What lies ahead??

The election results on May 16th for the 15th Lok Sabha sent cheers through out the country. Dalal Street saluted the new mandate; trading could continue for a mere 60 seconds on Monday owing to the two upper-circuits experienced by the Sensex, a first in its 22 year history. The Indian voter had spelt out clear indications to the incumbent. We have put our faith in you and cleared all impediments. Its now your turn to deliver.

Deliver. This should be the watchword for the Congress over its next five year term, because the Indian voter is now more aware, more watchful, more sensitive, more averse to failures, more responsible, more responsive than ever. This, I say, because this is what the Indian voter has shown during this elections. The Left was touted as an impediment to the Congress's progressive policies. Result: India did not vote for it. The BJP self acclaimed that the Congress had failed during its previous five year tenure, but could not cite any substantial evidence to prove the same, save for the scattered negative campaigns that L K Advani and his cohorts ran. Result: Their vote share decreased by 3.3% from the previous elections.

Congress in its initial five days is throwing caution in selecting its cabinet minsiters. Shivraj Patil as expected, who was expelled from his home minister chair post the 26/11 Mumbai terrorism, may not feature in the Cabinet. Arjun Singh, who has disappointed as the incumbent of the HRD ministry is expected to lose his seat too. A Raja will not get back the telecommunication chair, this being seen as a crucial sector by the Congress which it seeks to keep for itself. In the 1st announcement there have been only six portfolios announced :Finance(Pranab Mukherjee), External affairs(SM Krishna), Home(P C Chidambaram), Defence(A K Antony), Railways(Mamata Banerjee) and Agriculture(Sharad Pawar). The expansion of the Cabinet will be announced tomorrow. The government is free to take as much time as it wants as long as it takes this time to filter the Cabinet of potential corrupt ministers.

Congress's first task would be to keep its allies happy. A peek into Mamta Banerjee's history shows that she has walked out of the BJP government so that she could form an alliance with the Congress in the West Bengal assembly elections. She has already started demands for an immediate assembly elections in West Bengal which is due in 2011. DMK is not very happy with the three Cabinet seats that it is being alloted, neither it is satisfied with the portfolios to be given to them. Farooq Abdullah flew to South Africa to watch the IPL final, instead of attending the swearing in for ministers, reportedly unhappy with the portfolio he was being allocated. Sharad Pawar demanded more than the two Cabinet seats it had in the previous government, but the Congress would hear nothing about it. Congress can afford to flex its muscle power owing to the 206 seats it has, but this should not give Congress the feeling that it can also afford to build enemies around it.

Next up would be to present the budget which the government has promised to bring out in 45 days. There are myriad expectations from this budget from various sectors of the Indian population. Pranab Mukherjee will have to be very cautious and I am not sure that it will be possible to please everyone. I suspect, there will be undertones of populism in this budget too. However, that could lead to an increase in the fiscal deficit which the finance minister is well aware of. There is also a 100 day agenda that Manmohan Singh has advertised, after which he says there will be significant visible changes in the Indian outlook. This will also serve to measure the government's performance in various departments. This, I think, is a bold step from the PM which should keep the government on its feet. If it fails in its agenda, the media will not really thank it for its efforts.

After seeing so much activity in the government's first few days of office, I am not sure what to expect, and how it will perform on its agenda and manifesto. However, I am really eager to see what transpires over the next five years. If the Congress does perform and deliver, it leaves me with no doubt that there will be another decade of Congress ruling with Rahul Gandhi at its helm. I hope it does for the sake of the country. Jai ho!!!

Planning to go BUNGEE JUMPING?? Read on...

Date : 11/04/08 - Saturday.
We were all excited. We were headed to Bannerghatta Road where Bungee Jumping was being organised by CARE, an adventure sport organising company. We had made our reservations for reverse bungee, a variant of the traditional bungee jump, in which one was catapaulted from the ground to the open sky with a rope attached to one's back.

We reached there at around ten in the morning already late by an hour from the scheduled reporting time. On reaching there we were told that the setup for the reverse bungee was not yet done and that it would take another half an hour before everything was in place. We waited for half an hour. However, that half an hour turned into an hour and then into another and it went on until it was two in the afternoon. During the "setup" the organisers demonstrated and "tested" the reverse bungee with live demonstrators. The organisers, amongst themselves, had people of different weight categories. So when all the testing and demonstration was done, it was time for us to have a shot at it.

Initially, people below the weight of 55kgs were called, since they had different ropes for different weight categories. So it would be easier for them to change the ropes. Incidentally, there were only two people among the entire aspirant group below 55kgs. Both of them were amongst our group. Wow, so we were finally going to have a go at it. Both of them showed extreme excitement at the end of the jump. We were listening intently to their narration on how they felt and which part of their jump was the most scary.... which translated to the most thrilling. It all sounded so much of fun. Next was the turn of those people in the weight category of 60 to 80. Most of us were in that weight category. We lined up and our turn was after four other persons.

The first of the four, in no time, was through with his jump. He was talking about his thrilling experience to his friends while the second of the four was putting on his gear. After this there were two more and then it would be us. I wanted to watch this one properly, since I hadn't noticed the previous jumps appropriately owing to the fact that I was clicking photographs for my freinds and I couldn't see the entire view through the camera lens.

Well, he was ready for his jump. The crane had built enough tension in the rope to defeat the gravitational pull and fling him high into the air. The organiser, holding him, said ready... and released the hook that was holding him to the ground. The release catapaulted him high up in the air in no time. He was soon descending, and he would oscillate a few times before being helped onto the ground. But alas, that was not to happen. After his descent, midway through his first oscillation upwards, the contact point of the jacket broke and he had a free fall........

..........For a few seconds, I could not come to terms with the situation. My mind just went blank. I stood still, not knowing how to react. My feet were numb and I could almost feel my guts in my mouth. All the people in the arena crowded around the person to have a look. I too ran up to the spot. I will never forget the horrendous sight that lay in front of me. This guy could barely breathe, one of his hands had broken. There was severe damage to one of his limbs and blood was gushing out from his head and face. I couldn't bare to see more. I turned away and receded to a place away from the spot.

The place, which was so lively moments ago, had come to a pin-drop silence. Suddenly, one of the organisers shouts out asking if anybody had an OMNI. I was stunned. These people did not have any first-aid, let alone an ambulance. The nearest hospital was a good 10kms away and the heavy traffic on bannerghatta road would ensure that it would atleast take half an hour for an ambulance to reach the arena. Someone with a Scorpio volunteered to take him to the hospital. I was very skeptical on whether he would survive the traffic, since time was very crucial for him. It proved fatal..........

It was a tragic incident.... In hindsight, I was cursing myself on how I had failed to see the stark realities of the event. There was no safety net, no protective gear, no second line of defence if the cord snipped, no medical aid.. basically no guarantee if you would return alive. Yet, the quest for thrill, had blinded me against all these odds and I was ready to risk my life for it. Its a lesson learnt, but look at the price that we have had to pay for it. Its one my most painful lessons and nothing will reduce the scar that has been carved for ever. I hope, any of you ever going for an adventure sport will not be as foolish as me. Please avoid such high risk sports and even if you do intend to go for it, ensure that the safety measures are of the highest standards. Life is precious and for me, BUNGEE JUMPING is off my list of "TO DO's" for ever....

Envy Yourself!!!

The dictionary definition of envy says that "to wish that you had something that another person has". So how does one envy oneself. I had this thought when I had a lot of time to myself travelling alone in a train from Delhi to Bangalore. Is it actually possible to wish that you had something that another person(you yourself) have? Yes and no!!

What I wish for is a satisfied life with a fair bit of activity involved to keep me busy, albeit merrily busy. Am I satisfied? Am I merrily busy? Not really. So can I envy myself? No. Yet, I think I have found a way to be envious of myself? Well not to get confused. Here's how. Some people perceive that I lead a life worth envying. I get into their shoes and then start envying myself. Some others perceive that I lead a life not worth emulating. I get into their shoes and start criticizing myself.

Its a bewildering thought process that comes along when comparing your perceived self to your actual self. You have two personalities of yourself. You could be better in you perceived self or your actual self. So the question now lies that given a choice what would you like to better in? Your perceived self or your actual self?

For me, I would like to continuously improve on my actual self while also being aware of my perceived self. But shouldn't your perceived self be a reflection of your actual self? At times they are, and at times they aren't. I think if they mismatch on a lot of occasions then you are either a "lot of pretence and no material" or you are "too much of an introvert" to let people know about you. I am not sure whether both of these personalities should match or not? I am not sure how different they should be? I am not sure how good it is for you if they match or how bad it is if they don't? I just had this thought of juxtaposing both my personalities and I had the opportunity of envying myself. Try yourself out and you could come out with different emotions.

Opposites don't attract

Today, I received two pieces of information: one through an SMS, another through a forward on my official mail ID. The SMS was from an old friend of mine. He was jubilant on becoming an uncle. He, in his innocent self, was ecstatic on his sister giving birth to a baby boy. Considering his rhapsodic state, I felt honoured that he bothered informing me. I, in my enthusiastic self, called and congratulated him. I learned that they, his sister and brother-in-law, had even named the infant: Adam. I felt pleased that Adam had a bright future waiting for him with so many prospective infallible pilots anxious to steer his life to a meaningful existence.


Then there was this mail from a colleague of mine. It contained a link to a video showing the speech of Severn Suzuki, a twelve year old girl, at the UN Earth summit in 1992. She spoke on behalf of her generation, raising concerns on how the older generations were treating the environment, and how this behaviour would adversely affect future generations. She said she was scared to go out in the sun because she wasn't sure whether those rays were filtered through the fast depleting Ozone layer. She revealed many such fears, the thought of which sent shivers down my spine. If you would like to listen to the speech, you can link to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZsDliXzyAY.

After listening to her, I realised how oblivious I had been about Adam's future. I realised how insecure the existence of our future generation was. The thought that there were many more people in the same oblivious state, got me worrying. The least I could do was spread awareness. Here's my first attempt at it:

Global warming is an issue which needs perennial attention. The fact that global warming increases at a minuscule pace makes it an apt candidate for ignorance. There, I would insist, lies the grave danger. We just cannot ignore global warming on the basis that it is not going to affect us. What about the generations to come? Why should they suffer because of our ignorant behaviour? If you do not care about the future generation, then why do you care to give birth to a child and then consider it one of the most joyous moments of your life? I pity those new born babies, who will somehow have to discover how to survive in the polluted world that they are going to grow into. Just to support my concerns lets look at some facts.

Wikipedia says that global warming is the increase in the average measured temperature of the Earth's near-surface air and oceans since the mid-20th century, and its projected continuation. The average global air temperature near the Earth's surface increased by 0.74 degree Centigrade during the 100 years ending in 2005. Although that might sound mere and anyone might want to discard this increase as insignificant, I would prefer throwing 'caution to the winds'(pun intended). This increase, as concluded by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change(IPCC), is mainly due to increase in anthropogenic greenhouse gas concentrations via an enhanced greenhouse effect, which is an outcome of industrialisation. They also project that temperatures would further rise between 1.1 to 6.4 degree Centigrade during the 21st century. Now, that's not insignificant by any standards.

With such impending predictions, what is the world doing about it? As late as December 1997, there was a Kyoto Protocol adopted, which came in to force in February 2005. This is a protocol to the international Framework Convention on Climate Change with the objective of reducing greenhouse gases in an effort to prevent anthropogenic climate changes. As of May 2008, 182 parties have ratified the protocol. USA which makes a significant contribution to global warming has not yet signed the Kyoto Protocol.

The above facts seem to have a lot of bureaucracy involved in them. Instead of getting appalled at the seemingly brutal governments and nations, lets glance at the mirror and face our own atrocities. There are a few brutalities that we might might be committing in our day to day lives, out of absolute ignorance. Here's a list of few of them:

1)Do we take part to reduce waste by choosing reusable products instead of disposables? Or is that too trivial a matter to even bother about?
2)Do we care about keeping the AC and heater utilization to a minimum? Or are we so discomforted at 25 degree centigrade that its almost impossible to work without the AC being switched on?
3)Have we ever cared to switch off a light before leaving a room.? Or is that too frequent a task to accomplish!
4)Have we ever planted a tree? Or is that too cumbersome a job to visit a nursery to buy a seed or a plant.

I could go on and on and fill out many more pages, but its high time we realise that burning fossil fuels such as natural gas, coal, oil and gasoline raises the level of carbon-dioxide in the atmosphere, and carbon dioxide is a major contributor to the greenhouse effect and global warming. We could play our part by helping to reduce the demand for fossil fuels, which in turn would help to reduce global warming.

Please, lets use energy wisely, so that many more Adams can be introduced to this world without any fear of being annihilated. Lets create a world where the birth of a child gives us immense joy instead of creating pitiful emotions within. Lets face the situation with a little more determination and not reconcile to tacit approvals of the threats of global warming. And I am sure these opposites don't attract and we would all want to be on the same side of the see-saw. There's nothing that cannot be tackled once confronted, and global warming is no exception.

Want a change?

Wow its been been really long since my last post. I think it would be really hard for me to summarise what has gone through since the last time I posted. So what I'll do this I skip all of that with a small apology. How easy it is to apologize? Isn't it? Nevertheless, I really for sorry for not writing for such a long time, and I'll try and avoid these unavoidable breaks. I think I have made enough apologies and its time I put the blame on someone. After all isn't that an easier way to prove yourself innocent? I think I could blame the entire world and come up with reasons for not writing. But what I have realised is that at the root, the fault will lie within me. So I'll take the blame on me and endeavour to be more regular.

Well let me see. How often have I put the blame on others though? If I hear news about women getting beaten up on TV? I say: Why isn't the government doing something about the perpetrators of the crime? If I see dirty streets? I say: Why isn't the municipality cleaning up the trash. The list could go on and on. I seem to have tacitly agreed that the government is incompetent and that there's nothing that can be done about it. But have I cared to change that? Have I even taken part in electing the government? Have I voted? No. Then what gives me the right to question the government? Why should a government act according to me when I haven't exercised my power to elect the government? What I deserve is what I get. I deserve anything that the government imposes on me because by non-participation I have agreed to any ruling body and any rule that it might impose on me.

But I don't want that to happen to me again. I want to participate. I want to elect my government. I want to vote. I will vote. But does that mean that I get to question every move the government makes? More importantly will the party, at the helm, be obliged to answer every question that I ask? Ofcourse not. Then what do I get out of voting? And in such a large country with this huge a population, will my vote make a difference? Allow me to reason with each question at a time.

What do I get out of voting?
I increase the chances of electing a government whom I think will bring about a change for the better. If it does not happen the way I expect, the next time the elections come, I will not vote for that party thereby reducing the chances of that party coming to power again. So, to get re-elected the ruling party would need to fulfil its promises. It becomes accountable and obligated.

Will a single vote make a difference in this huge a democracy?
In December '08, in the Rajasthan state elections, Congress candidate, C P Joshi lost out on one vote. Yes one vote! He was the chief ministerial candidate for Congress in that state. Congress did come to power but with Ashok Gehlot as its chief minsiter and not C P Joshi. Need I say more.

I need to vote. I have to vote. I am on my way to bring about a change. Please join in!