Thinking aloud

As days, months and years fly by, we the Mallus, are left stranded on the path to nowhere. The rulers and the public ignored the early warnings which could have prevented most of the major terror attacks that rocked this nation in recent years. Even now, when it is obvious that God’s own Country has fallen prey to Devil’s plans to annihilate India, we fail to take corrective measures. We leave too much to chance and are yet to wake up to the catastrophe that awaits us. The polity that successfully shielded the terror modules continue to reduce the various investigations into a mere farce focused on a highly controversial fundamentalist leader and his family. Everyone knows that the rut runs much deeper, a fact that is the main obstacle in the road to justice and national security. Another disturbing aspect of Mallu life that is sure to blow up in coming months and years is our love-hate relationship with neighbour Tamil Nadu. Mullaperiyar issue has been dragging for far too long. It...

After an interval of over six years, I am back at my hometown Kochi. Another twist in the tale for me, and as my favourite star Mammootty said in the block buster Big B, “Kochi is not the old one. But, I am still the same old guy.” The city is trying desperately to expand in all directions and is becoming more metropolitan in the process. While earlier the immigrants were limited to certain pockets and the heart of the city, these days we come across people from outside Kochi and Kerala at almost every small junction in Ernakulam district. The city is showcasing itself as “The most desirable residential address in Kerala”, which I don’t approve of. Still it is obvious that if you are in Kerala, Kochi is the place to be. The traffic congestion has only gotten worse over the years and continued negligence by the civic authorities has ensured that mosquitoes, civic hygiene and waste disposal are worse than ever. The movie halls continue to test the patience of viewers with two or th...

As voters in three assembly constituencies from Kerala go to the polling booths to elect their new representatives, I can’t but worry about the futility of such an exercise. In spite of being a staunch believer in democracy I must admit that the Indian version of it is certainly giving me more reasons to be sceptical about it. Having said so, I cannot even imagine the plight of citizens in other countries around the globe that don’t even have a semblance of democracy to talk about. What keeps troubling me time and again is the total apathy and lack of accountability that we see so often in Indian political and administrative system. One could always argue that it is but a reflection of the society at large, but that is beside the point. An enormous mishap like that of Thekkady could not help us be a little more cautious and Areekkad occurred. Nothing really changed in between, not even the psyche of the common man. We had a series of road accidents some years ago in which the veh...

In a world that thrives on symbolism and hollow words the danger of tokenism replacing real effort is very much on the rise. The Nobel Peace Prize being given to the US President Obama has sparked off a debate in the contemporary world, and rightly so. Obama rightly recognised the award “as a call to action” rather than as a reward for past accomplishments. Still, I think such prestigious and globally acclaimed awards need to be conferred for past accomplishments and not as a motivational prize. The absence of a phenomenon known as The Mahatma among the list of awardees speaks volumes about the relevance and logic of Nobel Peace Prize. For, most of the time an award is a decoration for the recipient and only rarely it is the other way around.

October 2 nd is a day when the nation remembers the Great Mahatma. Year after year various functions are held across the country, speeches are made and the lack of Gandhian values on contemporary world is lamented with strong words. Like all Indians, I too learned about Gandhiji when I was in school. But I got a better glimpse of the phenomenon called the Mahatma several years later, when I had the opportunity to read his autobiography, ‘My Experiments with Truth’. At this point of time, Gandhiji’s ideals and teachings are very much relevant. Perhaps the most basic of them all, that of being accountable in public life is the one that needs to be rejuvenated if India and the world at large is to progress. The way I understand it, Bapu’s idea of being accountable is not the mere’ resignation owning moral responsibility’ when something goes wrong (which in itself is so rare these days). It is more about owning up responsibility, taking corrective actions with well laid out targets ...

The situation that BJP is in at this point of time can only be described as a BIG MESS. But I am not surprised that things came to such a dismal state. Once the party failed to find an alternative to take over as the opposition leader from Advani, it was clear that something will give way sooner or later. But, the Jaswant saga came as a shock. While the way he was expelled leaves a lot to be desired as far as party democracy is concerned, I believe it was high time the party started taking discipline seriously. Remember the days when BJP used to be a ‘party with a difference’. Having said so, the party cannot be seen to have different yardsticks for different people. No, I am not talking about the old Jinna episode triggered by Advani himself. I am talking about the sudden rush of messiahs and repentant old men from in and around the party. I understand there is a generation of party men who were in line for the top jobs after Vajpayee-Advani era. Now that it is clear that none of ...

Every year from January to April we witness the government departments flooding the money allocated to them in the annual plan outlay down the drain, with very little to show for it. Especially in the last three months of very financial year, these mandarins manage to spend more than 60% of what the total allocation. Needless to say, this smacks of criminal negligence on the part of officers who are supposed to implement different projects in a time bound manner all through the year. As for the ministers, we know very well they are not really capable of doing much other than making atrocious and often indecent comments at the slightest provocation and wasting public money on decorating the ministerial bungalows. There are some good ministers in the cabinet, but they are the exceptions rather than the rule. Then from May to August-September, we have the grand spectacle of the Government, so called socio-religious organizations and other managements and the officials playing with the ...

The happenings in God’s own country are frustrating to say the least. Life seems to be going around in circles while the rest of the world marches ahead. The frustrating part is that the mistery keeps repeating in at periodic intervals and brings with it a fresh bout of shameful play act from the clueless rulers, officials and the unfortunate common man including myself. The immediate provocation for such an observation is the fever epidemic that is on the rampage for almost a month in northern parts of Kerala, and especially in Kozhikode. As the doctors keep diagnosing it as pneumonia, chikenguniya, dengue, malaria and all sorts of myriad varieties of fever, the common man has nowhere to turn for help. This has been a recurring incident for the last 4-5 years in Kerala. Each year different parts of the state are devastated by epidemic fever, claiming the lives of hundreds of hapless victims. The health minister and the ministry keeps coming up with fresh statistics and is seen as b...

As the nation salutes our jawans and officers on the 10 th anniversary of Kargil Vijay Diwas, we need to once again take a close look at our own priorities and civic life. From failing to queue up at the polling booths on Election Day to jumping the queue whenever we happen to be in one, we have our own surreptitious and indigenous ways of surviving in this great nation. We are an diverse bunch of citizens with a remarkably short memory and high emotional quotient (that soar to dizzying heights when a cricket match is on television). We have a government which seemed reluctant to join in the celebrations and which just about did what was obligatory and nothing more. We have a media which turns this into another sensationalised drama with the all knowing politicians throwing punches at each other and looking like complete idiots in the process. Still, somewhere amidst all the chaos, we still manage to preserve the memories and nurture the emotion that keeps the phenomenon called Ind...

Past week has once again demonstrated how redundant and sidelined the Indian Parliament has become in the Indian administration. Even in UPA’s first term, parliament was repeatedly bypassed in important national issues and we even had a bunch of bills being passed without any discussion under the pretext of non-co-operative opposition. Sadly none among the UPA’s think-tank seems to have ever heard of the concept of inclusive decision making. The victory that gave UPA a second term should have made the government more sensitive and responsible while dealing with vital issues, especially those related to defence and foreign matters. Instead, all that we have is a government that cannot seem to make up its mind on such issues and which keeps taking u-turn arbitrarily every now and then. Even when the parliament is in session, the government doesn’t deem it necessary or desirable to make use of the opportunity to clarify its stand and thereby keep the nation informed. This time the UPA ha...

The events that compelled CPI(M) to convene extra ordinary PB and CC meetings and the decisions taken by the highest party forums are by now well known. The entire country and especially we Keralites are in a stock taking mode, trying to work out what the latest turn of events means for the future of the party as well as the nation. The most damning impact of the unfortunate decisions taken by the CPI(M) is the total erosion of faith in the party central leadership, read more precisely as Prakash Karat. We Mallus were looking forward to a pragmatic and constructive approach which sadly didn’t materialise behind the closed doors of AKG Bhavan. By choosing to back the tainted state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan, Prakash has chosen to take the ultimate gamble that could prove to be fatal in coming years. Why do I think so? Well, think of a scenario where Pinarayi Vijayan is convicted by the court. What will happen then? The party will have to either accept its colossal error or it wi...

2nd July 2009 will always be remembered as a historical day for India. On this day India truly became a democratic and inclusive nation and this was brought about by the Delhi High Court verdict which de-criminalised homosexuality. The landmark judgement enables millions of Indians (a deliberate choice of word as they are as much a citizen of this country as you and me are) to come out of the closet. It would give them some hope of living the life of their choice, of seeking better education, career and health care, of being a normal human being who does not have to look over his/her shoulder even in his/her most private moments in his/her bedroom. This would also enable the government, NGOs and other concerned authorities to address the high incidence of AIDS and other diseases among the homosexuals. This must be enough of a reason for the society to accept homosexuals as equal human beings. The Delhi High Court has shown compassion and vision in coming out with such a verdict. R...

On a cold, rainy Friday morning, the television stunned me with the shocking news about Michael Jackson’s demise. The super star who touched the lives of millions around the world with his music and charisma left the stage for hopefully a better one. While I was a student, my trips from my home at Ernakulam to the college at Malappuram often had a detour at the cultural capital of Kerala, Thrissur. I used to go to Ragam theatre at Thrissur with my friends and watch such hit films like Jurassic Park and World is Not Enough. Ragam had a great DTS sound system and as DTS was still fairly new in Kerala, we enjoyed the films even more. It is in the darkened cinema hall that I fell in love with MJ’s music. In those days Ragam used to play MJ’s tracks before the start of every show and this was enough of an attraction for me. Most memorable among them was the Earth Song which took me to another world just like millions across the globe who listened to it. What a divine experience it was......

While a billion hearts were broken when Dhoni’s men crashed out of the ICC T20 world cup, Saina Nehwal has made a pioneering achievement by winning the Indonesian Open Badminton Championship. Even as the nation continues to eat, drink and sleep cricket, our sportsmen do excel in other games like Chess, Shooting, Boxing, Badminton,   Snooker etc. These brave hearts manage to do so on their own without any significant support from the government, authorities or even from the general public. Sadly, it is only after they win such prestigious events that we take notice of them.  Well done Sina.

Congratulations are on order for the ICC T20 champions Pakistan. This win has come at a crucial time for Pakistani nation as such and I hope the happiness and joy that comes along with this success will last for a long time for them. Sri Lanka has also been a war torn nation for so long. Their cricketers too deserve special praise for the strength and resiliency that they have shown in the most trying times. Perhaps it is poetic justice that the two teams which came in the firing line of the terrorists came together in the finals of the World Championship and entertained the whole world.  Well done neighbours...

With the new government in place at New Delhi, the business of running an administration in the country has again gotten underway in full swing. The union and railway budgets slated to be presented in the parliament next month would give us clear signals of what this government’s programmes and plans are.  I would like to see the government take effective and sustainable measures to bring down the prices of daily items. While the inflation has come down to near zero levels, the prices of food, vegetables and other daily use materials are still very much on the higher side. The prices of some of the materials like the sugar are still rising at an alarming rate. In spite of having high stocks available with the FCI, the common man is not getting the benefit. The Murli Manohar Joshi Committee’s report, cautioning against the FDI and Indian corporate investments in retail sector should be given due consideration.  Unfortunately, the petroleum minister is again harping on increasing the...

The setback that the party and the NDA got in the elections has challenged the BJP to come up with a credible plan of action for the future. Of course, this requires the party to introspect and correct all factors that may have contributed to this humiliating defeat. The party has to think about the future. In the next five years, it will be facing a resurgent Congress led by a charming Rahul Gandhi. The BJP has to make up its mind on the leadership issue and the ideological issue. While the debate on Hindutva is desirable and even necessary for the Indian polity, the party has to wrest back the initiative from the belligerent media and the political adversaries. More often than not, the BJP is forced on the defensive on the issue. It is about time the party came up with a clear cut definition of Hindutva and set an agenda on the same.  For millions like me, Hindutva is not only about building a Ram temple at Ayodhya or countering the real or perceived attacks made on the Hindu bre...

Over the years, public life has seen a drastic decline in terms of standards and practices. The atmosphere has often been contaminated by vicious and repulsive language and sound bites. In today’s era of 24 hour news channels and readership touting news paper, this has become all the more louder and vicious. In the last two decades Kerala has seen more than its fair share of verbal contamination. The Congress factional feud with ‘the Leader’ on one side and the rest on the other contributed a lot to this. The ascendancy of K.Muraleedharan in the party raised the decibel levels by a few notches. The expulsion of some senior leaders like Gowriamma and M.V.Raghavan made sure that the Communists too contributed, though in a much lesser quantity. Back then, the red brigade was more inclined to action than rhetoric. The 1990s also saw an escalation in exchanges among the literary icons and the socio-cultural elite in the state. The squabbles among noted writers and thinkers often grabbed t...

Congratulations to the Deccan Chargers on winning this year’s IPL at South Africa. They have shown the resiliency required to win a big, long tournament like this.  IPL 2009 has been a revelation to the cricket lovers. It proved that classy players will always excel in any format of the game. The performances of the veterans like Anil Kumble, Mathew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist delighted the fans. For me, the notable disappointments were Sourav Ganguly, V.V.S.Laxman, Sachin Tendulkar , Sanath Jayasurya, Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan.  The find of the tournament is Manish Pandey. SO many young players including Pragyan Ojha, Naman Ojha, Ravindra Jadeja and many others demonstrate the bench strength that Indian cricket has. This is a good omen and the BCCI needs to preserve and nurture the budding talents.  Looking forward to the Indian team retaining the T20 World Cup....

We are living in an era of mindless, brutal blood shedding and violence. Often, the war is for some cause or the other. The dreams, aspirations, ambitions, love, lust, greed, agony, anguish, anger, frustrations all spill out in the form of bullets and swords. Even petty feuds and silly arguments end up in large scale destruction and communal clashes.  We live in an age of heroes who seek to build their empire atop the graveyards. The Osamas, Prabhakarans, myriad forms of Naxalism, extreme Maoism, communal and caste hatred and all forms of oppressive idealisms seek to establish their dominance on the world order. Saner voices like that of the Dalai Lama are drowned in the midst of the loud, fervent war cries. Even devil’s hell would be a better abode than man’s earth.  When I saw the reports of Prabhakaran’s death, I couldn’t but wonder what the moral of his life is. His fight was against the oppression of Tamils by the Sri Lankan government and the Sinhalese community. But, what di...

The death of dreaded LTTE chief Prabhakaran is a defining moment in the history of Sri Lanka and in fact that of the entire Tamil World. His death is a defining moment in the history of the small Islan nation. I hope this would bring some semblance of peace and stability to that country.  The onus is on the Sri Lankan government to rehabilitate the Tamils and give them their due status. This is a rare second chance that the government has got to correct the past wrongdoings.  India must also find it easier to intervene in a post-Prabhakaran era. India has the responsibility and duty to make sure that the Tamils and Sinhalese peacefully co-exist in the beautiful Lankan nation.

The results of Lok Sabha Elections 2009 show that Kerala has remained faithful to its record of switching between the two prominent fronts, LDF and UDF. So much so that one can even predict the results of the next Lok Sabha Elections which should be held in 2014 unless the new dispensation at Delhi fails to be a stable one. It would be an exact opposite of the current results.  Why? Because by then we will have a UDF government ruling the state for over two years and would be as fed up with it as we are with the current LDF government. It is the utter disappointment of the neutral voters, those who are not hardcore LDF or UDF supporters, which results in the alternating fortunes for the fronts in successive elections. The net result is that the state and its people suffer from the negligence and lack of will power from its rulers. Even the achievements of the government get sidelined due to various controversies that keep flooding the state.  Another side-effect of this is that eac...

UPA improves its tally, disappointment for NDA, severe drubbing for the 3 rd front… The UPA is all set to form the government at the centre for the second time. Disappointing as it is for many like me who would have liked to see Advaniji as the Prime Minister, I still hope the UPA would get its priorities right this time around.  In an earlier post, I had expressed the hope that the Indian polity at the national level would finally come around to a bipartisan system two to three elections from now. I reiterate the same at this juncture.  As for the next government, I strongly suspect there would be a mid-term leadership change if Manmohan Singh stays on as the Prime Minister at initial stage. In spite of being an optimist, I don’t have much hope regarding the performance of a fresh UPA government in key areas like employment generation, inflation control, foreign affairs and anti-terrorist and anti-insurgency drive. I would like the new government to respect the verdict and deli...

Anti LDF wave wreaks havoc…   1.        Ponnani & Kozhikkode - CPI(M)’s Pinarayi group had estranged all other sections in the LDF regarding the candidate selection in Ponnani and Kozhikode. I am delighted at the LDF’s drubbing in these two seats as it deserves the same for its arrogance and total disregard for coalition etiquette. A strong message to the CPI(M) from Left supporters and cadres. 2.        Kannur & Vadakara - Two seats which are the citadels of CPI(M) chose to teach a lesson to the party this time around. A strong political message to the CPI(M) from its own cadres and support base. 3.        Palakkad & Vadakara - CPI(M) rebels who contested the elections putting up a creditable show in these two CPI(M) strong holds. 4.        Thriuvananthapuram -   Shashi Tharoor makes his debut in election politics. This manifests the extend of anti-LDF trend across Kerla. 5.        BJP – As usual, decrease in the BJP vote share across the state would be cause f...

India has seen myriad forms of horse-trading and political back stabbing in its post 1947 history. From the respected Netha going underground with his precious stack of MLAs, who are kept under house arrest till a deal is struck with interested parties, to the honourable MPs being bought with the help of divine God Men and suitcases laden with cash.  Lok Sabha elections 2009 will also throw up interesting and downright comical moments of political bankruptcy and ideological ambiguity. Yesterday, we had the pleasure of watching a former Chief Minister going to meet the leader of the Grand Old Party in a clandestine fashion. The pictures reminded me of criminals and prostitutes who often hide their faces in front of the camera. I cannot understand why the gentle man had to hide himself in such an amateurish fashion.   Even I could have done a better job if I wanted to avoid being identified in front of the camera.    More cynical and disturbing trends are being reported from Rampur w...

This election has been characterised by shameless, opportunistic positions adopted by different players brazenly. The latest among these is the atrocious demand made by Mulayam Singh Yadav regarding post-poll support. He has promised support to any party or group that guarantees the dismissal of Mayavati Government in UP.  This position betrays the total lack of moral and social commitment on the part of a leader who has been one of the major players in the national politics for more than two decades now. Mulayam has been the Chief Minister of UP and also a union minister earlier. One would have expected the leader to have gained some maturity and semblance of accountability after all these years.  It is the bane of Indian polity that egoistic personalities with highly volatile temperament get to control the future of this nation. People like Mulayam, Lalu Prasad Yadav, Mayavati, Mamta Banerjee, Jayalalitha etc have time and again demonstrated their utter disregard for political an...

The IPL season 2 which is underway in South Africa is proving to be a closely fought tournament. With about half the matched over, most of the teams are still with a chance to go into the semi-finals, except for the Kolkata Knight Riders.  I wanted the Knight Riders to stage an impressive show in this edition. But, the stupid four captain theory ensured that the team had quite a few worries even before the tournament started. Just what was the theory all about? In spite of the miserable show by the team, we certainly have not seen any captain other than the pitiable McCullam in the whole tournament so far. I suspect the whole theory was just an excuse to remove Dada from the captaincy. And now John wants more foreign players to be allowed in the team. Really this is ridiculous.  While all the other teams have shown the vision, courage and the skills to bounce back from the most precarious situation, Buchanans’s team has performed well below expectations game after game. A coach has...

After the lacklustre performance in the election campaign, the political parties in Kerala are back to what they are best at, politics of harthal. With the LDF government deciding to accept advocate general’s advice against sanctioning the prosecution of CPI(M) Kerala general secretary Pinarayi Vijayan, the opposition parties have called for a twelve hour harthal in the state.  It is notable that the election was hijacked by the single issue of Madani factor. The opposition parties failed miserably to highlight any other political issues in any meaningful fashion. In this sense, Kerala has followed the national trend of debating sensational but non-productive issues in the elections. I strongly feel that the media too has not served its role well so far in elections 2009.  It is these factors that are responsible for the increased number of apolitical citizens in this country. The decrease in voting percentage is a direct result of an uninspired political leadership and a main stre...

It was a magical evening for music lovers from different parts of the country who converged at the Corporation Stadium at Kozhikode yesterday for A.R.Rahman’s Jai Ho show. While the event was an unforgettable one for the exuberant crowd, it still had its flaws which somehow dampened the spirits of the capacity crowd. This show had its positives and negatives.  I got inside the stadium with my friends by about 4PM for the show slated to start at 7PM. The scorching sun and the summer heat beat down on us while we were seated in the uppermost tier of the gallery (ticket cost 500Rs). The crowd kept pouring in and by about 6:10PM, the gallery was almost full. As the sun’s ferocity started to subside, the spirits began to soar among the expectant crowd.   This was the first time I had gone for any such programme in a big stadium . When I watched cricket and other programmes from different stadiums around the world on my television, I have always wondered how the atmosphere would be. I fo...

It has been a tiresome, but enjoyable week spent travelling across the God’s own Country. And when the journey takes you closer to the loved ones, it is all the more special. Now I am back at Kozhikode and have the perfect arena to recharge myself. Yes, I am going for A.R.Rahman’s Jao Ho show this evening. For fans like us it is a once in a life time opportunity to see the maestro perform live in our own city. Obviously, I am very much excited about the event. Watch out for the updates tomorrow...

The smart city project in Kochi has been on the anvil for more than 17 months now. It is a much anticipated project which could be the much needed boost to Kerala’s bleak business sector. Link to the reprot related to this published by Business Standard: http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/smart-city-stuckland-issue/355804/  Unfortunately, we seem to lack smart rulers and officials who have the vision and more importantly the commitment to see the project implemented in a timely manner. The governments that we elect in Kerala are so good that they manage to antagonise us within the first two years of its term. This is true for every government which has ruled (rather misruled) Kerala in the past 25 years. None of them have managed to get a second term.  But, that cannot be a solace to common man who seeks development, wealth and job generation and peace in ‘God’s own country.’ As I said in an earlier post, the opposition invariably takes things for granted. In the election ...

The nation was anxiously watching the first phase of elections yesterday. We Keralites also had the opportunity to have our say on the future of this nation. But, for us it was also a long holiday from 9 th of April till the 16 th with only two working days in between on 13 th and 15 th . It was festival season.  This has caused lot of hardships to common man. Personally, I got a taste of the same when we ran out of the cooking gas (Spic) on 15 th morning. The gas agency remained closed on 15 th and 16 th . I got the new cylinder delivered just 10 minutes ago. Since I was alone at home, I had food from outside. But the real challenge was the drinking water. There was no way to get the water boiled, and I had to buy the costly mineral water. I do feel that the Election Commission, the political parties and the other concerned authorities should keep in mind such factors while fixing election dates.  While I was thirsty for the drinking water, many of my fellow mallus were thirs...

I voted in the parliament election today. I really feel good about doing so. Irrespective of whether my chosen candidate wins or not, it is the sense of having expressed my opinion that makes the moment so special and unique. Apart from that there are certain factors which I find to be of great interest.  A polling booth is among the rarest of the government properties where you are not challenged by corrupt and inefficient officials. Here the official cannot ask you to come after one hour, you don’t have to wait for the officials to decide whether they would like to serve you or not, a place where nobody can deny your rights and dignity. It is a place where people actually treat you with respect and eagerness, traits which are so very rare in other government establishments. You don’t have to wait until all sorts of quotas and reservations are doled out, and you are given what is left over. Sadly, there are places where the polling may be rigged or malpractices are rampant. To deny ...

Indian is in the midst of its biggest festival, the General Elections. Two incidents in the last two days have once again demonstrated the intricacies of the world’s largest democracy .They revealed two entirely different facets of the phenomena called the Indian democracy.   The protests led by the Sikh people against Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar  have forced Congress party to deny tickets to them. On one hand, this is a reminder of the power vested in the hands of the common man in a democracy. But the fact that it took such mass protests for the grand old party to rethink its decision demonstrates the sorry state of affairs in this nation. All political parties take people for granted and never seem to learn from their mistakes.  The people have always exerted their will when they get their opportunity. There are many such examples in the history of modern India, including the severe defeat meted out to the all-powerful Indira Gandhi in 1977 elections. We may express apolitic...

Jarnail Singh’s act of throwing a shoe at the Union Home Minister P.Chidambaram has evoked strong feelings among many of us. It is true that there is a feeling of deep hurt among the Sikh community. Even after 25 years, the community is still waiting for justice. The woefully tedious judicial process in this country often leaves the common man frustrated and helpless. But since Jarnail Singh was attending the press conference in his capacity as a journalist of one of the leading dailies, I think he should have restrained himself.  Such incidents will only help the politicians of this country to impose restrictions on the free media. 

The much awaited series win for the Indian cricket team in New Zealand has once again made the nation proud. We would have liked to win the last test match also. Dhoni’s men are well in their way to become the best side in the world. The only weakness is the lack of a consistent 4 th bowler.  There have been numerous delightful performances by the Indians in this series. Dravid, Laxman, Sachin, Sewag, Dhoni, Bhajjie, Zaheer, Ishant have all performed very well. The man of the series, Gautam Gambhir would cherish the memories of this tour for a long time, as would the fans.  I hope the Indian players would play well in the forthcoming IPL. Playing in South Africa would be a good experience for the upcoming players from India.  

The situation in many parts of Asia, especially in the subcontinent, is highly volatile. While India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Srilanka are all under increasing stress to counter the rising tide of extremist and terrorist organizations, the scenario in Afghanistan remains as chaotic as ever. The Non-Alignment Movement has lost its relevance with the end of the cold war and the SAARC has increasingly become more and more outdated in the last two decades.  The carnage in Pakistan is showing no signs of respite. After aiding and abetting terrorists acting against India for more than two decades, Pakistan finds itself at the receiving end. It would be foolish to assume that the forces led by the US will have any greater success in Afghanistan and Pakistan than it had in Iraq, especially since the western powers have never succeeded in winning the trust of the common man in these parts of the world. It is in this scenario that the need to have a military and strategic alliance of the Asia...

Yea...It takes a lot for an eternal optimist like me to get disappointed. As a person who is very much interested in the political arena, I have been looking forward to the upcoming general elections with just the same greed and lust as I look forward to parties and feasts on festive occasions (I love good food as well). I feel let down by the media.  What have the media come up with so far?   ·          The never ending debate (which in India is more of a shout contest) on the ever ambiguous issue of ‘secularism’. ·          ---- ·          ---- ·          ---- ·          ----  The blanks are yet to be filled. It is a shame that our media does not have the courage and the vision to focus on anything other than the usual provocative fare. Sadly, this suits the politicians well. In this age of recession and depression, I had looked forward to some meaningful and productive debate on the economic front. The inflation, both positive and negative, could have sparked off a j...

Like in many other Indian cities, many people at Kozhikode have also been throwing their domestic waste including the plastics on the road. I guess the Corporation got fed up with this and decided to dump the plastics on the road themselves. Shocked?   Read on....  Kerala is known for its greenery and scenic beauty. I am an ardent lover of its lush green landscapes. But, can you imagine having green roads in your city? We at Kozhikode will have the honour of travelling through green roads soon.  In case you are wondering, a green road does not refer to a road with green surface. It is a road which uses plastic scraps as one of the raw materials. The Kozhikode Corporation has decided to use plastic scraps for the construction of road between the stadium and Puthiyara. This is the first time that a civic body is getting involved in such a process in Kerala.   One tonne of plastic scraps are being used in the process for the three and a half metre wide, 700m long road.  The use of p...

Yesterday’s terror attack at Lahore has once again demonstrated the chaos in Pakistan. I feel for the plight of Pakistani people. I wish Pakistan as a nation has the courage and the wisdom to mend its ways while it still can...

I had posted about the two important incidents that took place in the run up to the elections in Kerala. http://dvnair.blogspot.com/2009/03/national-media-ignoring-critical-issues.html The first incident is historic because this is a marked deviation from the policies of the CPI(M). A party which expelled one of its comrades M.V.Raghavan due to his suggestion of having an alliance with the Indian Union Muslim League(IUML) almost two decades ago has clearly taken a u-turn. In doing so, the party has abandoned the line of thought supported by the late E.M.S.Namboothiripad adopted in the 12 th Party Congress. It has also lend credence to the belief that the LDF Government in Kerala is going slow and soft on the anti-terror investigations prompted by the exposure of terror links in the state.  The second incident is also significant because the CPI(M) state leadership acted in total disregard of the interests of the national leadership. This has once again shown Prakash Karat’s central ...

A session’s court in Delhi has created history by finishing the trial and giving the verdict on a murder case in just 7 days. This is a laudable achievement, one that needs to be followed by the courts across the nation.

The Election Commission has come out with an unprecedented 'advise', asking the BJP not to field Varun Gandhi in this election. It has found Varun guilty of making inflammatory, hate speech and hence the action.  Without going into the debate about Varun Gandhi’s speech, I am of the opinion that the EC should not have given such an 'advise' to the BJP, or to any political party for that matter. It is the prerogative of the party to field whichever candidate it may want to. More importantly, in a democracy it is the prerogative of the people and the people alone to support or reject a particular candidate.    Equally important is the fact that the EC has never shown the courage to stand up to the parties that field candidates with proven criminal background. Even in this election, parties across the board are fielding candidates who would be more at home behind the bars than in the Parliament. These kinds of issues cannot and should not be dealt with arbitrarily.  ...

We Keralites often complain about the step-motherly treatment meted out to our little state by the Central Government. Even when all the twenty MPs from our state were supporting the UPA government, the trend didn’t change. Especially when it comes to the Railways, Kerala has never got even a fair hearing so far. To my dismay, I find that it is not only the government that is ignoring my state. It is the national media as well.   In the era of electronic media, I often feel that the main stream news channels often ignore the significant happenings in the Kerala politics. One has to remember that Kerala has always been a social and political laboratory. From the world’s first democratically elected Communist Government to the successful coalition politics, we have always been the pioneers for others to follow. In this context, the mainstream media has failed to grasp the importance of two happenings in Kerala, this election season.   The dangerous game that the CPI(M)(read as its st...