The words “Happy and gay” used to mean being happy without giving a damn when I was growing up. Now though, things have changed. Being happy and gay in today’s India would bring you a whole truckload of trouble. Until recently.

The Delhi High Court in a very sensible judgement said that being gay is not illegal by law. As expected, this has brought cheer to the gay community, and to the sensible community. But is life ever easy in India? No siree!!

According to the so-called guardians of the society and our morality, what you do in your bedroom should be a closely scrutinized (& pre-approved) act. In their opinion, a person’s sexual orientation should be trigger enough for their prosecution by the law(or at least by its enforcers). Morality seems has got itself a bunch of cronies to protect it. But then these are self-proclaimed gurus, the saints and the god-men. Now I mean no disrespect for any of these great people, but do I, or anyone else tell them what to do in their bedrooms?

Now there is another aspect of this whole gay legality/morality debate that bothers me. The same people who are out in arms against homosexuals are also the ones against me sitting hand in hand in a park, or on a beach, with my girlfriend/wife(even sister). So let me put this out clear. The enforcers of our morality, who tell us that being a homosexual is immoral and incorrect, also tell us that being a heterosexual would be equally illegal if I take my girlfriend out for a walk in the park. Some hypocrisy that is!! As some great(and unknown) person said:

I have no problems with God. It is his followers that I can’t stand.

And let these morality thugs also remember that Khajuraho stands tall as an example of our heritage. At one time, more than 50 temples stood tall, decorated all over with very graphic sexual imagery. Some of it is still intact, and when you go there, what strikes you is the amount of common sense that we have lost over the ages.

Legalizing homosexuality is simply removing discrimination based on a person’s sexual orientation. More crudely put, what anyone does in their bedroom is none of my, or anyone else’s business. So why should people be discriminated based on their bedroom behavior? Doesn’t make any sense.

So, with all humility, I request all religious gurus, and self-styled morality enforcers to please do a show of common sense. Let the world know that in a country that is the birthplace of Kamasutra, and where we have a lord of sexuality(kama dev), we can be open minded to accept homosexuals as regular individuals, and not treat them freaks, wierdos or diseased people.  Please channelize your energy towards creating a peaceful society, one without bias and discrimination. Empower the poor, empower women, save the girl child..there’s several issues that need your attention. Focus on them, and make a difference there.

Let us all be nice sensible people for once.

On a more personal note, the summer vacation is over. It is astonishing how much the world can change in a matter of 2 months. Very soon, I will be writing some more on what I think of the changes in the summer gone by.

Till then…let us all be happy and gay…in the true meaning of the expression!

In the run up to the upcoming general elections, India’s leading opposition party, BJP, has announced its “IT Vision” for the country. Before reading ahead, I would want you to read the IT vision at BJP’s website.

Now for the IT vision itself. I am not sure if I should call it myopic, or really far-sighted. It seems that the IT pundits who helped BJP write this vision are quite mis-informed themselves. Thus we end up with an IT vision that, IMHO, is unachievable. Let me pick out some points from it and try to explain why they are so difficult to achieve.

1.2 crore (12 million) new IT-enabled jobs in rural areas.

How, in its right mind, does the BJP believe it can create so many jobs in IT? That too in rural India, where lack of infrastructure, connectivity (road and internet), power and basic amenities are lacking. Before creating these crores of jobs, shouldn’t infrastructure issues be sorted out first?

Most IT/ITeS jobs in India currently are courtesy the US, which is now heavily coming down on outsourcing. I haven’t heard any member of the BJP come out and make noise about this protectionist attitude of the US. Neither does the BJP talk about creating indigenous demand for IT/ITeS. Unless there is demand, creating these millions of jobs is going to be a tall order.

1 crore (10 million) students to get laptop computers at Rs 10,000. Interest-free loan for anyone unable to afford it

Excellent idea. Throwing away cheap laptops seems to be the next in-thing (after throwing away free rice and ration cards). Now my question is, where are these Rs 10,000 laptops going to come from? The only laptop in this price (that I am aware of) is the upcoming Qualcomm “Kayak”, slated for launch later this year. These laptops are meant “for browsing the internet” and are connected via 3G services. Currently, only New Delhi has a working 3G service (MTNL). Is BJP planning to widen 3G services across the country as well? Sweeeeet!!! Or is this just another one of those, errmm, election promises?

Broadband Internet (2 Mbps) in every town and village, at cable TV prices (less than Rs 200/month).

Thank you thank you thank you!! I am willing to pay even 500 Rs/month for 2Mbps broadband services. But is it going to be of any use? In the IT city of Gurgaon (where I happen to live), there is a daily powercut of 3-5 hours. On a nice, hot, sweltering summer day, the powercut goes up to 8 hours (including hours in the night). If this is the power situation in Gurgaon, I wonder how it will be in small towns and villages. With such a power situation, the only use I have for the broadband internet is to use it hang my wet laundry on its wires. If India’s towns and villages need something, it is 24×7 electricity. Have a vision for giving us that!!!

Every BPL family to be given a free smart mobile phone, which can be used by even illiterate users for accessing their bank accounts.

Wait, so we had low cost rice, low cost laptops and now (drum roll) free smart mobiles. What intrigues me is this: A family is defined as being Below poverty line (BPL) if its monthly per capita consumption expenditure is below Rs. 356.35 for rural areas and Rs. 538.60 for urban areas (Source: Poverty in India on Wikipedia). Common sense dictates that if a family can only spend Rs 350 per month on living, how would it have a bank account? And if it does have a bank account, how much balance would be in that account for the BPL family to do “transactions” with on their BJP-enabled smartphones? This is not helpful, it is actually an insult to all those poor people who are barely surviving. They’ll appreciate more means of income rather than free mobile phones!!!

This idea seems to be given by the same people who made the “India Shining campaign”, that cost the BJP dearly in the last general elections. Instead of learning from its mistakes, BJP seems to be glorifying them!! Sad, sad, sad!

Government spending to be made corruption-free. A former Prime Minister had once said, “If I put Rs. 100 in the pipeline in Delhi, only Rs. 15 reach the end beneficiary.” In contrast to Congress governments’ Leaky Pipeline, the BJP’s IT Pipeline will ensure 100% benefit to people. Those who misappropriate public funds will be punished.

Whoa….corruption free government spending! A dream that does not need IT to be realized. But the BJP seems to think otherwise. I simply fail to make the connection between IT and corruption free government! Or wait, is it that because there will be IT, there will be more transparency. More transparency should ensure corruption free spending, right?

Wrong! The moot point here is that IT simply enables for sharing of information. I am not sure if the government is so willing to share its spending information. And if it is, might I suggest implementation of a system that shows me where my tax money was spent. I am sure a lot of the tax paying class would appreciate knowing how and where its money was spent. Simply saying x and y crores were spent on road development will not do. I want to know which exact roads were built using that money, and if they are any good (at least the roads here in gurgaon are trashy, to say the least).

If there is no political will (which hasn’t been present in the last 60 years) for reducing corruption, how will IT make any difference?

Citizens will have a simple 1-800 BSNL Toll Free Number, which will be accessible 24×7x 365 days of the year, to contact their Member of Parliament.

And what would be the response? I am sorry, but the MP you are trying to call is too busy dozing off in the Parliament. Or wait, how about this, “the MP you are trying to reach is too busy creating traffic jams with his 10 car cavalcade”. Or this, “the MP you want to reach is busy blowing off taxpayer’s money in some foreign country”. If I contact my member of parliament and tell him that there is 8-10 hours of daily powercuts, water shortages, bad broken roads, no security, excessive inflation(the government says it is 0.11%, my vegetable vendor and grocer seem to disagree and increase prices every week), will he do something to improve the situation? BJP itself, by disrupting parliament proceedings hundreds of times has shown that it has utter disregard for the taxpayer’s money. However much its vocal leaders may shout, disruption of a constitutional machine like the parliament costs dearly to the taxpayer, not only in terms of the money wasted, but also in terms of wastage of valuable time that could be used to discuss important issues.

Oh, and even if there were a 1-800 toll free number, how does that guarantee accountability? How will Mr. L.K Advani be accountable for his work in his constituency? How will Ms. Sushma Swaraj be held accountable for not fulfilling those promises that she screams out on TV channels? We need accountability, we need politicians to be answerable to people who are paying for their daily bread and butter with their hard earned money.

What BJP needs in its IT vision is a simple statement: We will provide a report card for each of our MPs online, where people can openly say that their elected leader is not doing his/her job. where people can hold its elected representatives accountable in full public view, where politicians will have no place to hide after they make rosy promises and get elected.

Give us accountability, BJP. Not bullshit!

Author’s Notes:
1.The author hold no favour/bias towards any political party. This article is not written with any political motivations, but with a simple idea to show what the country really needs!
2. Hateful/vengeful/biased comments are not welcome. Please spew out your hatred somewhere else.

Economies all around the world are in a recession just 4 years after they recovered from the last one. This recession, like the last one, is a product of greed. In 2000, there was the greed to earn a quick buck from dot com companies. Hence there mushroomed an eco-system of dot com firms that was later named as the “dot com bubble”, a bubble that burst and took down with it a lot of global economies.

The world did recover from the dot com bubble eventually, but there were no lessons learnt. Greed was much bigger, as giant loan sharks gave loans in the US that were not sustainable. Loans given out to people to buy houses they could never afford. Sub-prime crisis, as we know now, started a phase of slowdown that has claimed many heads now. A whole era of investment banks led by the likes of Goldmans & Lehmanns. No one knows how or where this recession would lead. All we can hope is, it stays a recession and does not become a depression.

There are, however, some uncomfortable questions one must ask even during these tough times. Here they are:

#1 Will the USA take responsibility for plunging the world into this unprecedented(so they say) crisis?

After all, it is the blind greed and capitalistic whims of the so-called Harvard educated “managerial talents” that have us in this mess.

#2 Will the banks of the world come out in the open and inform the masses how bad their books are?

One cause of the current recession is lack of faith in banks. This lack of faith is because banks are not so forthcoming with their bad debts and losses.

#3 Will higher managements in companies accept cuts to their own fat paychecks before laying off hundreds of thousands of lower rung employees?

Consider this: The average cost to company(CTC) of an entry level professional in India is about 2.5 - 3 lacs per annum. The average CTC of a Senior Manager is about 25-30 lacs per annum. CTCs for company VPs, CEOs, CTOs & CFOs are much higher, sometimes in the range of a couple of crores. If these high salary earning executives took a 20-40% cut in their CTCs, in luxuries like club memberships etc, they can very well make a considerable saving for their companies. Will they?

#4 Whenever we are out of this recession, how would we make sure we don’t have another recession?

This is the most important question to answer. Part of this answer will stem from the first answer, the USA must accept responsibility for what its greedy bankers have led the world into. The next step would be to make sure the world doesn’t head into another recession.

Now, we need someone to answer these question. More importantly, act on those answers so that the world can get back on its feet sooner than later.

Author’s Note: The Empty Head wishes all readers, fellow bloggers and well-wishers a very Happy Festival season. May you and your families be blessed with health, wealth and happiness!!

The UPA government succeeded in winning the trust vote in Parliament, but June 22, 2008 would go down in the annals of Indian democratic & parliamentary histories as one of the saddest days. The reason: MPs flaunting crores of Rupees in cash that is claimed to be given to them as a bribe to stay out of the trust vote. Whether these allegations are true or not is a story for another day. The Indian democracy looks like it needs an overhaul, and soon.

Let us take the story back to 1947 when India had just got its Independence, and the founding fathers of our nation were huddled in a room discussing the constitution of our nation. The most important question they had was, how to model a democratic environment in India? At that time there were only two major democracies that were successful, American democracy & the British democracy.

Now the American democratic system is a complex one. The US Congress, which is essentially like the Indian Parliament has senators who are elected representatives of the people. However, the US President is directly elected via a separate electoral process. The President then appoints his (there have been no female presidents in the USA yet) cabinet of secretaries similar to the cabinet of ministers appointed in India. Now this is a complex democratic system, where the President can stay in his post even if his party is out of majority in the congress.

The other democracy was the British democracy. This system had two houses, the House of Commons & the House of Lords. Representatives in the House of Commons are elected representatives of the people and those in the House of Lords are appointed representatives. Then of course, there is the Queen.

As is clear from the above explanation, the Indian democratic system is a spin-off from the British democratic system. We have two houses of Parliament, Lok Sabha & Rajya Sabha. Even their names are plain translations of their British counterparts. But what our founding fathers missed out was, that it is not such a simple model to scale.

India is a diverse country. Even the Indian Constitution acknowledges this diversity of cultures, regions and religions in India. However, it is this diversity that is being exploited by politicians and political parties of the day to their profit.

Let me pull up some statistics from the last general elections held in 2004(data from Election Commission’s report on 2004 elections).

1. Number of participating political parties : 230
2. Size of electorate (eligible voters) : 67,14,87,930
3. Voter turnout : 58.07%
4. Number of candidates : 5435

It gets more interesting now..

Performance(seats contested) :-
1. National Parties - Contested 1351 Won 364 Percentage 26.94%
2. State Parties - Contested 801 Won 159 Percentage 19.85%
3. Registered(unrecognized) Parties - Contested 898 Won 15 Percentage 1.67%

Performance(% of votes polled):-
1. National Parties - 62.89%
2. State Parties - 28.90%
3. Registered(unrecognized) Parties - 3.96%

The one factor I’ve left out here are the independent candidates, as I wanted to focus more on the parties. If you see the percentages of seats won, the numbers of national & regional parties are quite close (26.94% as compared to 19.85%). Now see the number of votes polled in favor of these parties and the huge gap becomes visible - national parties have 35% more votes polled for them as compared to the regional parties!!

Now for some data on the parties who were key players in the confidence vote held yesterday:

1. INC - Our ruling party, the congress that also heads the UPA with the maximum number of seats. Their 2004 elections stats are the best of the lot : Contested 417 Won 145 Votes% 26.53%
2. BJP - The main opposition party, also heads the NDA (now defunct alliance ) that was in power before 2004. Their election stats: Contested 364 Won 138 Votes% 22.16%
3. Left Parties (CPI + CPM) - They were comrades in arms of the UPA till the 123 dance began. Then pulled out support and caused the confidence vote to happen. Their combined stats : Contested 34(CPI) + 69(CPM) Won 53 Votes% 7.07%

So effectively, a set of parties who have polled only 7% of the vote managed to destablize the government. But this has happened before as well, parties that have a small vote share have time and again proven their mettle at destablizing governments.

The question now is, should these parties even be in the parliament?

The stature of a political party (national/state) is decided by its presence in states and also by the number of constituencies where it is fielding it candidates. This is the reason why parties like CPI, CPM and BSP are classified as national parties and not regional/state parties. But if detailed numbers are seen, their voting percentages are strong in only a handful of states and very weak in most others(as also apparent by the overall percentages). A national party, by definition, should be one that represents the interests of the nation and not a particular state. Consider the data for BSP(Bahujan Samaj Party) in this regards:

Classification - National
Stats - Contested 435 Won 19 Win% 4.37% Votes% 5.33%
Seat division by state - Uttar Pradesh - 19

So, all 19 seats that BSP won were in UP. Even though it clearly represents only one state, the 2004 election commission report lists it as a National Party!

Most of the parties sitting in the Parliament today have no concern about the nation. Parties like TRS(demanding a separate Telangana state), BSP(it won all its seats only in one state), JMM(demand for a separate Jharkhand that has now been granted) and so on, are all regional parties. Even the CPI + CPM have won seats only in 5 states. It is the INC(Congress) & BJP who have won seats in more than 10 states & UTs.

For the last 10 years, Indian Parliament has seen one coalition after another. Be it the NDA, UPA or whatever, coalition politics seems to be the way forward for our democracy. But is it a healthy way forward?

The whole point of electing a party to power is that the masses believe in the party’s manifesto, and want it to implement the same. A coalition puts restrictions on parties implementing their manifestos. This was clear during the rule of the BJP led NDA, and now during the Congress led UPA, where smaller parties who have the critical 20 odd seats hold the government to ransom. And if the government does not yield to their demands, they withdraw support from the government, leaving the nation to witness desecration of the holiest institution of democracy, the parliament.

The nations progress will be slowed down if we allow coalition politics to rule the roost. Hence, I propose a radical, yet simple solution.

Only parties that have over 10% of national vote share in an election should be allowed to contest elections for the Parliament. Of course, independent candidates should still be allowed, but parties who have representation of one/few states should be limited to playing at the state level only. This will ensure that India has stable governments who are able to rule by their party’s agenda, and the Indian public has a clear choice when they go to vote at the general elections. As of 2004, there were an average of 10 candidates per constituency. If what I suggest here is implemented, there will be two candidates from national parties, and the others independents. This will make the choice of the electorate much simpler.

What this will also do is give India a clear direction when it comes to issues of foreign policy, financial policy, home affairs & defense policy. Also, it will ensure that a government lasts for its full term, and that parliamentary sessions are productive. With a stable, single party government, Indian democracy will finally be the voice of the nation that it serves.

“MNS Mob fury!!”, “Gujjar agitation in Rajasthan for ST Status”, “BJP workers force down shutters, block highways”

These are just some of the headlines from our newspapers and news channels. Each headline representing some or the other political/social group holding a state or the nation at ransom to have their demands met. So are we turning from a peace loving, democratic nation to one that is ruled by hooligans of political parties?

The MNS rioting in Mumbai is a classical example of a political party deriving valuable vote bank mileage from its violent acts. When Maharashtra goes to elections next, Mr. Raj Thackerey would harp on his successes in making the life of the average Mumbai resident no less than hell. Yet the voting public would cheer, rather than condone, such acts. Who knows, it may even win him a substantial number of votes! After all, we Indians are known to forgive our politicians very quickly. Absolution is very cheap in our country.

The Gujjar agitation was a complete case in contrast. Without any direct political backing, a community led by a retired Army Colonel held the whole of Rajasthan and North India in its grip for a whole month. The reason, they wanted to be given reservation in the ST(Scheduled Tribe) quota. Roads and railways were blocked, with agitators damaging railway tracks to make sure rail traffic was disrupted till their demands were met. The Indian Railways incurred losses to the tune of millions of rupees. Now that the agitation is over, and the Gujjars have been promised of a special reservation quota, will the goverment send the Gujjars and their leaders a bill for the losses they caused? Naa, that won’t happen. Its not the government money, it is the taxpayers money that is laid to spoil. Our leaders sat in silence as several thousands of people had their lives affected with regional and national strikes!! And yet we forgive, forget and move on. What a great nation we are!!!

The most recent case is of the BJP & VHP calling a nation-wide bandh(strike) today. There are reports of protesters blocking road and rail traffic. The nation is being held to ransom again. People who earn their livelihood on a daily basis will go home with no money and no food to feed their families. Yet the political parties will gloat in their success at holding the entire nation at gunpoint!

So I ask, are we turning into a nation of rioters and hooligans?

There is one, and only one way to stop this menace. Make those responsible of such agitations to pay up! Ask MNS to pay up for every taxi its workers destroyed, ask Mr. Bainsla to pay those millions of rupees the Indian Railways lost due to the agitation he led, ask the BJP and VHP to pay up for the destruction and damage it has caused to property across the nation.

And while we are at it, send them bills for the lakhs of man-hours wasted by the police in controlling their crowds. Time that could have been spent in making our roads and our lives safer.

Some political leader, some political party needs to find its spine and take such action. But wait, is there any political party in India that HAS a spine in the first place?

George Lucas, in his movie Star Wars III made a very potent observation, in the form of a dialogue. I find it really apt as a closing quote to this post

So this is how democracy dies, with a thunderous applause

Wondering why states in North-East get so little media coverage on any news channel, even when they seem to have loads of reporters lying around to cover irrelevant news like celebrity love affairs & the like?

New Delhi is now going to be a super secure city. And we owe this to the visionaries who, in the name of law and order, are passing order after order that will make life impossible for the common man.

First, it was made mandatory to carry an ID card in Delhi. And now, people who do not have a driving license made in Delhi will not be allowed to drive on the city’s roads. What’s next, people whose passports are made in other states will not be allowed to board planes from Delhi’s airports???

Instead of making laws that make it easier for cops to harass the common man, why doesn’t the Lt. General make laws that make the corrupt police more accountable to the taxpayer? But naah, it is the voice that is the weakest that always gets crushed.

Who will guard the guards, sir? Who will?

I live in Gurgaon. Thanks to you, sir, I will not be able to visit Chandni Chowk for a kulfi, India Gate for the lazy afternoons, or CP for the shopping binge. But you can gloat, of course. You think you decisions will make Delhi a safer place. No one else in the whole city knows how. Maybe you should share this with the public who are on the receiving end of your “New Year presents”!

Mr. Karat is at it again. After giving the UPA government some breathing space on the Indo-US nuclear deal in November, the left has put a stick in UPAs wheels a day after the parliament concluded its winter session. This time around though, the warning was much more direct.

(more…)

Justice it seems, has been sent off to exile. At least in the Indian state of Gujarat, where the current chief minister has thumped his chest at a pre-election rally justifying the police encounter of Sohrabuddin and his wife. Sohrabuddin was under suspicion for terrorist activities for a while before he was killed by the cops in what was a staged encounter. His wife was also killed by the police in the same encounter. The fight for justice for this family is currently on in the Supreme Court.

Narendra Modi thinks otherwise. For him, justice was delivered on the day Sohrabuddin was encountered by Gujarat’s finest. And the crowds cheer and applaud for him. Read the story on Modi’s election speech at NDTV’s website.

The bigger question stands, are we turning into a nation that is more inclined towards vigilante justice?

(more…)

It is funny when a before and after kind of advertisement appears in the newspaper. And most of these are for slimming clinics, or places that promise to make you beautiful.

This one before and after I will talk about, is not one of the above. It is from an article in Gurgaon Plus, a weekly magazine sent out by the Times of India for residents of the city of Gurgaon. They do try to take populistic journalism initiatives, by clicking photographs of failing civic amenities and reporting on those photos. When the authorities take action, these guys do a before and after segment. This post is the story of one such segment gone wrong.

This is the “before” photo:

A very haywire traffic junction, which happens to be very near to my office and I travel from there daily. It is really messy.

Now see the “after” image:

Now what the TOI guys noticed is the cop standing in the left corner of the “After” image. What is funny is, even after the traffic cop is standing there, a school bus is driving up the road THE WRONG WAY(see encircled bus on right side in the “after” image).

Now, nothing wrong with the newspaper taking a good initiative. But some editor should have looked at the image and said, well, there is a cop, but he is not doing his job!!!

A freudian slip perhaps? Well, whatever it was, the headline was what set me off laughing.

It said,

Here begins the management

Some management this is.

P.S: Apologies for the poor resolution photographs.