Most of you know that this is where I work, for the rest here is our website:
Hope you find it interesting enough to support , visit, encourage and recommend.
Most of you know that this is where I work, for the rest here is our website:
Hope you find it interesting enough to support , visit, encourage and recommend.
You’ve always been my most ardent fan – not the googly eyed variety, but the serious kind -the kind that can and most inevitably will give sharp feedback when warranted.
There were a few sharp reactions to this tweet-o-mine, as might be naturally expected when you solve a centuries old problem in the space of 140 characters. The one reaction that I remember came from a dear old friend of mine Prabhu Narasimhan.His take on this was that education & healthcare are fine but what India really needs is a mature and clean Polity first and foremost.Now this chap, has and remains, in my short life, the most difficult person to win an argument against , and therefore I was pretty happy at his reaction because on this I feel I have a winnable argument.
To state my case:
Is an honest and mature Polity likely to solve all of India’s problems ? That’s too loaded a statement to merit a serious answer, because while clearly there can only be an affirmative answer to this question, it automatically begs the question -how do we put in place a mature and honest Polity?
My bet is that an honest and mature polity can never really come about as a result of a lone crusade led by a JP or an Anna Hazare. It comes about gradually :-
All of this takes time, and more importantly, it takes an educated electorate to react consistently over a period of time to bunglers, cheats and lazy bureaucrats/politicians. It’s only after these bunglers/cheats/indolents realize that the electorate won’t reward them any further for shabby and slipshod work willl they be prodded to change themselves, And this is why I feel that without a redoubled effort to educate our masses on their civil responsibilities and duties; on the rights conferred to them by our constitution; we can never (not in the distant future , not decades from now, not in a rosy scenario a few years down the line, but NEVER!) arrive at a day when we have an honest and Mature Polity in place.
That’s my education angle.
The healthcare angle is something I feel even more strongly about. India can never catapult itself into its glory days without addressing its severe lack of effort in the healthcare space. Having stayed for more than three years in Sub-Saharan Africa , I feel entitled to my opinion that Indians deserve better healthcare than they have access to today. I feel this way because we have access to better doctors than sub-Saharan Africans have access to, and yet, our average healthcare facilities are at best at par with facilities there and in most cases – shame on us – worse than theirs. Oh yes, the best healthcare facilities we Indians have access to is definitely slightly better than the best facilities sub-Saharan Africans have access to , but that isn’t much to be proud of !
Also, in a couple of years from now, given our tendency to gloat when we shouldn’t, I wouldn’t even bet on this last scenario being true anymore.
That’s my healhtcare angle.
Let’s just get these two things right, because frankly no one has even bothered to do anything on these issues till date.
Today’s commemorating Freddie mercury is possibly one of their best ever…
check it out HERE now, before they archive it!
[Aside] Time was when I used to recommend reading ToI Editorials as a good starting point to improve one’s English, those days are gone as there were no less than 15 uncapitalized “i”s in this particular editorial. IMHO this smacks of a casual attitude of the ToI editorial staff rather than on Dr. Bedi . I think Times of India needs to wake up, smell the coffee and hire at least one proof reader [/Aside]
Just a few months ago I think the silent Singh had transformed his public image from a toothless follower of Madam Sonia’s diktats and had slowly but surely clawed his way to being counted amongst India’s most successful PMs on most parameters. That today he is back to square one must rest largely on his disappointingly silent demeanour on the unfolding CWG and 2G scams.
I had crossed swords with Indian Mainstream Media (as had most of Indian twitterati worldwide) when the 2G spectrum story was almost with disdainful ease killed by the Indian Media. That the 2G case might well ring a death knell for UPA-2 is comforting if only from the perspective that voices outside of Government and Mainstream Media still can and do make themselves heard in India. This was obvious a few months ago when Anna Hazare inspired thousands (if not millions) to question the current government’s record on anti-corruption.
However, I think Dr. Bedi makes some strikingly telling points when she insists that Dr. Singh must not remain silent any longer. You, Dr. Manmohan Singh, must apologize to the nation , take stock of their displeasure, outline a time-bound game plan for the balance 600 days or so that remain of your tenure, AND for God’s sake be the face of your government for the rest of your term because, much as I admire Pranab Mukherjee, P.Chidamabaram , Kapil Sibal, Manish Tiwari and gang for their erudition , they do not have your stature and therefore they cannot substitute the effectiveness of a message that comes directly from your mouth.
Also Dr. Singh, I think that you must do this quickly before your stature drops below their’s, and quite frankly, If you don’t have anything to say to us of note this 15th August , you would, as they say, have missed the bus.
Jai Hind!!
[Aside]Have been wearingly busy these last few days trying to cap a crucial month close, and what with a planned fly-by-wire trip to India to perform my Mom’s (peace be upon her) Shraadh ceremony[/Aside]
Today,at lunchtime, I got a call from a junior at IIFT, Archit Tiwari – absolutely ecstatic at having made it through to Olam in the lateral placements and , boy, did that take me right back to the same moment almost three years back !!
I remember that:
Ok, here goes in a bit more detail than I did in this POST , and forgive the venom (if you find any, I’ve tried hard not to show the bile & vitriol within). I’ve snipped out the unnecessary witticism and the overtly self-aggrandizing tone that I’d in mind when I started writing this post, because since then several things have happened :
First :
If you’ve been living under a rock( that’s most people in India who’re following the mainstream media or MSM) take a look first up at #barkhagate on Twitter. For good measure be sure to look up also #mediamafia ; #MSMSux ; #haramipatrakar & #Barkharadia, any or all of these will be the next top trending hashttag on Twitter if anything goes wrong, also I’m sure the twitterati is in no mood to relent until our Mainstream Media picks up this story in good faith and carries stories that have substance. So far, the count is poor on this. Have a look at the endless links, articles, twisecracks, twarcasms, twebates and twitterness generally thats unfolding on Twitter.
Second:
Take a moment and forget everything you just read
Now, here goes:
Barkha Dutt, Vir Sanghvi, Rajdeep Sardesai, Prabhu Chawla were involved in conversations with one Radio Nadir (Or Niira Radia ) who happens to be corporate PR lobbyists number one!! (or pick a large negative number to indicate that she talks at least with everybody who is anybody and their relatives )
No hassles so far, She’s a PR person (Ms Radio Nadir), they’re journos, if they didn’t talk it wud be silly to expect either of ’em to get on with their jobs, what’s the fuss all about anyway??
To follow the drama, lets introduce the cast (and acronyms):
WTA are alleging she used her influence/ PR skills/ maybe the bank accounts of her Corporate Honcho backers/ and even apparently on occasion intervention of god-like real people to influence:
If this group (WTA) are right and there has been quid pro quo, it’s illegality (?) , unethicality and a whole host of similar things that WTTHJ are responsible for and an example has to be made..oh yeah!!!
If not, then they (WTTHJ ) can have free reign and continue to go back to life as usual doing what they’ve always done, and they WTA, especially WTT, stand to be ridiculed shamed and pounced upon for having raised inane and trivial doubts without first:
a) verifying facts
b) waiting for a proper judicial enquiry and court verdict
c) generally being mean, unresponsive to logic and boorish
d) not considering the larger ramifications of spouting venom/enthusiasm/cleverness-and-a-half without restraint
e) engaging in a trial by media/twitter as you prefer
Right??!!
I think it doesn’t quite work that way , my points first off are:
If you’re convinced of this, and nothing I say can add value, please feel free to stop reading this blog right now, and Goodbye & Goodnight to you!
[Incidentally , this is Barkha Didi’s favourite way of debating, not mine, so show/reserve you vitriol for her. Or did you already do so on Twitter ?? LOL ]
An example, like it or leave it, to prove the above is naturally one of the aforementioned WTTHJ , viz. Barkha Dutt. – by her own admission on her twitter account she hates being made the face of this( Poor Lady!).Personally, I would have rather made Prabhu Chawla the face of this (despite not having heard his conversations / completely read his transcripts ) because if there is even a merest molecule of impropriety in his handling of this sordid affair then shakes my confidence in one of Indian Journalisms finer gems (my confidence in MSM was next to zero since the year 2000 anyways, and those who follow this blog will know I refer to our media’s shoddy and incompetent turn out during the IC 814 hijacking) but then let’s be honest, he’s not as well known as BD is.
And in either case, when the story broke , late as it did, and on twitter , why was he silent if he was so above board???
Since, I proceed with what could be construed as a personal attack against someone, let me clarify (I am not afraid of anyone suing me , may they feel free to send me legal notices till doomsday, and am confident of my chances in any court, even Indian ones, never mind how slow or arbitrary their processes may be !!) that I shall proceed with extreme caution henceforth to ensure I don’t in this post violated any of points (a), (c) & (d) above, EVEN if I have in recent past on twitter (And I have not!). As of now, point (b) doesn’t concern me , not for the point I’m trying to make; and as for (e), well there is such a thing as karma in this world and what goes around comes around especially for our friend Barkha Dutt (BD) , so again not unduly bothered about violating point (e).
1) Prima facie the tapes , especially those involving BD don’t seem to indicate much too much wrong doing by either Vir Sanghvi or BD. But they are definitely not sounding like neutral Journalists , With Barkha Dutt sounding exactly like the pro-congress stooge that many of us (And i don’t mean Hindutva agenda pushers when I say we, because I am not one) think she is, NOR despite disclaimers , has Vir Sanghvi’s actions/ writings in real life off the tapes matched up to his stated explanation.
2) The larger point that I believe most sane voices on Twitter are repeatedly stressing is that this not about the tapes at all , and certainly nothing personal against that incompetent, irresponsible and highly biased journalist whom we all commonly know by name of Barkha Dutt (my opinion , which I am willing to defend in court backed with facts !!)
She remains till date the face of Indian Journalism. And while it was awe inspring when she was sitting next the LATE Vikram Batra and he said ” Yeh Dil Maange More !”
It has’nt remained all that awe inspiring as the years unfolded. The wrinkles have appeared , the scowl is revealed , and now the sham it’s based on stands exposed as well !
Oh Yes Barkha Didi …
We The Tweeple (WTT) remember Kargill
(Though there are those amongst us who would find cause to fault you on your conduct there as well , I let that ball drop for the moment)
WTT also remember IC 814
And the Mumbai Bombings of 2006
And the Mumbai attacks of 26/11
And We’ve seen and been disgusted by the way you conduct “We, The People”
And We’ve seen you defending yourself these past few days on twitter
And We’re not impressed
And We’re not happy
And We’ve seen you attacking and coercing blogs off air in the past
And We’re not scared of you, or NDTV, or your lawyers
And We’re Disappointed, with the media in general
And YOU in particular
And We’re disgusted at all these scams
And We’ll get to tweeting on them as well
And We’re going to speak out
And We’ll do it on twitter
And We’ll do it on our blogs
And We’ll trend #barkhagate
And when it fails We’ll trend #mediamafia
If that fails We’ll trend #MSMsux or #haramipatrakr or #BarkhaRadia but We’ll not let it go this time
And We hate A Raja too , and like you (say publicly) We’d like to see him in court.
But We’d like to see you in court as well if you’ve done something wrong.
And We’ll certainly respect you no more even if you haven’t done anything illegal in this Radio Nadir (Niira Radia) tapes scandal, because your actions haven’t been all that conscionable
And you dont reserve Our respect and never have for , well, it’s been years now
We’re sick and ashamed of the Indian mainstream media
And We shall concern ourselves no more with egotistical, insufferables EGOs like yours, unless it is to bring them down a peg or two.
This post is finished.
Feel free to let the comments pour, and i will respond to each if required, at my own leisure
(Because frankly, I’m nauseous and I must leave now and throw up all I’ve eaten since morning )