Water, Water Everywhere...a Resolution

I have never taken a new year resolution. Why, I never even took a resolution. I just took decisions influenced by my surroundings and inspired by people. It is time I have my influence on my surroundings and maybe inspire people. A new year resolution might be a nice one to do that. A resolution, not regarding my character, attitude or habits, but about what and how I can do to change something for good this year.

Mahati is not used to going to the fast food restaurants for dinner. For her, like many other Indians, the occasional dinner outside was in a Udipi or a North Indian restaurant, where she would order Chinese noodles. The waiter asks if she wants mineral water or regular for which her reply would be regular water, which is served for free along with the dinner. However, she one day went to a fast food restaurant to eat chopped vegetables stacked between two bread pieces for an amount at which she could go to Mumbai, buy those vegetables and return. Used to drinking 'regular' water during dinner, she asked for it. She got a reply that she has to buy bottled water only. She asked for just tap water, not even the fancy RO-UV protected and filtered water. The restaurant which boasts of baking their own bread apparently did not have a tap in their kitchen! The regulatory authorities should take a look into this matter: A restaurant's kitchen not having a water tap.

Not a drop to drink!

Not only there, an ice cream shop which has items ranging from pasta to pista ice cream on its menu had only one glass to serve water in. A bakery which had seating arrangements could not afford to have a water dispenser. A pizza shop which earlier had a water filter removed it. In fact, the same shop provided a Pepsi  for free with the pizza but could not give a glass of water. Poor workers. They get water from their home. Well, a waiter in a restaurant gets his own water bottle from home! What's happening to the country?

Is this all to facilitate the sale of packaged drinking water. Water that is filled from the same kitchen tap and sealed, added with some salts which the person about to devour a 2000 calorie burger does not require?? Of course, the sale of bottled water will rise. Not every one can remain adamant like Mahati and not buy bottled water. People are made to buy them . The surroundings are arranged accordingly. The advertisements are created to scare people into buying tap water filled and stored in plastic!

I am not sure if there is a law in India that mandates all eateries to provide free pure drinking water. If there is, it is not working. But I am sure there is enough water to satisfy the needs of the people. We are just unable to use it properly and are wasting it. This is my resolution. I will join those who seek 'Free Basics.' The basic elements of air and water to remain free at least (purity has gone down the drain long ago). I will spend money for those added salts if I want to. But otherwise, I want water for free. Maybe Zuckerberg will join and support Free basics too.

Another day, Mahati went to a stationary shop to buy color pencils. She felt thirsty. The boy in the shop gave her a glass of water from a pot he kept in the shop!

Rail India Rail!!

One might always wonder, 'why a separate budget for railways in India!' Well you wouldn't ask if you dig just a little into what wonders this public enterprise is doing out there! Mahati is working on a research problem to look into how the oscillations of a train coach depend on its speed. She went about researching on what factors decide the speed of a passenger train in India and found out that it depends on details which she never bothered about ever!! Certainly, running a train in India is more complicated than manning a flight anywhere.

Mahati first went to the public relation officer to request access to details of train functioning and train accidents. In the building, she is surprised to see posters everywhere saying one thing: save energy. Indian railways would be soon moving to LEDs everywhere, solar powered stations at major junctions and the south central railway already uses 5% biodiesel. Plants are under construction to recycle water used in the railway station to grow plants and beautify the station premises. Mahati approached a peon, for it is such people who know the best as to what lures who in any department. All he had to say was that it is practically impossible now-a-days for corruption in railways. Thanks to the digital revolution, even contracts are mostly given out through e-tenders. There is pension adalat that takes place every month. The offices are all exceptionally well maintained. Railway stations are also quite well looked after, if not for public littering every where.

Yes, it s true that the Indian railways tries to offer the best it can, where as those benefiting by it are not that generous. That brings the topic of train accidents. While atleast 70% of train accidents are those where a tipper lorry has collided into a train at unmanned crossing or that a lot of people die when they try to cross the tracks instead of using the railway over bridge or an inflammable material being carried illegally by a passenger goes off, it is quite appalling to know that the majority of casualties that occur are those which occur to passengers who foot-board when they have ample space inside. Mahati felt disgusted when she read about an accident which occurred because bicycles were hung from the train windows. We definitely need to learn to respect the train transport.

It might be proud to think of bullet trains in India. But the speed of a train depends on hundreds of factors. One, the tracks, of course. In India, the most disastrous thing for a bullet train is the rail. Experts from China and Japan have been warning us about the curvy rails we have. We do love curves, yes. But not in railways. If we need faster trains, we need straight, level tracks which is not possible in the present scenario. Well, how could it be possible when a passenger in the last coach can see the engine and the front the coaches! Second, signalling. The red-green signal we just notice while we are on a moving train serve a lot of purposes including measuring the train speed and wheel rpm. The coaches, the couplers between coaches and other parameters are the third important parameter. It is interesting to know that the gravel which is around the tracks has particular measurements and there are complicated machinery to take care of this size. A trolley goes on a track, inspecting: keeping those which comply the required range  and discarding the rest. With the new forged wheel system, average speed would go as high as 150 kmph for certain trains with disc brakes reducing the wear and tear to a large extent.

Not an easy job. From signalling to coach design; from metallurgical technology to environment management to catering services, there is a lot to be taken care of in the Indian railway and there is hardly any research going on in this huge industry which is the eighth largest employer in the world! Certainly, all that bullet train money could go into R&D in railways-will lead to faster and safer trains. It would be good if Indians realise the importance of railways. Indian trains carry as much as Australian population everyday! Proud of Indian railways! 

The People's city! Well, LOL!!

According to the Hindu mythology, Amaravati is the capital city for its roughly three crore Gods. Very metaphorically, the same name has been chosen by our democratic Gods, the politicians, for the new capital of Andhra Pradesh. Hyderabad is the combined capital for Telangana and Andhra Pradesh for ten years. The AP government has got a lot of time to think over multiple possibilities, discuss pros and cons of various locations for a capital city and slowly build it.

One has to remember that even though N.Chandrababu Naidu is credited to have led to the development of Hyderabad that is now, Hyderabad has been a well established capital city for more than 400 years. He only contributed to the growth of Hyderabad as a software hub which has had a tremendous impact on its development. Here development does not necessarily mean good. The development of Hyderabad occurred in a haphazard way even when the revenues multiplied. Maybe this is the reason why the people of Andhra Pradesh voted Telugu Desam Party(TDP) into power(here, the role of caste in electoral politics has been neglected for greater good). However, Amaravati is no Hyderabad. It is not perfectly placed like Hyderabad is, for a capital city. And almost every great capital city known in the world has centuries of notable history. Just because Babu is responsible for one small aspect of a city development does not mean he can architect the building of a city from scratch with the same vigor. He has never done that! More over, it seems very likely that the idea of the world class city, people's city, Amaravati itself is a huge scam.

Who do they want to deceive by projecting THIS as Amaravati!?

Many questions loom over this scandalous idea. What is the hurry in building the capital city? A new one that too!! There are many other established towns which can be grown into administrative capital cities. Hyderabad can be used as joint capital for ten years and Babu vowed not to administer from Hyderabad. So much for people's choice. Why the fertile location and that too adjacent to a life providing river? There are other places where there is not much water problem and can be developed into cities. What about the land pooling technique used to acquire lands for the city? Its not about the way it is done. In fact, the government should be applauded for fielding this idea. They saved the public some 7500 crore rupees. It is not about those farmers but it is about the fertile lands that were taken away. There is another big problem. Is building a new capital city worthier than containing those fertile lands? Is building a new capital city worthier than those 20-30,000 hectares of forests that will have to be cleared for the 'development' of the NEW, world class, people's capital city?? Well, can it any longer be called people's city? Is Amaravati a boon or bane in making?

In his speech during the inauguration of Amaravati, Chandrababu Naidu addressed the Prime Minister more than the public. Speaking in an English which is not expected of a Chief Minister, he urged the PM. "Hand holding saar," was what he used. "There is Hyderabad for Telangana, Bangalore for karnataka and Chennai is there, for Tamil Nadu. We don't have any income generation city." were the lines he used while describing the new city? What source of income is he looking for, when the rice bowl of the country is in that state? Is that not income? Does only software or banking or automobile industry generate income? What if the global trading crashes suddenly? Banks will close but people will still eat rice. Why not develop agriculture better in the state? And more surprisingly, help in planning and development of the city is seeked from Japan and Singapore. Japan, where agriculture accounts for less than 1% of the GDP and Singapore which has not even one square feet of agricultural lands are assisting in developing a capital city in one of the most fertile lands in the world! Why can't the government consider other indigenous ways? When we can make movies like Baahubali on our own, we can also build a capital city on our own too. Why take example from Japan, whose capital city is one of the most crowded places on the planet? Why not take, say, Ghana as an example where huge investments in bio-energy and agriculture contributes to 54% of its GDP. It is one of the richest countries of Africa. Hey Accra is also a well known historical and mythological place!

That brings to the question, why build a new city? Why not expand a well established town into a capital city? There could be different cities for different roles. When the Andhra Pradesh chief minister mentioned Karnataka, why could he not have gone a little beyond and considered Kerala!! Thiruvananthapuram is hardly ten kilometers in radius and does not boast of any IT, financial hubs. But there is no need to talk about the income of Kerala and especially its human development index. Ten kilometers out of Trivandrum and one sees himself in a forest! What about the forest cover that will vanish once the 'people's city' starts developing? Not only the 20,000 hectare forest the government is asking now, but the cover that will vanish once the city is established. With the 'Make in India' initiative, the center is quickly giving 'green' signals when it comes to environmental policies. This might dangerously be exploited. Lastly, imagine what might happen to the Krishna river if such a huge city is planned on its banks? The Krishna river is no small river. It is a lifeline to crores of living things. History gives us numerous examples. From Thames in London, to the Ganga in Kolkata, to the Yamuna in Delhi, to the Musi in Hyderabad. All the rivers have been destroyed. Hey Krsna!! Building a new, huge city is no small thing and these politicians are making it look like no big deal!

How come the people are willingly getting duped? Everyone seems to know only one thing. Andhra Pradesh is so poor that it needs special status. And, what is the motive behind organisations like the 'Telugu Association of North America(TANA)' to rally behind this idea? What have they got here? If it is all about caste, factionism, land grabbing and money looting, the sight of the future of the so called people's capital is far from distant. To think of what might last forever in Amaravati which means 'forever lasting city,' We can only well, laugh out loud!!

Excellent depiction by the Hindu about Amaravati

How Clean am I???

The Central Vigilance commission is the apex vigilance institution of the country and naturally is trying its best to demonstrate the necessity of vigilance for the country's good, to curb corruption. The vigilance awareness week will be celebrated this year from 26th to 31st October under the theme, "Preventive Vigilance as a tool of Good Governance." There is a joke that runs in the streets of Lutyens Delhi that the Prime Minister's Office even knows the amount of ink left in a cabinet minister's pen! But Mahati knows that the common man is no different when it comes to vigilance. She told her friend, "Even Facebook, a website that began as an alternative to the conventional slambook, now monitors the authenticity of the names of its users. Such is the heights to which vigilance on even common public rose to. Jeez, so much for chatting and sharing general information."

"Ofcourse, we cannot blame Facebook, can we?" wondered Mahati. "Do we not see every other day in the news about ISIS or Al Qaeda recruiting terrorists by posting provoking stuff on Facebook? It has become a platform for terrorist recruitment. How many times a week we hear about guys with fake profiles luring and cheating girls(vice  versa too), fake companies, fake tenders, fake organisations, events, pages. Cheating. Cheating everywhere. How, then can we blame Facebook for being careful about people misusing social networking? It is all about how clean we are! Before criticising others or even supporting or justifying the action of others, we should think that one thing. How clean am I?"

Mahati and her friend are students in a central university. She started by pondering on what possible scams that an average university graduate might be capable of. She should then begin with herself. Though she graduated and no longer is a student of the university, she is staying "on the campus" until she finds for herself an internship and subsequently accommodation. She then wondered, a bit shamefully, how many hundreds of more students possibly might be staying illegally for years, on the campus! In the class, there are hardly ten students whereas the register mentions atleast twenty five!
But hey, when there are teachers who bore the students and take loads of extra hour classes, what else can one expect
? How clean am I? In the mess, for every meal, there are double the number of students, no, people eating than the number that is supposed to be eating. She again, is one of them. "Well, should I justify my wrong doings by arguing that the mess secretary by the end of his one month tenure earns enough dirty money to buy a laptop and a motorbike? Of course not, its all about how clean am I. In the library, the computer center, printing, scanning, in the laboratories and everywhere. Not forgetting the examination hall. HOW CLEAN AM I?? Only once I check myself, does my blood attain the qualities required to boil looking at wrongdoings in the society."

As a government sponsored student, Mahati felt that one must realise that close to a million rupees are spent on them per annum, only to give quality education! How clean am I?

Finally, to be clean is just not enough. Keeping oneself in check and being clean is when responsibility comes into picture. We cannot individually stay clean and not bother about others. That would be selfishness. It is equally important to speak up against those doing wrong things. Feeling this as a duty and being responsible for ourselves and the society is the meaning of vigilance. For more information about the Central Vigilance commission, see this http://cvc.nic.in/

Zak of all trades!

Nothing is more annoying right now in Indian cricket than the shoulder of Zaheer Khan. Well, except for the Indian team itself, nothing is more annoying. Clearly, the performance of team India in the recent past shows how much we need Zaheer. Now that he announced his retirement, we know we are doomed. We should start our SESI (Search for Eternal Seamer in India).

The generation I belong to would have started watching cricket feverishly from the 2003 one day cricket world cup. Of course, that is the tournament which set stage for the introduction of this mighty bowler. That match versus New Zealand at the Supersport park in Centurion, when the might of Astle, McMillan and McCullum fell like dried leaves, clueless to Zaheer's seam. His unending injuries did not stop him from being the prime bowler for India whenever he played. As Akash Chopra writes, the period between 2007-2012 has been his best, when he picked all his 'man of match' and 'man of the tournament' awards in test cricket.
Even though Yuvraj played his part and picked a lot of man of the match awards and eventually the player of the tournament award in the 2011 one day world cup, there is little doubt in who played the crucial part with the ball. The match India played against England in Bengaluru in the tournament is the best example. He came back in his second spell only to turn around the entire match. Even though the match ended as a tie, the fact that India managed to not lose is because of him. Of course, his great role in the world cup final, probably the most important match for any player is inordinate.

That ZAHEER'S celebration!!

The reason behind the title of the article is definitely his batting. The Indian tail is never strong. For eons, the average Indian fan switched off the television once the sixth wicket fell. It was in that match, against New Zealand in early 2003 that Zaheer proved that even when eight wickets are down, tail enders can win matches, that too with neat, big hits. Zak as been there, supporting Sachin, as the batting legend made his highest test score. Zaheer's monumental 75 helped Sachin achieve this feat. The present Indian bowlers should probably go to Zak for tips in batting too maybe.

There is no doubt about the huge influence Zaheer has, on Indian cricket. Sadly, it has been hazy, thanks to his body, his injuries. He definitely deserves a better farewell, but everyone knows that had he been healthy, he will always be the prime bowler for India, ever. His farewell suggestion to young bowlers to bowl as fast as they can when they are young needs to be pondered upon. Indian cricket can use this 'engineer's' services to cricket somehow or the other in future too.

Its time for Viru now
!

Kaaka Muttai brothers and co

For the last few decades, Tamil cinema has risen to its zenith. There have been a lot of creative movies, good directors, good actors, nice music directors and powerful producers. Already, south India is recognised as Tamil with the popular politics and that strengthened with creative cinema. It might take quite some time for Telugu to be recognised better, especially because of the dearth of movies like Kaaka Muttai in telugu.

Kaaka Muttai is a lovely film in which two young, poor siblings realise their dream of eating a pizza. Every part of the movie was a beauty, there was little exaggeration which we generally see in any tamil movie. The movie is crisp and to the point always. But what is the most intriguing is the entrepreneurial qualities of the two youngsters. They have a goal: getting their pizza. They work towards it severely, not realising the number of entrepreneurial ideas that they have created in the process. One more nice thing is that, in the process, they never lie or resort to wrong doings. Thanks to their mother and grandmother.

First, making friends at the right place. They never play cricket with other kids. They do their regular hunt and go for their coal picking. Here, they make friends with the 'power house.' Of course, for such pickers, who is more powerful than a gangman? They also make good friends with a kid from a richer background. For their rich dreams to be realised, who else should they make friends with? A boy jealous of them because they get to eat a cadbury chocolate once a week? They get valuable inputs from this richer kid and use them in their hunt for a pizza. This is one of the most important things for an entrepreneur or any body in fact. Interacting with people powerful than oneself is necessary to rise in the ranks in any field.

Secondly, they try all methods to get money to buy their pizza. They work extra hours to get coal. They only take the coal from the wastage area only when they are shown it. They don't go looking for illegal ways to get money. They carry drunk people home, a great idea, because you are sure of so many customers. Pamphlet distribution and what not, including Pani Puri exchange, a brilliant execution of business plan on customers who are ignorant. None of them wrong doing. Great fund raising. Another very important aspect for any business to survive. They are excellent at these two things. Well, you get stupid sometimes while you are fundraising, like trying to sell a street dog for 25,000 rupees. But that was innocence.

Most importantly, they are honest and outspoken. They know what they know and how NOT to reach their target which is much more important than just knowing how to reach the target. Their honesty is clear when they don't resort to stealing phones from trains like the other kids do. And oh! they all acted superbly. After its is a movie.

Safe From What!?

Mahati got bored of peace and started browsing youtube for some Arnab Goswami videos. She found one debate from 2009 about the failure of the Indian government in protecting the Indian students in Australia. The host asked if the Indo-Aussie relations would be skewed for which the guest replied that whatever the Indian government could do, they did. 'The Indian government is doing all it can, through diplomatic talks and assurances to make sure Indian students and citizens feel safe to go to Australia,' he said! Mahati wondered, 'Has the government ever done that in India??' She searched for related videos and got nothing. She finally lost her peace!!

She thought, ' Why is that there is no assurance of safety for people in their own country when those going away from the country get a lot of importance. Are they special or would it mean that those who stay back are not special!? Looking at the rate at which people are flocking abroad, definitely those who stay back will be treated specially one day,' she thought. We talk of safety abroad! How safe is our own country for us? The newspapers seem to have reserved one full section to report about the road mishaps which are killing many, especially students. We are still hurting and killing ourselves on the basis of gender, race, caste, region and religion. All this can be attributed to a single phenomenon: over population. But one thing really bothered Mahati. The killing of critical thinkers!

'Where is the society headed to? Are we progressing or going back? This has been the trend in the entire sub continent. Every now and then, a rationalist is brutally murdered by some nut case fundamentalist who fancies a pistol or a knife. In fact, a teacher is supposed to think critically and pass on the same kind of attitude to the students. If critical thinking is suppressed this way and if narrow mindedness prevails through force, only two things might happen in future. Either there is no creativity, rationality and criticism or there will be a counter force, much like what Prabir Ghosh tells all rationalists to do, carry arms. A rationalist and a teacher, Prof. Kalburgi was shot dead in Karnataka. The murder might be committed by anyone, but in the end, a fine teacher got murdered. There is no replacement. Is this murder just for the fact that he opposed stupid superstitions? Rationalists are not going and killing babas, fakirs and saints!! The one time that happened, we are still weeping for the aftermaths, in Kandhamal!! Why is that no Arnab Goswami is holding a debate with the government which is not assuring of safety for thinkers in the country? What is the difference between our neighbours who we brand as religious fundamentalists and us, Indians? Can't we tolerate a little criticism?' thought Mahati.

'The west had done the same brutal things. Those who questioned were executed and those who supported them were jailed. Those who listened to them were banished. A Socrates was forced to consume poison, a Galileo house arrested and a Copernicus outcasted. Though this continued for centuries, the thinkers did not stay lumpen. They inspired a larger number of people to raise questions, think and search for meaningful answers and they succeeded. The surge in those seeking truth led to a renaissance and it still continues in the west. Probably that is the reason why attacking a student there is taken so seriously abroad whereas in India, even killing a rationalist teacher is not cared about. Actually, historically and even mythologically, we have had critical thinkers who were treated with a lot of respect. Probably if the Telugu poet, Srinath belonged to this century, he would have been chopped to pieces! There is an eminent need for a renaissance in the sub continent, else conservationist and fundamentalist ideas will bring progress to a standstill or much worse, regress! Those who kill should keep in mind that thousand other voices would raise by silencing one.' thought Mahati hoping that no body will hurt her for thinking! Mahati believes that a true ode to Prof. Kalburgi would be to pass the "Anti-superstition" bill sitting in one far corner in the Vidhan Soudha.