Hypocrisy and Immigration go together

First off, let me congratulate the Governor of Arizona for a bold immigration bill. More about that later. And, before I get into it let me tell you where I stand - I believe illegal immigrants are illegals and a nation has the right to manage who moves in.

Now, to the specifics. The Arizona law is bold but I am not sure it will solve the problem. It does polarize the populace and bring more visibility to the issue. Maybe, that is what the governor wanted. Or, maybe it was just signaling to the people who tend to support that party just like the Healthcare "reform" that the federal government passed. Contrary to what has been reported, I don't think the law is racist. In fact, the law does not talk anything about race or color. But, as a recent Newsweek report said "Your baby is racist", we are all racist. So, the folks who are going to implement the law are going to do so with their own prejudices. So, its implementation might be. I wonder how many white people will be stopped. I wish they would stop the white illegal immigrants. Interestingly, the illegal immigrants that I have come across in Chicago have all been whites.

I wonder what those who feel that stopping people and asking them for ID is an infringement on this liberties and is racist feel about people asked to provide ID, present themselves for "random" security checks to board a flight. Ah, you are ok with that because your life depends on that. I have been subject to these random checks - about 6 out of 8 times I flew out of Detroit back in 2002. This is when my boarding pass had "CORPORATE" stamped on it. You want security; you have to give up some of the "liberties." This is an imperfect world.

For the folks from the Church and other religious institutions that have taken the case of illegal immigrants I wonder what your stance would be if Mexico had been an Islamic state and the guys crossing over are the ones with beards. I think I know the answer.

And, finally for the folks who repeatedly point out that the nation was built on immigrants, so illegal immigrants are ok why keep quotes on legal immigration then? Let’s do away with the border security, INS etc... we will save lot of money. The US has changed a lot and so has the world. The US now feels the need to manage the immigration process that means both legal and illegal.

I love to watch how the seats on the CTA "L" fillip. You see people's preferences for color. The seats next to African American males generally tend to go last. Over the last few years I have seen a better uptake on the seats next to Indians - coincides with India's emerging economic muscle. I think there is a statistically significant bias/preference to certain type of seat partners. I bet none of the people on the train will identify themselves as racist just like my former colleagues who quite often confused me for the other brown guy in the office (we were an office of 30 people with 2 brown guys).

I feel sorry for the illegal immigrants - their economic plight forces them to take risks. I wish any immigration reform treats companies and people who employ (and, exploit) illegal immigrants with strict fines. And, I think "Winner takes all" economic treaties do not work. There needs to be economic incentives that make sure that they have a reason to remain in their nation.

IPL...International Productivity Loss

Just wrapped up watching my former home town's team Chennai Super Kings win their first IPL with a rather comfortable victory over Mumbai Indians on YouTube. This was YouTube's first foray into live streaming and I believe they comfortably beat their viewership estimates of about 10million by 5 times. People from about 200 countries watched the game. Now, that is the power of the Internet, not cricket.

I came to know of IPL on YouTube when an American friend of mine IM'ed me at work saying he was watching IPL on YouTube. He had no clue what IPL was, no interest in cricket. He had been on the Internet (Youtube, possibly) and saw an advertisment for IPL. So, there he was ...at work watching IPL, its cheerleaders, the "strategic timeout" and as he put it "a full six."

According to Google the number one viewership was from India and the US came second. I wondered who in India would watch IPL on YouTube rather than on TV. Of course, the folks in the call centers, BPO, KPO and in general folks who then to be at work late into the night, have access to a good internet connection and computer. As for the US, it has to be folks at work or school since the games are played during US work hours.

Imagine a conversation between a customer in the US and the support center person in India, both watching IPL

Customer: So, when can I get the refund for the order

Suport person: As soon as the IPL controversy surrounding Lalit Modi and Shashi Tharoor has been sorted out.

Two scarifices... one "progressive", other ancient

This weekend there were two stories about India that I ran into... both related to sacrifices.

The first one was the story of a alleged human sacrifice in a temple in West Bengal (Kingdom of Kalii, I can almost hear a Hollywood movie or Game with that name). I read about it first on the BBC and in the coming days was picked up by all and sundry in the Western world. Now, for the "progressive" sacrifice.

The other one was the Indian Premier League (IPL. Think NFL for Cricket) ownership controversy that involved Shashi Tharoor, Indian Minister of State for External Affairs. Tharoor has been one of the well known indian faces in the West - as part of the Indian UN mission, as deputy to Kofi Annan, and a reasonably successful author. Tharoor started this one off by saying something to the effect that the powers to be wanted the new IPL franchise to go to some other city, not Cochin. Now, this was not the first time that he had suffered from "tweet in mouth" disease. Somehow, this might be his last. Turns out that the Congress party, his party, feels he is an embarrasment by his actions and the fact that he does not deny his association with part owner of the Cochin franchise. So, they want him to "resign voluntarily." Now, for Congress party to feel embarrased must be a great deal for this is the party that did not feel any embarrasement about the Shah Bano case, or the Bofors arms scandal or its ministers involvement in the riots and killing that followed the assasination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Cricket, I guess is more important than all of that.

I have no sympathy for Tharoor's state (or, the state that he represents in the Parliament). Tharoor turned out be a bureacrat turned politician with great education but very little street smartness - an embarrasment to the Great Indian Political Establishment. Tharoor can go back to writing. That might be a better way to serve India. BTW, Indian foreign service establishment (not specifically, IFS) seems to be better at producing authors than statesman. I know of three decent ones - Shashi Tharoor, Pavan Varma and Vikas Swarup. As for Tharoor, I hope I get a chance to run into him in the state that I call "God's own hell's hole."

Indian 'KKK' cartoon - case of pot calling kettle black

BBC News - Indian 'racist police' cartoon angers Australia

Apparently "Mail Today" (is that a newspaper or one of those national enquirer type ones) ran a cartoon depicting Aussie police as KKK folks because of the string of attacks on Indians in Australia and Aussie police/ government's inept response.

Truth be told both Aussies and Indians are racist. I am not sure who is more racist of the two or how it can be determined. But, in general I have a little more faith in the Aussie judicial system and hope they will bring the prepetrators of these crimes to justice.

Indians should not talk about racism (those who live in glass houses...). For all north indians, south indians are "saala, madrasis" (btw, where is the zero point on the north/south line). That is just the tip of the iceberg. How many race/ caste related issues do we have in India. I wonder if "Mail Today" ran any cartoon related to these. I find it interesting that they choose to use KKK image, something not many in India would know (other than, of course, the "liberal" educated elite who like to preach to rest of the world) but it was certainly bound to elicit an international response.

Taking our tax dollars for a ride with Santa

On paper there is separation of state and religion in the US. In reality the state policies are strongly influenced by the views of the major religion (example, abortion and gay rights). Come November/ December evidence of state support for religion emerges as different local governments spend tax dollars in putting up Christmas wreaths, decorations and lights.

Today, after being in Chicago for 11 years I chanced upon an interesting way to take our tax dollars for a ride... with Santa. Yes, I am talking about the Chicago Transit Authority's annual Santa trains. I had seen posters for the same previous years but never did I imagine that it would be such a big affair. The entire train was decked with lights - inside and out. Gone are the usual advertisements, replaced by corny jokes about Christmas. Even the seat covers were different - not the usual blue but the Christmas green and red with Santa/ trees and elves. The driver mentioned that it was the 18th year that the CTA was doing this and no other metropolitan transport authority does anything like this. Now, that is a dead give away on the merits of this promotion. If the idea has not caught on in 18 years it is a really bad idea. I am sure CTA authorities will spin this as a service that brings immeasurable joy to its riders. I am sure its riders (including me) will agree that we will be more joyful if the transport authority was in green, fares are not increased every year (how do they manage to remain in red even after increasing fares every year? they are not the only ones... usps is in the same position) the cars were clean, tracks were upgraded and the trains ran on time. It should not take 40 minutes to travel about 6 miles during rush hour. The suburban rail service, Metra, does 36 miles in that time.

Enjoy the photos of our tax dollars going on a ride with Santa.








BTW, my wife who took the regular train coming behind the holiday service somehow ended up ahead of me.

Misplaced priorities?

Last December while I was visiting India I was bombarded with with opinions from well heeled Indians on how the US could elect a "dimwit" like GWB twice, how wonderful Obama is/ how well he speaks, how important it is to rein in the run away health care costs and have universal health care in America. I listened to these in amusement and growing anger. Pretty much everything they brought up was applicable to India where they had a right to volunteer, vote and make a difference. So, what had they done - not voted most of the time and used that to wash their hands off the wonderful leaders' performance. While they enjoy watching US election and policy debates they don't demand or care for debates on policies that their government creates.

While I am not sure if GWB was smarter and more articulate than most Indian leaders, I am pretty sure that most these people would not know what their leaders were saying even if they were saying something sensible because of the language issue. Hindi (or, any local language) is not in fashion, "Hinglish" is. And, all said and done US electorate voted for GWB, how many of the Indian leaders were elected by the Indian electorate. Dr. Manmohan Singh was a compromise choice who never figured as a potential choice the first time around. And, let us not talk about health insurance or universal health care in India - it has never featured as an issue both with the politicians or the general public. I guess, that would not be an issue for my conversation partners. They can afford it in India. They are more concerned about their 3-6 month trips to the US visiting their children.

More recently, I brought up the topic of Universal Identity card - an ambitious project that government of India decided to launch without any discussion or policy on national identity. And, as if that was not enough they decided to install Nandan Nilekani, the former CEO of Indian IT giant Infosys, to head the initiative on the sly. And, of course, the current Infosys CEO does not feel any conflict of interest if his firm was to be chosen as the implementor. When I suggested that the hallmark of a good democracy is transparency and involvement of the citizens in developing policies that affect them the response I got was - "Do you think Dr. Manmohan Singh and Nandan Nilekani are not smart? They know what they are doing." It is not about whether they know what they are doing or whether they are smart, it is about transparency in actions and citizens involvement. Can the Government of India tell its people why Universal ID is a pressing issue, whether the existing illegal immigrants will get IDs and the estimated cost and schedule of its implementation. They have installed an implementor to head the initiative without defining the policies.

Then, there is the pesky issue of child malnutrition ( Indian malnutrition stats are worse than that of Sub Saharan Africa). Hell, that is not an issue. Instead, we take pride in the fact that we have not had any famine since we got independence while we had a few under British rule. True, that is an achievement (of sorts) but what is the point if these children are just alive but nothing else. My conversation partners where more concerned about children in Africa.

The most amusing topic was the discussion on food prices. Guess what my conversation partner used for comparison of food prices in India to that in the US to drive home the point that "food prices in India are way out of control and the poor cannot afford it" - Apple pie. Yes, I am not making it up. All that I could tell this person was - there is a reason why they say - "As American as motherhood and apple pie."

NOIMBY...No Olympics In My Backyard

I hope and pray that Chicago does not win the 2016 bid. The city should spend its money and resources on making it better and balancing the budget rather than creating a legacy for its mayor and line the pockets of officials and businessmen of the city and crook county.

Aiyo rama it is not Valentine's day but Pink Chaddi day

I love this one - very creative. I hate the morality police goons. Sri Ram Sena is nothing but a bunch of thughs who have banded together and branded themselves.

It is interesting that all issues in India seem to have Ram as the common thread – Ram janmabhoomi, Ram sethu and Sri Ram sena. I always though Ram as the national mythological hero was a bad choice. They say he is the “Adarsh Purush” (ideal man). Is he really? First, he blindly follows his parents order. Then, he kills Vali by deceit for Sugreeva. And, finally, decides to go with the masses and doubt his wife’s chastity. So, what is so “ideal” about these actions?

I wish it was Krishna who was the national mythological hero. In him you have a “rock star” – favorite of women (note: I did not say he was a womanizer), good with the flute (did Ram have any talent. He sounds like a whiner to me), inspiring leader (he got Arjuna to drink his “kool-aid” ) and shrewd tactician (how many times did he pull tricks to win the game?). I bet he would have seen the humor in the “Pink Chaddi” campaign. Hell, he probably would have had a collection of pink chaddis:).

Smoking ban will paint the town(s) red...literally

BBC NEWS | South Asia | Indian ban on smoking in public

This is a great idea for the cops to make some extra money on the side (not that they did not have options to do it). I also think this will make people switch to domestic alternatives like chewing tobacco with betel leaves. Hey, smokeless tobacco is big business worldwide. Altria (i.e. Philip Morris in its new avatar) recently bought UST Inc. (US Tobacco).

Yet another bomb blast...what is the big deal?

Yesterday, it was Delhi's turn. Not that it never had its chance before. And, nor did it have to wait for too long. Every time a bomb goes off (these days it seems to be a few at the same time. Can we call that "progress?”) the reactions are pretty much the same.

The leaders of the government wag their fingers say something like "... this cannot break our resolve... we are committed to being secular...we will catch the perpetrators." They used to blame the "foreign hand" and ISI. That has reduced a bit these days since we no longer need to "import" this expertise but have managed to develop a large pool of well-trained resources with local and foreign expertise.

The leaders of the various political parties point fingers at each other, blame it on "minority" / or, "majority" appeasement, failure to implement anti-terror laws like POTA/TADA or, the implementation of it as the cause.

The leaders of the police claim almost immediately that they have strong/ vital leads. Now, don't ask how they who were totally clueless about the blasts suddenly have strong leads to solve it.

The media expresses outrage, sheds crocodile tears, and waits for the next big thing to increase their circulation or rating. And, the people carry about their daily lives as if this is something they expect in regular intervals.

Why is it that there is no sustained effort at all levels (from individual citizens to the leaders of the government) to tackle the problem head-on? Or, have we succumbed to the "karma" concept and think that we "deserve" this? Unless people of all walks of lives and political colors take to the streets and make an issue of this and keep it sustained there will be no political will. The politicians are so wrapped in figuring out how to complete the current term and possibly win the next term that they do not care a bit about the country or its citizens. The law and order establishment does things to the bidding of their political masters. So, little wonder that those "strong leads" do not resolve the case in the next five years. And, if they manage to "solve" then the judgment is still reserved. As for the media, they will only focus on stuff that bring them revenue/ ratings - things that keep the interest of the public for long time. Little wonder why cricket is discussed and shown a lot more than anything of importance to the society and the nation.

It is participation that counts... yeah right!

About four years back, when I was in B-school, a classmate of mine did a class paper on relationship between populations, economic factors to Olympic medals. The outlier in his analysis was India, which has a large population, and decent PPP GDP. This analysis pretty much confirms it.

There is certainly a lot to cheer about India's performance. For the first time an Indian won an Olympic gold in an individual event. And, Indian performance in the 2008 Beijing Olympics bettered its performance in the 1952 Helsinki Olympics. 56 years is an awful long time. The lessons from Beijing are clear - In India, it is better to get the government out of the way to make progress. Unlike China, Indian government has an impeccable record of screwing up things. Take the case of field hockey. The team did not even make it to the Olympics. Of course, that did not stop them from sending four coaches to Beijing to "observe."

Let us hope that good sense prevail, the Government gets out of the way, the corporations and media step in to create a better talent pool and Abhinav Bindra remains a player in shooting and not a player in politics as a member of Rajya Sabha. Being nominated to Rajya Sabha is no honor for someone like Bindra. It will do good for everyone to remember that... "We are all fools, in different subjects."

What can "brown" do for you?

I work for a small two year old company - about 60-70 people. When I joined there were fewer than 20 people and I was the first hire of desi origin. Last year I hired another guy of desi origin (a Pakistani guy). Together we are the IT department for the company.

It is amazing how often folks refer to us or call us by the other person's name. And, it is not like our names sound similar, start with the same alphabet or that we look similar. There are a few repeat offenders. It has gotten to a point where we use the UPS line on them - "What can brown do for you?." I guess to them we are two brown guys for the most part.

Secularism, Separation of State and Religion

I have always wondered what "secularism", "separation of state and religion" means. Personally, I believe "secularism" means the state has no business in anybody's beliefs (note I did not use the word religion on purpose) and the state treats everyone the same way irrespective of their beliefs.

However, in India the official government approach is every one should get a special deal and if you are not the majority you need to get special privileges. Of course, that does not work well when there is not enough to go around. And, I am not sure if it a great way to promote unity - by promoting differences and offering different deals.

Then, there is the US which pretty much everyone says does a great job of "secularism" and "separation of state and religion." But, does having an offical holiday for Christmas or using public money to deck up the streets and buildings for Christmas go against the separation of state and religion? I remember asking a Jewish colleague whether Hannukah is a holiday. The response was immediate - "No. This is a Christian nation." Yes, the majority of the folks are Christians. And, no wonder that every now and then (and, esp. during election time) there is a need for the leaders to prove their Christian credentials.

I would love to see the state offer a set number of holidays in a year which people can take whenever they want and no state money spent on decorating buildings and streets for the holidays.

The new india?

BBC NEWS | South Asia | Sreesanth: The perils of aggression

From "Lucky and modest" in 1983 to "Lucky and immodest" in 2007. I guess that would sum up Indian cricket (and, India to a great extent) between 1983 and 2007.

Let us talk about Indian cricket, first. There was a time when these guys would go out in whites, play for 5 days and a lot of us wished they had some fighting spirit like... the Aussies or even the Pakistanis. But, we were all glad that they never indulged in dirty tricks like sledging which the Aussies did. "So, what if we lacked some fighting spirit we were not mean," went the general thinking. Now, to give Aussies the upper hand in on field behavior, now that is something unheard of.

Let us now talk of India in general. Let us see how we got to be one of the talked about stories, one of the BRIC nations. Narasimha Rao and Dr. Manmohan Singh probably would not have opened the economy if their hands had not been forced due to the foreign exchange reserves crunch. And, Narasimha Rao may not have been the Prime Minister hadn't Rajiv Gandhi been assasinated (And, had Rajiv Gandhi survived the campaign he would have lost the election).

The storied software services industry was chugging along for a good fifteen odd years (how many working in today's software services industry in India have heard of F. C. Kohli) until internet and VoIP (neither of which was developed in India or by Indians) came and reduced distances. Now, we have twenty somethings walking with a swagger and talking with an attitude. But, fundamentally nothing has changed - the cooking of resumes still happens. As a fellow indian remarked, "it used to be that we were unsure and unprofessional. now, we are sure and unprofessional."

Recently, a friend of mine wrote a book and sent press coverage of the launch. It was quite amusing to listen to the interviewer. She is doing an interview of the authors and makes no bones of the fact that she has not read the book beyond the back cover and nor does she care ("if you are into something intellectual, this is for you."). Clueless but confident... we are there America.

Is this what the "secular" majority thinks?

I recently entertained a few people from India who I believe would prefer to call themselves "secular" and "progressive". And, every time I started talking to them about economics, economic policies and politics (I tend to follow that order - start with economics and end up at politics) I ran into some interesting observations that I do not agree. The list is not really in the order it was discussed

1) We need a "benevolent capitalism"
According to this, the poor in India are not receiving the benefit of the economic boom. So, the government needs to do something to improve their plight.

Why do I have a beef with this? I have beef with anything where someone else is making decisions for you and giving handouts. The poor of india, I don't think, need handouts and subsidies. What they need is equal opportunity and access to products and services. And, it would help it the ones who are benefitting from the economic boom are doing their bit - paying their taxes, being involved in the community and strengthening the institutions. It does not help when you evade taxes or pay bribe (now, you can afford to bribe more)

2) Some groups like the "brahmins" are "smarter".
I think the person actually used the word "gene pool". Bloody hell, sounds racist. I think the person was trying to say that some groups have a predisposition for learning and intellectual pursuits. I guess it did not occur to this person this may be because these groups have had better economic standing or access to education. And, it is natural that if everyone you know is going to college and you can afford it that you too end up there. I bet that brahmins or any other caste in india belong to one distinct gene pool. We are mongrels - every one of us

3) The communists in india have "values" and stand for what they believe.
This, coming from a person who has never been associated with the communist party and has never been a communist ruled state or come close to communists or their policies, is probably the most dangerous. And, I guess a lot subscribe to this as evident from their strong showing last elections.

Yes, there was a time I beleived in this, too. That was before I finished college. For about five years I lived in close proximity to wannabe communists, up and coming communists and cop out communists ( the guys who joined them to have fun). It was when I was in college in Kerala I realized that the difference between Communists and others is the difference between Nazi thugs and street thugs. Which one is better? My disillusionment with Indian communists was complete when Rajiv Gandhi was assasinated. If you remember, he was killed by a suicide bomber during an election campaign. Overnight the local chapter of communists in the sleepy village in kerala, close to my college, decided to remove or X out posters of Rajiv Gandhi/ Congress and make it look like the right wing BJP had done it. Knowing the discipline of the organization I don;t believe it was an act perpetrated by individauls without the knowledge of the organization. Finally, if you apply some logic you will realise that the purpose of the organization is to improve the standing of the working class it is imperative that for the organization to remain meaningful the working class has to be kept opressed. So, they have no incentive to really improve the conditions of the working class.

What would "God" do?

BBC NEWS | South Asia | Hindu sites 'only for Hinduism'

In the last two weeks there have been a few interesting controversies on Hinduism and its practices. First it was Vayalar Ravi's (a politician from Kerala) turn make huge noise about practices at the Guruvayoor temple. Then, came this ordinance from the Andhra governor.

Let us take Ravi's drama first - He went to Guruvayoor for a ceremony for his new grandchild and the priest asked them to do cleanising rites since Ravi is married to a Christian and hence his son (father of the child) is not "100% certified Hindu" (or shuudh Hindu). Ravi made a huge noise about this claiming he has been demeaned etc... Keep in mind this bloke was asked to do the same thing a few years back when he had been to the temple for something. At least he should appreciate that the temple and its priests are consistent in their policies and its implementation than the politicians.

Now, the people in power in Kerala - the commies (that is the Communists of India - the scum of the earth) smelling blood decided it is time to do away with the prehistoric/ barbaric/blah...blah practices of Hinduism. And, that brought the self proclaimed keepers of Hinduism out screaming bloody murder. They did have a valid point though - "Why only Hinduism?."

I have to agree with them. Why not take on the Muslim marriage and alimony - the Shah Bano case? Or, government subsidy for Haj (which, I believe goes against the Islamic norms of making a "valid" Haj). Or, the Christian marketing? The commies find it interesting to needle the majority from outside but they have no solution for anything - either economic, social or political.

I think the tantri (head priest) at Guruvayoor made some interesting comments and observations during an interview he gave on rediff.com. He is obligated to follow both the religious rules and legal rules so why not change it if it is draconian. And, if non-Hindus want to visit temples in Kerala they can convert to Hinduism. I guess that is no different from the fact that you need to be a Catholic for communion.

Then, came this piece from Andhra (see the first link). I tend to agree that marketing a religion (prosthelitizing) cannot be considered as an expression of religious freedom in a secular nation. In a secular nation where all religions are equal how can a practice that is aimed at promoting a religion as a better alternative (New! Improved formula. Beats the heck out of the competition) and the related conversions (On Sale! Buy one, get three. No interest, No payments) be considered an act of religious expression?

Finally, I think government and the politicians should get out of religion. Secularism should be based on separation of religion and state and not creating new rules for every single religion and related sects. That would mean a single civil code, equal opportunities to all, and we can extend that to mean equal access to all religious places. I wonder if we created God in our image not the other way around.

Living in Lala land

Pipe Dreams: Researchers in India Say They Can Build a Laptop for $10 - Gizmodo

I love this article especially the category title - Pipe Dreams. So, my dear desis are at it again. They are going to build $10 laptop. Hell, have they built a decent $1000 laptop. With virtually no semiconductor manufacturing industry to speak of (SCI does not have a decent manufacturing facility and we did turn dowm the Intel facility because Intel asked for a whole lot of sops). Remember Simputer or Amida simputer - wonder how many of it got sold - 100? ... 1000?

For a while the mantra was "appropriate technology" - I guess that would mean abacus - environmently friendly, can be produced by folks in villages and can handle simple arithmetic. I am glad that we are off that bandwagon atleast.

I don't understand our eagerness to grab at the imaginary silver bullet whether it is Ramar Pillai's magical fuel (fake), or the Anup hair rejuvenator. Last time I was in India my mom trust into my hands a newspaper article about a kid that won some prize for a technology concept about an engine that runs on water. My mom was like ..."see ...this will solve all our issues." It did not seem to matter that it was just a concept. And, between clean water and fuel which is more scarce. In meantime we got 1950s design cars, trucks and autos running with a mix of petrol and kerosene spewing deadly fumes.

More Irony...Independence & Partition

BBC Pictures on India's Partition

"Ours was a non-violent freedom struggle. We won independence without firing a shot" - I have heard this a million times. But, I never realized the scope and magnitude of the bloody acts committed by its citizens. You see the mass migration and the killings that followed is not covered in school text books. We go from "Freedom Struggle" to "Tryst with Destiny" to "Five Year Plans".

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.," said George Santayana. Little wonder why we keep killing each other.

Irony that is India

Richard Gere is in big trouble... real big trouble for kissing Shilpa Shetty in public. While Shilpa Shetty did not complain the morality police did and a judge ruled it as an obscenity. I must say I have never seen the Indian legal system move so fast.

Hey, how about similar speed when it is a rape case. Or, does the fact that the victim complained reduce the gravity of the matter. And, where is the morality police in these situations. How is that they are alarmed/ upset by these?

It is interesting to see this Gere-Shetty non-incident getting a whole lot of coverage in the US - main stream new channels and folks like VH1 (which had Vishnu shaking his multiple hands. I bet the Hindu brigade is going to go after VH1).

Why can't we focus on some real issues like the slowness of our legal system or the crimes against women (even before they are born)

P.S: Wonder how many in the morality police wished they were the one instead of Gere. And, what do they think of Shilpa Shetty in Big Brother?

Godless Reservationists

so, the DMK government in Tamilnadu has said it is ready to implement separate reservations for the Muslim and Christian communities. The irony is not lost on me.

The government cites a GO (Government Order?) dating back to 1920s to justify its actions. Hey, weren't the Brits ruling India at that time? Didn't they "divide and rule" India? And, the DMK which gets its roots from DK with its atheist leanings is the one to implement religion based reservation. Finally, back when India got independence a few religious communities explicitly stated they do not want any reservations. This included the Parsis and the Christians. Looks like in the years after independence the society in general (and, Chrisitians in India in particular) has regressed and now Christians being given reservations.

Wonder if reservation for Christians have to do with the increase in number of Dalit Christians - who might have changed their religion to escape the effects of the Hindu caste system but now are part of the Christian caste system and still need props.

It was funny reading the user posts to the original article. One guy said the government should offer reservation to all non Tamilians since they are a minority in Tamilnadu. Now, I think that merits a debate since the states in India are setup based on linguistic majority. I would have qualified for reservation in this scenario. I can tell you of the instances when I was made fun of/ ridiculed for my accent, food habits and stereotyped. Most of the time I chose to deal it with the international sign of "up yours" - the middle finger sticking out.

The "M" in DMK stands for "Munetram" (progress). I guess they should see a lot of progress in their vote bank and their bank accounts but for the general masses it is incompetence triumphing in name of social justice.