true democracy - protest but peacefully

the maharashtra state govt has declared a rally planned to protest the killings of a dalit family and the desecration of Babasaheb's statue illegal. the govt has turned nagpur into a fortress and has detained some of the dalit leaders. the delicate law and order situation is the reason provided by the govt for its actions.
the govt's fears are understandable taking into consideration the delicate law and order situation and the damage caused by the last "protest rally". but denying prople the right to protest is in violation of the fundamental rights guaranteed by our constitution.
this suppression of the protests will only stoke the anger within the dalits. it will further alienate them from the present govt.
the govt has already deployed forces in great numbers and turned the city into a fortress. i believe with enough forces deployed the govt should let the rally take place as long as it remains peaceful. let the forces stand guard and be ready to take action the minute the rally starts taking the law into its own hands.
this will be the true show of democracy where protests would be allowed but only as long as they are peaceful.

democracy or anarchy - what are we?

i wonder sometimes if india is the greatest democracy or the greatest anarchy!!

in a country where the number of farmers committing suicide is going up with every passing day, the "leaders" are busy discussing who should/should not be playing in the cricket team!!

the minute somebody "powerful" is convicted, he/she lands up in a hospital instead of the jail!! while there r ppl who have spent more time in jails as under-trials waiting for their trials than they would ever have had to even if they would have got convicted with the maximum sentence possible!!

law and order - its condition is similar to the roads in this country......just like u are forced to wonder at times which one is actually the road - the series of potholes or the comparitively smoother dirt track beside it........similarly u wonder whether it is lawful and orderly when an entire family of a particular community is murdered and the community reacts by burning trains and going on a rampage throughout the state - and mind you all of this happens in one of the most industrialized states of india.
why is it that destruction of public property seems to be a crime easier to get away with than even pick-pocketing?
why is it that one hardly ever hears of rioters getting punished?
why is it that more n more political parties are treating legislative assemblies like kabaddi maidans or kushti akharas?

somewhere we should draw a line. we need not be like any other nation. we can be our own nation but with a little more rationale and a little more order. i guess we need to start by electing the right ppl first!

The Art of the Start - Guy Kawasaki

ppl, check this out!

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3755718939216161559&q=guy+kawasaki

this is a talk by Guy Kawasaki on entrepreneurship and start-ups. Guy is a venture capitalist or what is also known as an angel investor. even though the topic may not interest u, the talk is worth a watch! the way Guy discusses the topic continually resorting to humor and funny anecdotes makes it a lotta fun to watch.

So, watch n enjoy! :-)

pesticides in colas and...

it seems that india needs to wake up to high pesticide levels in all its foods/drinks and not just colas!

in bhubaneswar, my family was witness recently to a demonstration of a water purifier based on reverse osmosis. the sales guy had brought along an instrument which he used to perform electrolysis on the water to separate the dissolved impurities. he took 3 samples of water. the first was tap water which comes from a bore well. second was water supplied by a popular packaged water company. third was water which had been 'treated' by reverse osmosis. as it turned out the first sample was the best and the worst one was the packaged water!!

i am surprised by 'environmentalists' who choose to target only the colas! the govt. usually puts other considerations before public well being . so inaction on their part is not new. it is shameful though not surprising that the same politicians who were all over tv smashing cola bottles do nothing to get the BIS specifications in place.

The Rail Budget

With Lalu Yadav driving the Indian Railways, it has gone from bankrupt to almost profit making.....the change is significant.....as the minister himself tells us from depending on the govt. for 2/3rds of its budget to needing 1/3rds...that too in such short a span of time - is indeed an achievement!!
The minister has proved all those economists - who said that there was no alternative to raising fares for the masses - wrong!! He has turned the railways around in ingenuous ways and must be applauded for that!!
It just goes to show what the right political will can achieve.......the govt. and its bodies have immense resources at their disposal.....any person willing to do the right thing can work wonders....but then that’s the keyword!! The WILL.

pehli bak-bak

hello world,

there's a lot i'd like to talk about. but right now right here, i'll just say "Hi!!!" :)

luv,
mayank.