Orangestreet11’s Weblog

The Pakistani elections have just started and there are already reports of rigging. I don’t get the idea behind these elections.

Isn’t it a foregone conclusion that Musharraf will come back to power? I feel that these elections are just a drama. Even if people go out to vote they have to fear for their lives. Some people feel that Musharraf is behind Benazir’s killing. The murderers of Benazir are still roaming free in the streets. In such a condition how can people vote? Even if they come out and vote what guarantee is that the electoral process will be fair and peaceful? All the more many people’s names have been missing from the voters list. There could also be bogus voting.

In run-up to the elections two suicide attacks took place last week killing hundreds of people. Certainly these innocent lives had a deadly price to pay for no fault of theirs.

It is just a ‘gimmick’ by Musharraf to please the international powers and claim all is fine with Pakistan.

Here is some humour to liven up your day. Got this funny thing in my mailbox through one of my friends. Enjoy!

1) There would be 10 times as many people on the ship

2) There would be a song with Kate Winslet in a white saree and of course singing in the rain

3) The movie would be called “Pyar Kiya To Marna Kya”

4) Hero and Heroine would float in cold water for days and still survive, but the villian would die on the first dip

5) The iceberg would be sent by the heroine’s father to teach the hero a lesson

6) None of the women would float due to heavy designer sarees.

And last but not least

7) Half of the rescue boats would be reserved for SC/ST/OBC

An article written by me

Chennai: The Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) will host the fourth Yi (Young Indians) National Summit on Feb. 15 and 16 in Chennai. This year’s theme is “Wake up India,” with a special focus on climate change and its risks which could derail India’s economic progress.

 The summit has been held from the past four years in different cities of the country with themes relevant to the country’s youth. According to the CII Chennai representative D. Thulasiraj, the youth wing is an independent subsidiary of the organization. The aim of Yi is to bring people together from across the country in the age group of 25-40 to play an active role in nation-building. Unlike CII, Yi has specific areas of interest such as education, environment, economy and healthcare.

Thulasiraj emphasized that his organization is unlike the Rotaract clubs. “We are not doing only social work, but are also involved in business activities, and try to make our members better individuals,” he said. Hence members visit companies, and learn more about their functioning by interacting with the officials. Yi encourages the members to come up with innovative ideas to do something for the society’s benefit.
 
 When it comes to membership, Yi does not have any fixed criteria except the age group of 25-40. The unit engages students from schools and colleges, thus forming ‘nets’ in each place. As members of the net, they pay a yearly amount of Rs 50, which is increased to Rs 3000 once they turn 25 years old.

 The speakers at the summit this year include Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer ICICI Bank Limited, K. V. Kamath and Nobel laureate, Dr. R. K. Pachauri.

‘Mee Mumbaikar’ is what I would like to call myself. Nopes I’m not propagating the Shiv Sena party ideology. It is just that I am proud to be born and brought up n Mumbai. I am a South Indian, not a Maharashtrian. Does that mean i cannot stay in this city?

The violence afflicted by the Maharashtra Nav Nirman Sena (MNS) over the past few days has hurt me. Raj Thackeray the party president says that migrants should not be allowed in Mumbai since the city cannot take any more influx of population from other states. He criticised hindi film star Amitabh Bacchan for pouring his own finances to the state of Uttar Pradesh, his birth place rather than Mumbai, his residence. I feel its Amitabh’s own wish, he can donate money to any state any cause he wants. After all its his money!

Raj also disrupted a rally to be conducted by Amar Singh, leader of the Samajwadi Party. Hence a feud broke out between members of both the parties. I saw visuals of the violence on television and was shocked to see the same. Men with swords were breaking window panes of taxis, dragging out people and beating them to death.

I don’t believe in Mumbai being a city only for Maharashtrians. Earlier the Shiv Sena in the 1990’s had targeted South Indians and then Gujaratis in mumbai who made a place for themselves in the city. But how can you be so intolerant? Mumbai is not some special city, whose borders have to be sealed.

IS this what we call democracy? in a democracy people irrespective of caste/community/religion can choose to live in any place they want. Our Indian constitution promises the same. Then why are you torturing the North Indians? Yes, there are some anti-social elements in every community. But you cannot generalise about a community as a whole like they are ‘hooligans.’

The Mumbai economy is made up of North Indians who do occupations like driving taxis, porters or maidservants. it is true that states like UP, Bihar are economically less developed compared to the metropolitan cities. Hence people come here to search jobs, but this policy of ‘exclusion’ can never work. The solution has to be developed by he Central Government.

And lastly as my friend pointed out, the entire drama is being enacted by Raj Thackeray, Bal Thackeray’s nephew who broke away from the Shiv Sena and formed a rebel party. But even well-educated people like us will think it is the Shiv Sena which is behind this violence and not the Maharashtra Nav Nirman Sena. The ideology of ‘Mee Mumbaikar’ is common between the two, however they both differ in the treatment of the campaign.

Mumbai belongs to one and all. The city is not owned by a particular community!

In a shocking decision Indian tennis player Sania Mirza has decided not to play in the upcoming Tier - II WTA event Bangalore Open. At first an injury was cited as the reason for her withdrawal. She had played the Australian Open 2008 Mixed Doubles Final with Mahesh Bhupathi despite an injury. It was the first Grand Slam final of her career.

Her managers Globosport have quoted in a statement released to the press that,”Sania mirza has been pained by the recent controversies surrounding her and decided nto to plau in India this year. Personally I am quite surprised at her decision. The best way to silence her critics would be to play at the tournament, win it especially with the William sisters confirming their participation in the event.

I agree that it is completely ridiculous to issue fatwas against her for wearing short skirts on court. No one is doubting her love for the country. Yes at times the media also has been putting her under the spotlight for every move she makes.  But as Sania knows our country is starved off idols especially woman. Hence, I udnerstand it’s very pressurizing for Sania to set out on the field and win always as expected by the billion people of our country.

 But by doing so she is sending wrong signals to the people out there. I would ask all the so-called ‘moral-policers” to leave Sania alone. We should only encourage Sania and reflect proudly on her achievements. Sania, hope you continue to play in tournaments in India, because it a honour.

As they say ‘curiosity kills the cat’ and that’s what happened with em also. I finally picked up a copy of Kaavya Vishwanathan’s plagiarized book ‘How Opal Mehta Got kissed…’. i just finished reading the book and thought it was quite a cliche.

The book deals with how Opal the main character ends up being a nerd in her quest to end up in Harvard. How she gets a life ’supposedly’ is what the book deals with.  What I found interesting, was parallels with the fictional character ‘Opal’ and the real Kaavya. Opal had to face criticisms and jokes at her expense because she devised strategies to actually get kissed, get drunk!

When Kaavya’s plagiarism was discovered, it was a huge embarrassment for her. Being part of such a reputable institution it would have been really tough for her to continue with her daily affairs.

In fact the very news about her plagiarism was broken in the ‘Harvard Crimson’ paper. Similarly, in the book Opal’s plans to kiss, drink, throw parties were revealed in an email to the whole college. The email was sent by one of her group mates.

As they say life can be an irony at times.

Panic broke out at Mangalpur More, Jogomaya Para in Balurghat today, over the illness of a 17-year-old girl. The victim, Ms Priyanka Malakar has been admitted to the Balurghat Hospital with breathing trouble, high fever and rashes all over her body her body. Neighbours fear that the girl has fallen a victim to Bird Flu but the doctors are still not certain about it.

Admitting the matter, the CMOH, South Dinajpur Mr BB Mahapatra said that the symptoms were similar to human flu and measles. “Nothing can be said for certain at this point. We are sending her blood samples for tests to Bhopal. She would be under observation till the test results reach us,” the CMOH, said.

Doctors treating the victim refused to comment on the matter, which has stoked further imagination and rumour.

The CMOH’s version has not been able to convince the Mangalpur residents, who suspect the girl has been contaminated with avian flu. “Since we stay close to the victim’s house, people are avoiding us,” lamented Priyanka’s next door neighbours Mrs Swagata Saha and Mrs Bandana Guha.

The neighbours alleged that the culling teams engaged by the district administration had not visited their area although almost every house in that area had some chickens or ducks. The South Dinajpur district magistrate Mr Swapan Chatterjee, said that he had not been informed of the development. He was also unhappy to learn that culling teams were yet to visit the Jogomaya Para area. The DM assured to look into the matter.

Courtesy: thestatesman.net