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India Towards Good Destiny or Destruction
An NRI's view on the current political, social unrest in India
There are lot of happenings in the political arena recently. When one clearly look into the roots of these political and social problems with a neutral vision, he/she should wonder how it differs greatly from our political leaders thinking and vision.
First let us take the Telengana Issue. There is a movement by the so called Telengana politicians for a independant state. Telangana Rashtriya Samithi leader K.Chandrasekhara Rao started a indefinite hunger strike two days ago but he ended it on 24th. Nobody knows why he suddenly understood the importance of the Telangana issue after enjoying 2 years of cabinet berth, charged the congress with negligence on Telangana issue, started a hunger strike and quit the strike in just 2 days time.
It is clearly evident that political and social tolerance rate have come down drastically in India. When Chandrababu was ruling Andhra Pradesh this same guy enjoyed everything as a Minister until he quit and formed TRS in 2001 August. I just wonder what he has contributed to the Telanga region till 2001 in the capacity as a minister. During the Chandrababu rule of Andhra Pradesh, their coalition partner BJP opposed the formation of Telangana but now they encourage Chandrasekhara Rao just to gain political advantage.
The states of Jharkhand, Uttaranjal were also formed purely for cheap political reasons and this has flamed the cause for Telangana, a Tamilnadu split movement by Pattali Makkal Katchi Ramadoss. These so far dormant forces have gained control due to the instability in the central government in the past 10 years due to minority or coalition governments. The Tamil Ealam supporting leaders in Tamilnadu are also gaining control due to the present power changes in Tamilnadu. The big question is whether these political leaders really reflect the wish of the people? Nobody is bothered about "What do the majority of the masses think about these issues". When big countries like East and West Germany integrated into one country, North and South Korea are discussing about Unification, the separatist movements are gaining control in India and if allowed may result in atleast 50 states in the next couple of decades.
There may not be a different opinion that if the majority of the people favour a cause, that needs to be considered in a democracy like India. But there is more visibility to few leaders than the actual opinions of the public. Before taking any strategic decisions the people's mandate should be taken into account like how the European Countries conduct a mandate where the public are allowed to vote. That way we usually come to know what majority of the people support rather listening to these cheap politicians.
If people start thinking that they can't live together because of cultural or linquistic differences, this will lead to more disintegration and will hamper growth since all the states in India depend on each other for their better living. Even with the current system of states established several decades ago, there are water issues existing between Tamilnadu and Karanata, Karnataka and AndhraPradesh and everywhere else. There were bitter agitations by the nationalistic forces in the past over these water issues and I sometimes felt that whether Tamilnadu and Karnataka are federal states inside a democracy or they are two rival countries. If the Telengana politicians can't tolerate within the current state of AndhraPradesh and they split, these water and resource problems will arise between the newly forming state and Andhra Pradesh.
The Central Government is also to blame since it has not evenly contributed to the growth of the country as a whole. Over the past 61 years after independance most of the resources and funds were diverted to only few states and were dominated by politicians mainly from the north. This is one big criticism by the souther politicians for most of the agitations. Though we boast about a Federal Democracy, there is more power concentrated at the centre. Whenever the states are ruled by opposition parties other than that ruling at the centre, those states were mostly rejected by the central government and this fuels the regional public's anger.
Some few ways to be considered by the parliament and our leaders.
Quality Still a long way in India
I bought a semi formal Bata shoe recently around April end, 2006, in a show room in Madurai, India.
The shop attender praised this model as using original Italian leather and more buzz about the comfort and quality. Traditionally I use to buy my shoes either in Bata or Woodlands in India since the shoes I bought in Japan are not fitting my size properly.
I bought a just introduced model, (I don't remember the model name though) for a price of around Rs. 899 (typical Bata pricing) which is really bit expensive for an Indian. It bears a tag no. 801-4355 9
It is a brown color shoe with visible stitches around, just above the sole. I moved to Japan and started using it. After just 10 days, there was a heavy rain in Osaka and my shoes got wet. From the next day onward, I start getting a whispering sound on the right shoe, while walking. It was quite annoying and I inspected the bottom, sides of the shoe but to be left with no clue. I tied the lace in various ways but it never stopped. But I kept using it since it is a new one and I don't want to throw it out cheaply. Another rain came after a month's time, I got wet and the whispering sound is gone from then.
But the really story started later. After two months of using it, there was a very seasonal rainfall in Japan in July. Water was flowing everywhere though there is no stagnate. I got out of Morinomiya station and after just walking 100 metres, I feel like walking inside buckets, one on each leg. I went home, removed my shoes only to find that my leg and socks are completely soaked in water. Water has entered into the shoes through all the fashionary stitches above the sole in the shoe. Same story the next day also.
And day before yesterday, I suddenly got severe pain in my heels on both the legs. I suspected everything right from sugar complaint other than this shoe. I did some home treatment putting hot water to heal the pain. And accidentally I checked the bottom of the shoe sole today only to get shocked that the sole cover has peeled off showing the honeycomb structure inside with stones and dust inside. Now I know the reason for my heels pain.
When the whole world is crying for quality products, Bata really sucked my foot and I think I will never get into a Bata showroom from now onward at least for Formal shoes. I have no complaints with Power Sneakers though.
I'm not going to lodge a complaint since I live now in Japan. Even if I take the shoe and throw it on the face of that sales guy back in Madurai, he will tell number of reasons right from I don't know how to walk, I mishandled the shoe, I am not supposed to wear it on a rainy day, I just wonder whether the life of a Bata shoe is just 90 days ?
Everyday I wear this shoe only during weekdays, that too to just walk about 2 kilometres everyday.
I just felt that it is a long way for the Indian companies to get quality conscious before their global competitors sweep away the market.
As Advani stated July 11 is a very sad day in the history of India as much sad as September 11 is for the US. It is a very coward act by terrorists and the world community should stay together to fight them down.
It is not the first time that Mumbaities are facing such a tragedy. It has happened before in Mumbai few years ago but the people are very bold and they came up successfully.
These recent bomb blasts are surely the act of terrorists with the support of countries like Pakistan but the western powers are mum about this including the US. This raises many concerns about the way the current Congress government and our previous governments have handled this issue and the whole Kashmir issue which is said to be the main cause for all these activities.
The terrorists are getting hold to other parts of the country and it is time these politicians understand the real problem and address it properly rather digging their head into dirty communal politics
The one big problem with Indian politicians is they never take any stubborn decision to any threats. They are also not very clear in their foreign policy.
An iron hand like the US is needed to address these issues and remove the roots of terror from Indian soil.
I hope the Government of India and the current leadership wake up at the earliest and protect its people and its growing economy
After a long struggle, at last the Government of India has approved contracts to two different private entities to take care of the modernisation of Delhi and Mumbai airports on a profit sharing agreement. Though the Left parties and Labour Unions foul cry about foreign companies taking over the Indian airports, I personally feel that this is a very bold step but taken very late. With its emerging economy and positioning itself as a global leader, India needs good airport facility to promote both FDI and tourism. I wish atleast this generation in India will get better airports like Changi International Airport Singapore.
I also wish that the Government considers privatisation of Chennai and Bangalore airports where there is lot more Automibile and IT companies.
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