how articulate! what answers!!

This octogenarian MK really freaks out!
no coherence, no matter!
what interview is this?

how shallow and stupid one can be to take the press and people for a ride..
oh! BTW he lost bcos of brahmins! thats the highlight..u know there are 80% brahmins in TN:-0

but good..if he didnt get why he lost, chances are bright he wudnt make it again!

Egypt ot Bahrain?

lotsa talks..
if this Baba is fake?
if his fast is actually a Gandhian act?
if he is backed by RSS or BJP?
and if the ramlila was an Egypt or Jalian walia bagh?

last question first - its Bahrain..not Egypt not jalian..this silly govt screwed it up by playing like bahrain and the gulf countries do to quell the protest..(why not China one may ask- China atleast does it in day light like Tienanmen)

and the only response the govt spouts is "he is RSS agent" Oh! of all the suave accented Chidambaram is saying the famous "its RSS"..
the way he talks really puts me off..
hey man! its about corruption..stashed money in Swiss!
oops, is it?? they are all conveniently forgetting it..
may be cong, BJP all are together here..create a din and let the main agenda fall by?

yeah, This yoga baba stretched his imaginations a bit..asked for the moon..
didnot have the convenience of Anna- impeccable back drop!
But aren't we all losing the plot?
for the comfort of politicos?/

one thing- the response for Anna hazare's call yesterday gives some hope..that all is not lost..civil society is still having this new found zing in them..good..
Its another matter that team anna are also losing the plot at times and are mouthing what the press and few others want to hear..
but hope they dont get distracted and lose it..
lets have a good draft or even the law itself in place..then debate rather than trying to lose it all..
why should the PM and MPs shud be exempted, may I beg to know?
so that only some third class rascal is caught for misappropriating half kilo of guavas, eh?

cong Vs Baba Ramdev!

No one knows to shoot at their own legs better than congress…
In this Ramdev episode too that’s what they have done..
I cant fathom why Team baba wud issue a letter that they wud call off the fast the next noon..that is stupid how much ever they think they pulled a ‘fast’ one..
That really puts a big question mark on their intention, transparency etc..
But bcos it is congress that’s at the other end- who fell at his feet, spread red carpet, held ‘talks’ so many rounds and finally goofed by such an action-hence team Baba can actually get away..

What can one say for such an action at midnight? They suddenly say that Baba got permission to conduct yoga not political sermons!
What crap? The whole world new there was to be a fast at ramlila against corruption…there were even reports about how grand the place was being revved up..
And here cong suddenly woke up, at midnight that is, and are stunned that this man was trying to be ‘political’..only cong can come up with such ridiculous spouts..
Ok, if indeed he said yoga and was talking politics what will a govt do? Come disturb the gathering and lathi charge at mid night?

Oh man! Shabby on the whole..
And this problem of corruption will take a back seat now..
May be that’s what cong wanted..

Mk caught Kanimozhi bold A Raja!

That was the best I heard since morning:-)
Man, DMK has been thulped and that’s a great statement by the TN people..
It’s a good thing to happen not because a deserving or good candidate takes over, but a mindless and limitless corruption has been put on hold..
More importantly many thought that the votes will be bought..what, with the amount of money at stake from one scam one could even buy votes all over India! So there is a relief there..
TN folks didn’t sell themselves for votes..its a great relief indeed..
Else the days ahead would have been even worse..
Another front the domination of one family, oomph..that was nauseating..every movie was produced by one or other ward of MK family..
Every other satellite channels is owned by one of the family..every other hotel, furniture shop, magazine, newspaper, cable, what ever..
That’s mindboggling..
Hope some sanity sets in out there..
But what off all the 1000s of crores that has been stashed? That will never come out except in the form of 1000 per vote, hmm..so a contradiction there, eh?
Personally, looking at organic and GM status MK wud have listened to activists am sure..hope JJ party hears and settles in our favour..

As for other states- for the 1st time I wanted a communist govt to win..In kerala, esp with Achutanandan going all out for organic and against endosulfan, I wud have even gone to campaign for him..His agri minister was darling of an organic admirer..but still for a see-saw state that Kerala is always, this close fight (its not over yet..let the fat lady sing) is a great statement – that people are indeed giving a nod for their decent performance..one of the rare govts that haven’t been accused of any major scam..so they deserved to come back..

WB- is a joke..they like TN will have devil and deep sea here after I guess..this lady who has never proved an iota in any of her stints is there winning big time..is it just an anti commie mood that helped her..she has promised lots out there..like making Cal in to London, some part as Switzerland, blab la..but that’s a sweep..am happy Reds have been given a lashing but what has come instead? Poor bangla babus..go reap what u sow..

Pondichery: its really nice that a non-corrupt and simple man like Rangaswamy could win! he was thrown out of congress (yeah, he has such an in-corruptible image that he is unfit;-)) and i was wishing he get there..though he had to tie up with ADMK, its heartening that he won! He is some one who leads so simple life..goes around in cycle or bike..mingles with people casually..lives in a small house (hut?)..

Assam is regulation and I guess another decent performance and lack of any alternative has been the reason..

On the whole nothing that will change the national scene though it’s a strong statement esp in TN about corruption..and there is no sense of cong learning though..

Big winner ofcourse is the Election commission..after TN Seshan, for the 1st time it was felt big time..one shud ponder about this: how come the same admin babudom works so efficient under the Ec where as under the politicos it freaks out.

secularism again..

oh yeah!
our skewed secularism is surfacing again..
to hit back at Anna Hazare - the cong and NCP cohorts are trying their best..they poke at Anna not being secular bcos he, apparently, praised Modi (and Nitesh too, but thats to be sidelined) as a performing CM! Oh! how can he?
come on..atleast contextually,it suits..Modi is supposed to be incorruptible..atleast ManMohan's bosses the Americans too think so..Infact RahulG said so recently..so do all of them become anti-secular?oops will any cong man think that way? against a G? hmm..how preposterous..
meanwhile, i am happy NCP is training its gun on Hazare..wish this boils in to a bigger fight and Anna wipes Pawar out..i really salivate at that thought..

shameless Pawar!

Its very tuff to find as shameless a person even among politicos..There was a time he was touted to be the the maximum 'earner' among ministers..am sure he shud still be leading that list!
Here is a man sticking to politics beyond a sell-by date (age, effectiveness every wise) and also stretches his tentacles in to other arenas like cricket..
Many think he is dedicating his time for cricket and is not concentrating on agri..he hee..NO..he is as ineffective and damaging to cricket as much to agri..
only solace is - his screwing up cricket is good for nation:-)

Here see these 2 links..here and here!
he shamelessly admits that many banned and very hazardous pesticides are used..he even admits proudly "yes,Endosulfan is banned in many countries. yes its harmful.. but being used in India"..such is our polity..

Rahul G!

Yes ‘the prince’! Rahul Gandhi was in Madras last week and there was a call from a friend that there was a non-political meeting. RG wanted to meet ( – an “Intellectual interactive meet” as I was told) some progressive journos, activists and socially concerned individuals. Hmm, where did I fit in that? Why ask? I didn’t:-0
Firstly I wanted to really go and see how deep this man was- like it or not, he is going to be out here on top of the political arena for days to come. The very idea of reaching to cross section of the society and get some information, discuss, trade idea(l)s.. truth be told, I was impressed.
This very gesture to reach out to people and consult was a fantastic one. Let alone how effective it can be.
So I was there and the regular security screw er screening and all that happened. One cant take even a notebook. Some one wanted to ‘present’ RG a book and even that wasn’t allowed. But my strong opinion is humanity has brought this on itself with all the bombings and screw up. So one shud learn to ignore all this security circus.
He is one affable nice guy with neat demeanors. He started off nice and reassuring but that petered out soon with shallow comments and real superficial diplo-sentences. All this backed by a strange confidence of having understood the issue or question and replying a strange ‘off tangent’ response. I would question the understanding itself. For a question on gay rights he went on and on about morality and kept explaining how and why he wudnt impose his rights and wrongs on others. As if that was not understood he kept on explaining that so many times that even his party people out there wud have been bored to hilt. For most questions the stock reply was ‘come join; participate; be a part and make the system work’..oh no! I didn’t expect this from someone who shud be able to make a difference and not give inane responses. Then the film makers dominated the session with their problems and RG went on and on..here we were sitting and expecting some livelihoods and other important issues wud be discussed, but the glorious and tamasha problem was to dominate:-( The only good question came from inimitable M.B.Nirmal, who asked about the acquisition of farm lands and to stop it. Where as RG’s reply shocked me. He coolly said he understands the whole problem and said various solutions including ‘considering the corporates buying 80% on their own and govt helping only for 20%..’ was sounded by him. So much for the depth!!!
Actor Revathy asked me at the beginning if we (the usual agri suspects)had our questions ready and who was to ask and I didn’t get it. I thought it was just an interactive meet and that we shud take it as it comes. Revathy was right in asking us if we were indeed prepared. But the take away for me from this meet is- don’t wait decently for ur turn! Its good to be prepared with your question and to barge in loud and get the answer:-)
I did want to ask him on his opinion on GM foods and to explain him why there was a great need for the govt to think in lines of sustainable agri and to promote such farming techniques . Actor Rohini and Dr.Shivaraman had more incisive questions to ask (but cudnt pose that, as RG suddenly, abruptly brought the session to close and swiftly left) on GM and about the need to see the livelihood of farmers more objectively and their suicides more broadly. Hmm, if only they had asked…Another friend wanted to press up on RG the need of encouraging small and marginal farmers and how that alone can help in today’s agri crisis. She also had some good insights about how organic farming can be an answer to the world’s requirement as explained by some study in Michigan univ as well as oxford. But…
I shud still say this is a good move and gesture- to set a consultative process. Like how a similar process unfolded during the BT crisis and really helped in getting a nice democratic and reasonable participation and hence a decent outcome.
He came a solid 1hour late and many of us used it very effectively. I for one used this opportunity to meet Gnani, Madhan, Maalan, Director Vasanth and many others whom I rate very high. To get such a quality time with them all under one roof was a jackpot. I felt flattered by Revathy and Rohini showing so much interest in the Kisan swaraj yatra and asking my views of it.

we will not tolerate corruption!

all of u- rest in peace..
no worries..
ok, u still alive and want to know what the title is about?
Our cricket minister er agri minister Pawar says this..
in connection with spot fixing in cricket!
as soon as the news of spot fixing broke (paki players confessed, some video recordings were shown, whole world was convinced these jokers shud be thrown) this great cricket minister who is the ICC boss said- the tour will continue. hmm, what? oh! he was bothered about cancellation clause, refund tickets, advt revenue etc .

Am happy in two ways. 1- cricket will die soon bcos great men like him are out to cut the golden goose. 2- this distraction and loads of money there means he, as agri minister, will have less time to screw up Indian agriculture. Not that he isnt doing that. he is a big reason for lots of lapse, failure and downfall of agriculture but atleast its not in the pace he wud want.

so all of u say it again loud and clear: we will not tolerate corruption!

the great Tamizh conference!

Iam told Coimbatore has been beaten to death. Many trees mercilessly cut, traffic squeezed, people of all lives put to so much hardship..
all this to "allow tamizh grow", u know how our politicos work..
so this great meet is to allow lotsa other things to grow..
Thank goodness!am off traveling in gujarat and maharastra visiting various organic farms and amazing people.
Iam told even the cost of vegetables for restore, last few Bazars, were hiked bcos of the problems posed to transport companies..
hmm, good that it will be over this weekend.

what way these politicos have to screw our daily life..
I wish someone asks the govt to enumerate the ways by which Tamizh was developed by this huge conference!

25+ years of shame

one of the largest industrial accident. A big tragedy and so many lives affected..
mind u, it was very much an avoidable disaster.
and what of compensation? paltry till date.
justice- oh sorry! its after all some poor lives, so its more important for the Govts involved to protect the rich asses, the corporates.
what a shame.
This Anderson fella has been refusing to honour our land of law. But all such corp honchos need our market but not any of our law or even basic humanitarian considerations. This govt has a great record of such shamless display of nerve and covering crooks. remember Quattarocchi? so why did we expect CBI or this "oh-very-honest-singh' to be honourable in this issue>
I dunno! but my blood boils.
if u want to know more on the Bhopal gas tragedy see here.
to rub salt we shall keep getting more info on who all (or is it who else) let down the affected poor Bhopalites? like their counsel, CBI's reckless let offs, more politicos going out of the way to save the white ass.
but when will we learn?

Jyothi basu- plain truth

oh mee god!
I have been wishing someone shud rip this man- Basu a thoroughbred aristocrat and bourgeois_in_disguise!
am glad that Kanchan Gupta does that in (our Cho's) style..
see here!
But i would have loved more light on his choicest whiskies at the state's cost or his son's capitalist forays and their wealth that can compete with our own MK family!
He was the pioneer in scientific rigging of elections in India. How else can one hold that record of 'longest elected communist govt'?
one more major miss in that article IMHO is Basu's record as the politician with highest severance package. or was it the highest retirement package?

BJP & Thirunavukarasar!

Most of you would not even known this politico! He was a minister in MGR cabinet and then became a Jaya loyalist and like many others,was booted out by her..Their enmity was such that when BJP and JJs ADMK had an alliance few elections back, JJ’s prime condition was this Thirunavukarasar should not be fielded. And shamelessly BJP accepted to that demand, though this man has a big clout in his area. He was with BJP for quite some years after that shameful event. BTW all these shameless points are not what I want to point out. Now suddenly this man has left BJP:-) guess why?
He cant stand communal politics of BJP!
How nice, eh?

GEAC approval and (y)our future

So the GEAC (Genetic Engineering Approval Committee) has approved BT brinjal. That indeed was expected, for they will only tow the corporate line. Monsanto (their devil partner in India - Mahyco) obviously is pulling the strings, what with their command over the agri ministry, university and industry.
Now that this committee has passed the BT Brinjal without any proper study or transparency, shud not the GEAC members or their chief be held responsible for any hazard or disastrous consequence?
There has not been much mention in the media or the necessary reflection for such a shameless push of a very serious issue. Kerala govt (their CM and the agri minister) have sent their objections and have really voiced out well. But none else has been making any noise in the political arena, except the PMK in tamilnadu:-(
Hmm..its a shame..more importantly very serious concern. But why will governments care if their pay masters are ordering so.
Even ignoring the health concerns there is a big devil out there..the farmers will henceforth have to depend on these corporates for seeds. So the arm twisting and all other US corporate strategies will be on display. So our future shall be with Monsanto & other cohorts.
An UN-sponsored four-year review, involving more than 400 international scientists and chaired by Professor Robert Watson, had already concluded that GM technologies were unlikely to have more than a limited role in tackling global hunger.(thats the british way of saying GM is of no use). So what is their argument now going to be if the much orchestrated yield is not going to be true? Don’t they understand that global hunger is as much to do with power, distribution and control of the food (system) as with growing enough food. So where should you improve first? On the seeds and genes is it??
See here: Need more proof?
This is like an African country believing a 'fair and lovely' advertisement and unilaterally prescribing it to all their citizens. Will we not ask whether the Africans need to become white?(fair?) And even if yes, who determines that this is the right product?? Likewise here Monsanto and their coterie is jumping up and down stating , their Genetically modified (read tampered/manipulated) seed is the solution. BTW whats the problem? did any one check?

Now we need the following asap
1/ More awareness. Spread the menace called GM and why only 13 countries world wide have approved this and what is the urgency for India to join this blind band?
2/ More people to take up this issue at all levels with the govt and its agencies
3/ Meanwhile on a different plane – strict labeling clauses required. As it is regulation in India is a joke. So the labels as they are now wont help. Hence get the provisions for labels very strict. Need to mention any GM product on the label. (also all ingredients clearly.)

Earlier mentions of GM at this blog here and here.

Kudos! great News that!

I had mentioned about a draconian agri law introduced by the TN govt and a massive meeting organised by various NGOs to fight it. I am told that, the same meet was held with great vigour and enthusiasm. Apart from very many farmers from all over TN, there were some politicos like Dr.Ramadoss, Mahendran of CPI, etc and the special activists like Devindar Sharmaji.

pl see here for a narration by Devindar himself.

and to great relief of all concerned this Law has been withdrawn!

some rare quick succes in our democracy!!
3 cheers to all concerned! Thats a great deed and a great news too.

6 Union minsiters of Bengal!

what?? union minsters of WB, u ask?
I think i heard it right. The great Mamta lady was saying we all TMC central ministers will stay 5 days a week in Bengal and concentrate only on WB!!
Prophetic and far sighted aint?
Good luck to us Indians..

Kamal & me

I & Kamalhassan are on the same boat!
Yes my name wasnt there on the voters list (i did have my voter id card!) and so could not vote- just like kamal! So did Kamal.
I was very disappointed and tried moving all stones..went up to the presiding officer who pointed me to talk to the DMK agent there!!! one hour of pruning and running here & there and finally convinced I cant carry out my democratic right, I walked back. None from my family could vote too. There were many of my friends who couldnt vote either:-(
something fishy..
But I could have done something more, like checking a few weeks before if my name was on list etc.
note 1: ofcourse theres more similarity between K & me like alwarpet, eldams roas resident, non-practicing iyengar, brilliant blokes, looks, etc. ;-)
note 2: Madras heat is really blowing me to bits..am off to yelagiri and from there to salem, erode. So I can be very erratic or just absent for the next 1 week.

Secular jindabad!

So a secular leader from that secular-most party attacks and digs the ground right under for a very secular candidate! This candidate's rise in politrix itself goes to ‘dates’ that she gave liberally..
Oh! Coming to the point, the said secular leader is distributing nude photos & posters of this ex bollywood actress. Its another matter that she herself would have posed close to that in the bollywood tradition, but now she is crying..
But, but..dont u think our perverse society will actually vote her for these freebies?
Hey what the heck.. after all she was one of those cuties of those days..if it was 2 decades back, prolly I wud have had a sneak peek;-) and ofcourse delivered some dejected bright statement for the public consumption..hmm..
Note: if u wonder why secular is being attacked for a very political attitude.. Its bcos that secular leader hails from minority the secular-most leader is in a fix and so not admonishing him. Nice fun to watch them all fight among themselves..for such secular reasons!

Fast and no end to fast ones..

so one more fast..
as the elections are approaching fast!
MK tried his best..as it is at his age he shud be fasting every other day and here he tries this to woo voters!
what a politicks these people have made out of this SL tamils issue..there people are dying by thousands not bcos of the reasons we think or these politicos tell us..if u choose between the media for serious unbiased ones, most of them are dying bcos they are used as shields by the ltte! why shud people die for them while there is no sight of any solution.
Did you notice that Sri sri Ravishankar (who visited the war zone) said the refugee camps out there are far better than the ones we have for them here! none seem to have taken cognisance of this fact!
JJ, MK & all others just play around thinking this shall help them in the elections. But why? why will any one, say like me, who is immersed in so many problems (like my access road, water, sewage, garbage, electricity, price rise and tons of other issues that affect me directly) will vote bcos of a problem of someone far away (how ever genuine the problem is!) or for some trick like this which has become so routine and boring!
add to that jokes like JJ's separate eelam! she is promising that as though she would carve it out of her house! hmm..
But still MK's attempt to give his live (one more time - 10000th time??) for such a cause is no more laughable. But iam amazed at the rate at which so many poor people fall for this trick for the nth time..
so politicos actually win, dont they?

something interesting!

busy busy..
so u r spared of my thoughts and scribbles..
but meanwhile, till i catch up some time to update, here are a couple of things that can keep u interested too..
a list of the performance of all our MPs..seek out the info of ur particular MP and do justice..
you can get to view all details, questions raised, etc of the MPs here.
Thanks to prime Point Srinivasan here is a xl list too!

If politrix is too much, go here and see an amazing video of future technology!

pak cricket

or bombs?
remember we discussed this here last time when India visited pak and I (told u so??) said this imminent bomb shall always be hanging..Their grounds and our players shall be laddu targets all thru the tour and its just that one trigger and one mad paki away..
Whats the need to play so badly there? oh! i forgot, its decided by jokers/politrickans like Pawar & gang..
Just clock back to our good old gulli cricket days..have we ever played when we were unwell or someone at home was serious or some old granny kicked the bucket? or during exams??
so even for our street cricket we needed congenial atmosphere and here in Pak they intend playing! What money can let you pledge some players' life? shameless & senseless bleepers!
Atleast for some more time they will not talk of cricket there at pak..This doesnt mean India is any safe haven but slightly less dangerous. But if there shall be an attack the perpetrator shall be from that same mad house called pak!
Now they have cut a piece of that country and given to talibs..ha haa..may they get a better rule!
as for cricket its best to leave them and zimbabwe behind.