I called the Khairatabad Constituency voters (in Jubilee Hills area) in Hyderabad (first phase). It has been a wonderful experience for me personally and made a convert out of me, from being a long-time TDP supporter. I almost felt like I was canvassing door-to-door in the constituency, meeting various folks, listening to some of their issues, their struggles, their appreciation for JP garu, their frustrations, so on and on. I also had the opportunity to talk to some veterans who saw many a party come with a lot of promise only to fool them time and again by working for their own personal gains and greed. At the end of the conversation with some of them, I was made to believe I have them convinced to give Loksatta a chance. Then there were some more who didn't hide their affinity to the traditional parties, and said they appreciate JP's work but they have their candidate finalized already.
I must say the most intriguing analysis of the situation in villages was provided by someone I talked to, who summed up thus: It's very difficult for Loksatta to gain a mass following in our villages. In most of our villages, there are predominantly two groups that fight with each other. Political parties support one or the other group to further their objectives. People have to belong to either of those groups for their survival. Getting associated with Loksatta in such villages doesn't help them - as the details of ground reality are much harsher than the ideology we paint in broadstrokes.
In this context, I must also add the following. Although calling the voters and talking them towards LSP was a good feeling, the greatest satisfaction for me came from talking to some of the contesting LSP candidates themselves. I am completely overtaken with emotions listening to their account of the sorry state of affairs for the common man, especially farmers and their plight; the selfless service they rendered for many years before and since their association with Loksatta. It showed me firsthand what a bunch of humble, good minded, passionate and dedicated candidates LSP has in the fray.
If one of the candidates felt ashamed at his inability to see more success in driving people away from money and liquor enticements thrown by other parties, after many years of service and hard work in that direction - we can understand the humility of these candidates. However, the good thing is they see these elections as just another step in their effort to bring about a change, rather than the only means to effect it. They are all determined to move on with their efforts and each one of them serve as a guiding light for me, in my own conduct henceforth.
Swasti!!
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Self imposed silence
Not that I am an avid blogger, blogging each and every thought every other hour here. But I imposed blogging silence upon myself for the past 20 days as I decided not to blog about the elections in A.P. given the sorry state politics are in, these days. Anyway, now that the polling's done there - I come out of my silence.
However, I am proud and glad to state that I associated myself with Loksatta Party and did my bit of volunteering by calling up some voters to urge their support for the lcoal LSP candidate. I also 'interviewed' 6 LSP candidates to prepare their profiles to be uploaded to the LSP website. I must say I am inspired by the stories they shared, of their lives, their electorate and what they face day in and day out. I'll see if I can summarize my findings, thoughts and feelings here sometime soon.
Swasti!!
However, I am proud and glad to state that I associated myself with Loksatta Party and did my bit of volunteering by calling up some voters to urge their support for the lcoal LSP candidate. I also 'interviewed' 6 LSP candidates to prepare their profiles to be uploaded to the LSP website. I must say I am inspired by the stories they shared, of their lives, their electorate and what they face day in and day out. I'll see if I can summarize my findings, thoughts and feelings here sometime soon.
Swasti!!
3 minus 2
One fine morning last week, the boys were getting ready to go to school when Chandra started doing subtractions on his fingers.
2 minus 2 equals......... hmm... one finger, two fingers; fold two of them and you are left with zero.... (ok...who is reading this to learn? come on... go and get an education :) )
The restless parent in me tried to teach him the 'simple fact' that if you subtract a number from itself, you always get a zero. No need to work your fingers for 'such simple' things. Not content with just 'teaching' the principle, I wanted to test him.
Me: What's 3 minus 3?
Chandra: (as usual) takes 3 fingers and starts his calculations.
Datta: (interjects and says) Zero
Me: That's good Datta. Now what's 4 - 4?
Chandra flings a few fingers out but hesitates... and then says zero
Datta: (shouts immediately) Zero
Me: See peddabbai, Datta is already getting it. You don't have to use your fingers to do this simple thing. Let's try again... 5 minus 5 is?
Datta: Zero
Chandra: Zero
Me: That's very good Datta.
Chandra is happy that his little brother is also into learning math and asks Datta a question.
Chandra: Datta what's 1 minus 1?
Datta: Zero
Chandra: Datta what's 3 minus 2?
Datta: Zero
Hmm.... the kids made me realize what a fool I make of myself at times, trying to cut short the learning process and teach them the tricks :) Datta's just having fun and that's what it is meant to be, isn't it? Every kid has to learn the basics the old fashioned way and there's no shortcut there!
Well, if I think I learnt a lesson I can apply to parenting as a whole, I'll be in for a surprise when I get back to my 'restless parent' mode again soon enough.
Swasti!!
2 minus 2 equals......... hmm... one finger, two fingers; fold two of them and you are left with zero.... (ok...who is reading this to learn? come on... go and get an education :) )
The restless parent in me tried to teach him the 'simple fact' that if you subtract a number from itself, you always get a zero. No need to work your fingers for 'such simple' things. Not content with just 'teaching' the principle, I wanted to test him.
Me: What's 3 minus 3?
Chandra: (as usual) takes 3 fingers and starts his calculations.
Datta: (interjects and says) Zero
Me: That's good Datta. Now what's 4 - 4?
Chandra flings a few fingers out but hesitates... and then says zero
Datta: (shouts immediately) Zero
Me: See peddabbai, Datta is already getting it. You don't have to use your fingers to do this simple thing. Let's try again... 5 minus 5 is?
Datta: Zero
Chandra: Zero
Me: That's very good Datta.
Chandra is happy that his little brother is also into learning math and asks Datta a question.
Chandra: Datta what's 1 minus 1?
Datta: Zero
Chandra: Datta what's 3 minus 2?
Datta: Zero
Hmm.... the kids made me realize what a fool I make of myself at times, trying to cut short the learning process and teach them the tricks :) Datta's just having fun and that's what it is meant to be, isn't it? Every kid has to learn the basics the old fashioned way and there's no shortcut there!
Well, if I think I learnt a lesson I can apply to parenting as a whole, I'll be in for a surprise when I get back to my 'restless parent' mode again soon enough.
Swasti!!
Tuesday, April 07, 2009
I am with the G-19
During the recent G-20 conclave, Obama tried hard but failed to get the European heads of state to commit additional stimulus packages in their own countries in his ongoing efforts to try and kick start the economy back to speed. However, almost all the other heads of state are fixated on more market regulations and other long-ranging measures. I must admit, although I am a staunch Obama supporter - I am squarely with the G-19 on this issue.
Simply pumping more and more billions into the market, without the needed checks and balances in place, is not going to bring true economic revival. True, it will make the investors (read, speculators) happy, and helps drive up the indexes. However, the fallacy of this policy is that once the stream of stimuli stops coming, the market (again read, speculators) will have nothing else to speculate upon and drive down the markets. Because, I believe, 'the fundamentals of the economy are not strong' (to borrow from Joe, the Also Ran). These investors look for each and any such stimulus or short term gains news and pump up the market, as we have seen recently. Once that stops, they run out as fast as they came in - at the expense of common man, thus wreaking further havoc on the psyche.
So, even if it is painful, I'd say - stay the course; strike the iron while it is hot - bring in the correct checks and balances needed for the long term health of the system, rather than announcing one package after another. That's what we expect of the man with the vision - long term vision, i.e.
Swasti!!
Simply pumping more and more billions into the market, without the needed checks and balances in place, is not going to bring true economic revival. True, it will make the investors (read, speculators) happy, and helps drive up the indexes. However, the fallacy of this policy is that once the stream of stimuli stops coming, the market (again read, speculators) will have nothing else to speculate upon and drive down the markets. Because, I believe, 'the fundamentals of the economy are not strong' (to borrow from Joe, the Also Ran). These investors look for each and any such stimulus or short term gains news and pump up the market, as we have seen recently. Once that stops, they run out as fast as they came in - at the expense of common man, thus wreaking further havoc on the psyche.
So, even if it is painful, I'd say - stay the course; strike the iron while it is hot - bring in the correct checks and balances needed for the long term health of the system, rather than announcing one package after another. That's what we expect of the man with the vision - long term vision, i.e.
Swasti!!
Nature - The greatest leveler
In this day and age of great seismologists, -graphs, technology and communication media - it is sad that the Italian government was not able to evacuate its subjects from the affected areas in advance. I didn't read the news items in detail but gather from the radio (NPR is my news source) that over 200 people and several centuries old/historical/heritage sites are among the casualties.
When I heard that, I couldn't help but think of what a great leveler nature is. Loss of life is very sad, but that's not what I was reflecting on. The greatly preserved heritage sites. Governments and private institutions shell out millions and millions to restore, preserve and promote such sites. But all that counts for nought, when Nature comes calling.
Isn't there a profound lesson to be learnt?!
Swasti!!
When I heard that, I couldn't help but think of what a great leveler nature is. Loss of life is very sad, but that's not what I was reflecting on. The greatly preserved heritage sites. Governments and private institutions shell out millions and millions to restore, preserve and promote such sites. But all that counts for nought, when Nature comes calling.
Isn't there a profound lesson to be learnt?!
Swasti!!
Wednesday, April 01, 2009
All Inclusive Day!!
We have the most famous Valentines Day and Mothers Day - meant for specific sets of people. Then we have the Fathers Day, Grandparents day etc. in the second rung of the Day-mania ladder. Of course, we also have other days that celebrate the Secretaries, Frienship, Workers etc. If you look at all these days, they are aimed at recognizing a specific set of people and relegates everybody else for that one day. Is that right? Or may be people in that specific group will be relegated for the rest of the year.
Come to think of it, there's only one day that treats everyone on equal footing without fear or favor, love or hatred, near or far, known or unknown. The simplest and cheapest of all the Days in terms of celebration - as it doesn't require spending or going out partying. No feelings of getting slighted whether recognized or not on this day. Isn't that a wonderful feeling? It just brings a smile on the lips and within us all, just at the thought of it.
Okay - you probably know what I am talking about! As Mark Twain famously quoted: "This is the day upon which we are reminded of what we are on the other three hundred and sixty-four."
Happy AFD!!
Swasti!!
Come to think of it, there's only one day that treats everyone on equal footing without fear or favor, love or hatred, near or far, known or unknown. The simplest and cheapest of all the Days in terms of celebration - as it doesn't require spending or going out partying. No feelings of getting slighted whether recognized or not on this day. Isn't that a wonderful feeling? It just brings a smile on the lips and within us all, just at the thought of it.
Okay - you probably know what I am talking about! As Mark Twain famously quoted: "This is the day upon which we are reminded of what we are on the other three hundred and sixty-four."
Happy AFD!!
Swasti!!
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