Tuesday, November 4, 2008

A New Era In America

What people had hoped and prayed for has come true - it is President Obama in the US! But is it mere symbolism like a woman President in India and a powerful woman Prime Minister could not change the low status of women in general, will Obama too be a mere symbol of the emancipation of coloured people in America- only time will tell. although Obama is said to be the 'best public speaker' that was seen in a long time, the speech that made me want to curl up and die in shame was the speech of McCain, accepting defeat. When we compare it with the attitude of the losers among Indian politicians. McCain made it clear that he would work with Obama for the country that "we both love". Here the country is greater than the party ideology greater than individual beliefs.
In our country all the opposition does is try to hurl accusations on the elected leader from day one. Remember when Sonia's PM ship was considered and there was a lot of mud slinging all around and debate on outsiders etc. Then even after Manmohan Singh became PM there was a lot of ridicule about him being a loyalist of the Gandhi family and a shadow of Sonia Gandhi. The one point program of the opposition is ti reinstate themselves in power from day one. There is no intention of working for the country together with the party that has won. I admit that there was a lot of mud slinging in the US elections too but the defeat speech brought forward what is the most important thing that this fight was about - America. This concern for the country above victory and defeat is what is lacking in our politicians.
My best wishes for Obama may is world view benifit all and bring peace and prosperity in our world.

Saturday, November 1, 2008

Are We Like That Only?

Rohit and 2b's momma has got me thinking and the questions that come to my mind cannot be addressed in the comments section. Rohit you are right, how come these goon have so many supporters. It is very well to shrug off the responsibility from the ordinay Indian and blame the politicians but how come these same politicians win the elections? For every Maharashtrian who decries the violence there are ten who think that outsiders have to go. I remember a time when Bal Thackeray was at his peak and Amitabh Bachhan was shown bending down double to greet him! At that time I had felt a little uncomfortable to see that as I am a die hard Amitabh fan and I could not stand the Sena chief and what he stood for. These guys become so powerful and us Indians are to be blamed, how come their politics of hate attract so many votes? Are we Indians harbouring hate for each other while professing unity and nationalism? Are we then pitted against each other in reality?
That is the reason why it will be of no use to ban these organizations. That is why they hold us in ransom, that is why they and not our police and administration will 'let' us celebrate our festivals. After all this is a government of the people and by the people, instead of pointing fingers at the Congress and the Maharashtra Government we should turn it on ourselves, we, the people of India are responsible for this horrific characters who derive their powers from us. The college boys who pulled the labourer out of the train and lynched him were the marathi manoos whom Raj has targetted and there are enough of this variety around to make him win the elections. Will the sane Maharashrian please come out of their houses and make a decisive vote against these goons? Nope, I doubt it. Rohit, you are right we Indians are the pits.
2bs momma, the young in New Zealand are as restless as our youth but their destructive energies are channelised to only certain forms of protest. The problem in India is the size of this restless population which must be double the size of the entire population of that country! The people as a body have to play a greater role in curding this restlessness. If the govt is assured that if it puts its foot down it will actually win the elections then it will do so. In India's case the administration is not sure what the people want. Raj Thackeray should have had serious charges put against him but his supporters convinced the govt that the vote bank is behind him and therefore he was let off. If the administration would react as a rational human being and come to the public and justify its stand then Raj would have been vanquished. By acting in the way it did, the Maharashtra govt has jeopardized its own position and shown Raj T to be very powerful so much so that he is the one assuring the Bihari people that there will be no problem during the Chhat celebrations while the law and order system watches mutely. Clearly Raj and his goons are already running the city and the govt is not even ashamed of the fact.