if I don’t like it why do I listen to it, no the reason is not that I'm a machoistic B**t**d but rather that the person who chooses the songs to play for the channel deserves an award. The songs are out of this world.

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I just read about a railway accident where a school bus was hit by a railway engine. It seems that there was a schoolbus which was stopped at a railway crossing since they were expecting a train.

There was thick fog and the driver of the schoolbus thought he was running late so he forced the railway crossing guard to open the gate. He started crossing and then saw that the Satluj express was suddenly looming from the fog. He jumped out and ran. The end of the bus was hit full on by the railway engine causing massive loss of life and property.

Now we hear that the bus driver has been charged with only culpable homicide not amounting to murder was registered against the bus driver.

Now I hear that the Punjab Government has announced an exgratia compensation of Rs 1 Lakh and Laloo Prasad on behalf of the railways Rs. 5 Lakhs per person.

All over the world a payment of compensation means some kind of responsibility or guilt. does that mean that the Punjab Government is guilty or that the railways are guilty or even that we the honest tax payer are guilty since its our tax rupees that are making the kitty from which these payments are being made.

YES, WE ARE GUILTY !!!!!

We are guilty of keeping quiet everytime a BEST bus runs a red light since he is late. We are guilty everytime we see an autorickshaw push across 2 inches of space at a red light. We are guilty everytime we get into a rickshaw and he drives like its the last lap at Le Mans and we keep quiet saying "time kon waste karega" ( who will waste their time explaining to them)

I would plead with all of us let us take those 2 minutes out to stop these and other such incidents otherwise next time it may be you or me on the receiving end of the ex gratia payment and I for one would give up all the money in the world just to ensure that I am not in that position.

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Lastly, I am ready to give a big fat cigar to anyone who can explain this picture to me. How can
anyone get a permission for such a large hoarding on top of a milk booth in Juhu. If I'm not wrong milk booths are on public property ( in this case a road)

Don't backlit hoardings with so many tubelights inside need three phase meters? How did a booth justify the need for a three phase meter ? (click on pic to see in greater detail)

If you look carefully the hoarding is so large, the booth looks like its an afterthought tagged to the bottom of the hoarding. I'm sure that the owner must makes tonnes more money from this hoarding every month than he ever could selling milk.

Its enough for me to consider chucking my business and becoming a doodhwalla (milkman)

The gujarat effect & the senior citizen bill

Guys, I've been a bit busy in the last couple of weeks and I thank all my readers who have written in to ask about whats happening. The two articles below may not be to everyones taste , so please readers caution

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The first thing I would like to talk about is of course our dear friend Mr. Modi. I really don't understand what we are doing in India.

On one hand we have a state of people who have made themselves a success by being a minority in other countries, who can forget the Patels of Uganda and now the UK or the Potels (Motels owned by Patels) which dot the US countryside. Money pouring in from every part of the world from their largest export i.e. human beings.

On the other hand we have the same community acting like savages to the minorities in their state.

How else would you describe the answer that Modi got when he asked the question about what should the Gujarat police have done with a man who was fond with an AK 47. The answer was a resounding reply of KILL HIM!!! KILL HIM!!!!

WAIT A MINUTE !!!!!

Wasnt Sanjay Dutt found with an AK 56, what would the followers advocate for Sunjay Dutt. would it be the same blood thirsty cries or is that reserved only for the minorities.

Its sheer madness, the kind of mass stupidity that has hit the Gujaratis. Do they feel invulnerable. Don't they realise that they themselves are a minority in almost all parts of the world and it was a small rich minority which was targeted by the Nazis when they needed a fcal point.

The fact that the menu at the top of Mount Tittilis in Switzerland now offers Gurarati dishes just goes to show the extent to which the community has ingrated itself with the furtherest parts of the world but does not really say anything about the greatness of the community. After all he who pays the piper plays the tune and frankly the gujaratis have the money today.

The images of the Gujaratis was already one of a noveau riche likeable buffoon and does not need a black spot of being a race of bigots. (please read my article Mob Frenzy about details of how Modi and his bunch of thugs behaved during the riots)

Since a leader is someone chosen by the masses, this article is an appeal to all the sensible minded people in Gujarat to push the likes of Modi and all out so that the gujaratis can go back to what they know best which is making money and spreading the culture of "dokhla patra and dandiya raas" to every corner of the world.

Guys, if you are in Gujarat please do vote for ANYONE EXCEPT Modi and his bunch of goons just to ensure that we do not get the beginnings of a new Third Reich in India.

Dont forget one of Hitlers major sucess factors was he turned a nation against a single minority community and was responsible for 6 million people being murdered right out in front of the eyes of a nation which cheered on just like Modi's hordes did.

This self same nation is not one of idiots but one which has produced some of the worlds intellectual giants like Albert Einstien and Friedrich Neitzsche.

All it took was the silence of a few good men when the brownshirts first marched through the streets of Germany.

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Theres another little item I would like to draw the attention of my readers to. There is a new bill bill passed called "The Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Bill, 2007"

I am not against this Bill per se but I have a few problems with it.

For those not in the know , the Bill talks about how the elderly in our society need our protection. It talks about how elderly homes need to be setup, methordology for taking back property already conveyed to children, etc.

Now to the problems I have with it.

First of all , the Bill is a clear shirking of duties of the Government which is putting the whole onus of taking care of the elderly onto us the citizens. It talks about how elderly homes "may" be put up bythe state government instead of "will" be put up. Anyone who knows our Indian Government clearly knows where this is heading.

The second issue I have is with the phrasing of the bill that if the child knows he / she will benefit after the death of the parent, then it becomes their responsibility to take care of the parent. Now this is confusing me, I know of loads of parents who hold the will as a stick over their childrens' heads.

My grandfather changed his will at least 10 times and each time kept it a secret but hinted at its contents, does this mean that everytime he changed his will the son who was earlier responsible for his well being , no longer became responsible and the new one became responsible in his place.....let me illustrate this.

Mr. A has 2 sons and a daughter. His sons are informed that the property is in their name after his death so they are now LEGALLY ( not just morally anymore) responsible to take care of him. Ten years later, he has a change of heart due to some antics of one of his grandsons ( not the sons mind you and by now hes close to 80 at which time everything a grandchild does is considered antics), so he removes the names of one of his sons and replaces it with his daughter name.

This creates two issues, one the son who looked after him for 10 years is now LEGALLY not responsible for him anymore and if we were to understand the spirit of the law has looked after him for no benifit, secondly the daughter who may or may not have looked after him at all is now 50% responsible for his well being and will benefit from the 10 years of looking after that the earlier son had done....fun isnt it

My third issue with the system itself. As I said there are loads of parents who even today threaten their children about cutting them out of their wills at a moments notice. Loads of parents throw their children out of their homes, I am a living example of this.

If we are considering responsibilities of children towards parents, it should be counter balanced with responsibilities of parents towards children. Lets get a counter law in place which says if a parent has had his few minutes of pleasure to procreate (and let no one here deny that the sexual act which went towards the procreation was pleasurable), if a parent has paraded a child out to all and sundry as THEIR CHILD ( treating them a little better than their other possessions like THEIR Mercedes and THEIR Nokia N95s) then they are legally responsible for them. For providing them with equal if not better than they would for themselves.

In the US you have a child services branch of social services branch of the government which does just this, if we wish to ape the west as regards elderly laws , we should ape them as regards child services too.

Unfortunately ours is a stupid society which has leaders like Bhishma pitama as their role models who stood by and watched the derobing of one of his quasi daughter in laws, a society which condones the test of walking through fire of a woman just because a gossip monger says something.

The issue is as simple as we have dothering old idiots in our parliment who are identifying with the older generation and therefore we get such silly one sided laws.

Get some younger blood in there, someone who has gone through trials of fire that the insecurity of todays multi crore dewelling bring into the oldies eyes and perhaps one day we will see a law which actually works instead of a gross waste of the taxpayers time like this one is.