Breaking News : Obama trounces Pt.Bhimsen Joshi

India's highest civilian award bestowed on a maestro, who has spent his entire life nurturing the soon to be lost treasure of Hindustani Classical music, on the same day as arguably the worlds most influential (if not powerful) nation went on to elect a new President.
***
And had you turned on any channel, i bet my savings (cause i don't have any now) that you will see a complete run down on Barack Obama, his parents, his birth, his upbringing, his family, his non-existent political resume, his perfect electoral campaign and his historic win as the first ever Black president of the USA. Our own hero, a full 36yrs elder to Obama, with an impressive resume, found cursory mention on one Marathi Channel during news for a full 5mins. No "Vishesh", no breaking news, no special reports, no programs charting the course of the Maestro's journey so far!!
***
The print media was much more caring going out of their way and printing the news on front page with the Maestro's picture in some corner. The web again, for example, ibnlive.com, were perfect twins to the TV. No news, no pictures, nothing. I actually searched on "Bhimsen" on ibnlive.com to look for the news and all i found was 5 lines!
***
So much for national pride! When India was all gung ho about Obama and the channels were analysing what he could do or not do for India, the Bharat Ratna was reduced to a mere piece of insignificant news. It was just such a non-event! If world today is a global village, the celebrations at the main square seem to be attracting all the attention. Wonder if Pt.Bhimsen Joshi would want it if he were younger/healthier and more aware of the current goings.

Up against Maharashtra & Maharashtrian's?

Its always comes a full circle. Time to say thank you to Raj Thackrey for making lives of scores of Maharashtrian's, making a living outside Maharashtra, so unsafe. The rampage of the goons of MNS is sponteneous outburst of the long neglected Marathi youth and its actually only irritating. They break public property and beat up the innocent. I dread to imagine the retaliation Maharashtrian's in Bihar, MP & UP will have to face if the local goons in Patna or Ranchi start their version of these sponteneous outbursts! (Thank heavens there aren't many jobs in these states due to years of neglect!) Most of our so called Marathi leaders will sit in their comfy homes in Mumbai and dare the Bihari's remotely. Not one will dare step into Bihar to defy them and protect the Marathi's. It was just yesterday that i was chatting with a few friends when we were dreading such a backlash and its actually happened!
***
Jamshedpur: Security was tightened at Telco township after the residence of the plant head of Tata Motors S B Borwankar was ransacked allegedly by activists of Bharatiya Bhojpuri Sangh (BBS).
They said the activists ransacked the residence of Borwankar, who is a resident of Maharashtra, to protest against the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena's (MNS) assault on North Indian job seekers in the railways in Mumbai.
Deputy Superintendent of Police Madhusudan Bari said, "more than 100 activists armed with lathis gathered in front of Borwankar's bungalow and climbed up the main gate after security personnel refused to hand them over the keys of the gate."
courtesy - ibnlive.com
edit : 5.00pm : Here is more new from the same site.
New Delhi: In what seems like a backlash against MNS-led violence against north Indians in Mumbai, two bogies of a train – reportedly with Maharashtrian passengers on board – two bogies of Vikramshila Express were set on fire in Barh area of Bihar.
***
Think its time to ask Raj to stop protecting the interests of Maharashtrian's. It is he who will seem to be up against Maharashtra & Maharashtrian's very soon! If he insists, he needs to be compelled to let go of his violent ways and do something really sensible for Marathi's. (Off topic -- For a start, please do something to save scores of Shivaji Maharaj's forts decaying due to neglect! Feels sad when I trek all the way up to find nothing but a few broken walls.)
***
Sometimes I wonder if we are going the USSR way. There is nothing national anymore. Who ever shouts the loudest about his state makes it a national issue even if it doesn't connect to the rest of the Indian population. Maybe there won't be India eventually 20yrs from now. Just 29 smaller countries. Watch this space for an update on 21 Oct'2028! Hope you will have access in your new home country! :)

And what do you have to say for this?

A freak moment in life when i decided for this look after sporting the regular harvest on my head all my life. This was taken last week and the specs are strictly for visual effects. I've perfect eyesight and that got proved again when i made it back home safely from Khandala thru all that fog and mist. And of course the credit should be shared with the barber (whose name i do not know) and the photographer - Dharam. ;-)

Subprime Crude

I just read this --
http://revolutionradio.org/2008/06/23/happy-birthday-subprime-crisis-oil-price-up-96/ .
It is nicely written and makes sense. The final para says -
"When you take a step back, it’s hard not to see what’s going on. The worse the credit crisis gets, the higher the oil price goes. The more the Fed creates new liquidity to try and contain the damage in the credit markets, the higher the oil price goes.
Can you blame investors for wanting to own commodities? Joe Lieberman wants to ban people from doing the sensible thing. Investors see that central banks have lost control of inflation, or are even making it worse. It is not speculation to find a better store of value for your money. It’s common sense. No wonder certain governments want to ban it."
***
This is reason. The suspicion is what I've in mind. Could the investment banks that turned turtle cause of the subprime losses try and spike oil to cover for their bad investments? That they didn't succeed is an altogether different story.

Ganapati, Politics & Terror.

No..i'm not penning anything brilliant to tie these up. Just that these were the 3 things i had in my mind.
***
I see all of Pune suddenly getting damn too religious during these months. The number of pandals are growing exponentially every year. Music is more and more loud. More and more filmy with no place for bhajans or arati's. The pandals are bigger and grander (consuming more space on the roads and more free electricity). Wonder if people even remember the reason why Lokmanya Tilak started these celebrations. To get people together. With every nook and corner, every society, street and mall having their own Ganesh Mandals, its just lost the purpose! Sad. We need more reasons for people to come together and bind and all we do is lose the context and get better of each other!
***
"Patil under pressure, not invited to party meet" -- Screams a headline on ibnlive.com. The text in the report further says - "The meeting was reportedly convened by Sonia to assess the mood in the country after the blasts as it prepares for the next Lok Sabha elections."
What sad state of affairs. Sonia calls for a meeting only with the backdrop of elections in mind? Shouldn't she have called it right when it happened in Jaipur or bangalore or even Ahmedabad? No. It was still time for elections. There is never a dull moment when Congress is in power. History speaks!
And ---
"Intelligence Bureau gives vague information. They are not specific. Don't blame the ministers alone. Bureaucracy and the police are also responsible. We cannot fight terrorism just by introducing POTA. These things have been happening before also," Lalu said.
Who is to pull up those in the IB, Bureaucracy & Police Mr.Lalu? And just cause these things have been happening before also, we let them happen again and again and again? So when does the Political leadership (hate to use this word cause its just so sarci!) do something? Only when one of your flock gets killed? Time isn't far away when that will happen. Sooner or later, killing the innocent won't get them the response they seek. So? Who do they kill next?

And Jaya (Bacchan) turns 60!

If the proverb "Sathiya Jana" has truly anything to do with people losing it at 60 then Jaya Bacchan has turned 60 last week & lost her mind. Just when the Raj & MNS anti-North Indian tirade was sounding tired, Jaya had to poke the bee-hive once more with her remarks. What was she thinking when she laughed & said “We are from Uttar Pradesh and we will speak in Hindi—Maharashtrians will forgive us”. That this was a verrry smart jab at the anti-UP brigade that will do nothing but voice their civilized anger on TV chat shows like Face The Nation?
***
What did she think she was going to gain? Junta's sympathy for having been at the receiving end? Some publicity before the release of Drona & The Last Lear when both Big B & Small B need a hit desperately? Or some non-existent political gain for the SP in Maharashtra? All that it resulted in was a huge loss of face & potential commercial loss to the Bacchans! I understand that this was a fallout of all the pressure that the Bacchan's have been facing but its their own doing. They aren't the guardians of the UP brigade just as Raj isn't of the Marathi Manoos.
***
I was all pumped up when i saw the first speech by Raj in May that has caused all this. He spoke with a lot of fire and guts and seemed to point to some true facts. And then on, every time he spoke, it felt like just a replay of the same speech with some edits. Same facts, same expressions and same threats of using misplaced means to meet the goals. Another fringe (now not so) politician trying to get to the kursi. But someone with a very visible violent streak! Started wondering if he was ever really going to address any issues. In fact I started wondering if he was going to create new ones. I do not like my routine-boring life disturbed & paralyzed by vandalism & fear. I started feeling that he stood for all that we shouldn't be wanting, and then arm twisting, to achieve in a true democracy. And that he was all wrong! And then. Just then. Jaya Aunty decides to take a completely unnecessary stance to prove him right all over again!!
***
Happy Birthday Jaya Aunty! But we all wish you had decided to turn 60 with a lot less pomp!

Left - Misplaced Ideologies

Politics is a serious business. Politics is also the "second" most preferred news item. (Crime has to be the #1!). But these days, with the "Left" getting serious (acting funny by me), it is all over the news. Though avid viewers of "India TV" & "Aaj Tak" still won't have a clue if we have a Government in place at all. Viewers of "Headlines Today" though, are aware now that there are at least 3 political parties in India - Congress, Samajwadi Party & Left. They have no idea that there is an Opposition & that Left is not a Party. Nyways.
***
So the other day I was watching a show "Loksabha TV" (Oh yeh! There is sucha channel!) and the discussions were on how Prakash Karat is an "Honest Man" but "Dumb Politician". Dumb being my own adjective for the lack of sophistication. And I tend to agree with the Panel cause he sure is a rare politician, steadfast by his ideology. He hates America and wants to do nothing with it! Simple ideology, and a honest politician, going great lengths to live by it.
***
The other Left ideology, its probably whole reason of existence, is its love for China. Why? Simple because China is the only Communist regime surviving & in fact, flourishing today. Even if China's expansionist ambitions are well known and it is the single most serious & current threat to India's geographical Map.
***
I can not really understand any other reason for Left's existence in India. Both the Left led state governments in Bengal & Kerala have only ensured that the states do nothing but boast of their pasts while the junta struggles to make ends meet. The governments are just as, if not more corrupt than the rest in India. If Congress has been opportunistic in having shaken hands with SP, so has Left in tying up with BSP. It is funny that the Left itself has the majority of Muslim MP's uncomfortable in voting along with the BJP against the Congress.
***
The only serious reforms that the Congress has managed to push in are stock market-trade related. The Agri Loan Waiver will never reach the farmers on time or simply may not reach at all. The inflation has gone up, no more euphoric comments from the FM. So the fight is on for the N-Deal. The Left doesn't like America, so it doesn't like the Deal. The Congress needs this deal, I think, India does too. I do not know the details of it. Also, i'm not sure if its that sweet a deal as Congress puts it across. It just maybe something that they want to achieve before the next polls. But opposing it just cause it is a deal with America is completely misplaced. Oppose it for its demerits. For reasons that the electricity generated from these reactors may be more expensive & hence meaningless as compared to gas/coal run plants. For the reasons that US & the nations from NSG may not really deliver on time for India to really make any meaningful progress in terms of energy security. For the reason that India may not have enough nuclear capability to counter the agression from China. For the reason that the countries from NSG may force us to buy the technology at astronomical prices over the time. So many more things the aam junta does not know of. I do not know of but have thought of and heard on TV. But what I read today in Indian Express on the front face is so telling of how misplaced Left is. The headline clearly states that China will hold no objection to India going ahead and firming the deal.