Bad Company

Sorrow, Sadness, my long lost friends,

Wherefrom you come, where did you go?

Missed you I have not; longed for you, no;

But here you are now, right by my side, why?

Joy, Happiness, where have you been?

With me for a while but now not to be seen;

Yonder I search longing for you

Nay do I find in the slightest hue.

Raping the Nation - I

One of the things I am particular about, especially when I am in Bangalore is to ensure my bus conductor gives me a proper ticket for small point travel I use the BMTC for. I have seen a lot of conductors who love to discount you (~25%) on small trips and pocket the money without issuing a ticket.

I figure it is much better to pay the BMTC the full fare so they will continue to be profitable as they are and the conductor in question will have his job and therefore a fully monthly income longer. That is definitely far better than pocketing pennies now.

This narrow mindedness is a rampant problem in India pervading many areas of our society especially governance.

One of those programs I like to lean on is the NREGS scheme that has been adding to our budget deficit for two years now - and looks like its gonna be around a while longer - unless the Congress and its cronies are thrown out of office. Here, they dole out public money to what is at best their targeted vote bank - the famous AAM ADMI. Besides this being a blatant democratic violation of a country's franchise rights; this policy in turn carves out a lethargic people. Besides this what about inflation. When you flood the economy with money it is but natural that inflation gets pushed up and that is what we are seeing here (besides supply side constraints). And there is a shortage of human resources - farm hands - for the private sector because anyone who works in caught up with the NREGS where you report and spend the time chatting away with friends. This in-turn pushes private sector labour costs up contributing further to inflation.

Then there was this big load write -off which benefited a lot of non-deserving people and created a people who borrow and then wait for the government to write off rather than pay back. While you are at it, keep in mind that the culture of paying back was one nurtured by our banks with a lot of effort. And how these guys come into office and write off thousands of crores (a lot from those who could have paid back) - why? All for a vote, for love of power, for love for the chair these guys warm - nothing else. And at what incredible cost.

UPA II has been on a "raping the nation" journey from the day the came to power. Woe to us for thinking the likes of the Prime Minister had his good sense about him anymore. The agenda of the government is horrifying and I fear the more we let them continue the more they will rape this poor nation which would otherwise have been on its way to true growth, international recognition and success.

Can these guys please stand up, accept they can't manage this anymore, step down and force a new election? That would indeed be the best they can do.

Hi. Hello

Hi.

I'm back online / on line.

Now I come with one doubt - when Mr. Bell invented the telephone, he didn't say "Hello, Hello" first, right, did he? Then why is it that we almost invariably do that now. Of course I have some emancipated friends who use their names but lets say 8 in 10 say "Hello". Count me first.

Then there are some who take their voices to be so recognizable with that one word that they expect you to be able to identify who they are with those two syllables. Now, I must remind you that I live in a world where Caller ID is not yet taken for granted and was still charged for till recently. And these amazing callers congratulate themselves on being able to identify who picked up the phone - now come on man, you call home and the probability of the male voice answering the phone is 1 against my wondering who the caller is - where my chances of identifying are 1 in 7 Bn. (by Nov. 2011) - now I know I am not that famous but at least give me 1 in a 1000 for a little respect.

That is what the simple "Hello" thinks of itself.

Anyways, after the little lashing I had to vent out, here is a simple HELLO - I'm back Online