Maoist insurgency and the apathy of the government

Yesterday some Maoists had taken a Delhi-bound train hostage. The full train!! They took only the drivers as hostages and demanded that one of their top leaders be released. However, as it turns out, they let go the drivers unhurt after sometime.

Going by the current policy that the UPA has been advocating that in case of a hostage situation, they will not meet the demands of the terrorists/maoists etc., the future for a lot of citizens look bleak. UPA criticized what the Vajpayye govt did at Kandahar. Released dreaded criminals in lieu of the passengers. My point here is, if you have a policy like that, what are you doing about the safety of your citizens? You will not release terrorists or meet the demands of their captors, even if they kill people. And you have done absolutely nothing to do to protect those citizens. So basically the value of the citizen's life is zero in the eyes of the government. No, I am not advocating that prisoners should be let free or their inane demands be met. However, it is the responsibility of the state to look after its citizens. To put together a machinery so that nothing untowardly happens. If the state fails so miserably, who does the citizen go to?

That is precisely the reason why we have these 'goondas' becoming so powerful. They settle disputes which the state takes ages to. Thats why we have these tribals turning into foot soldiers/maoists because they had no taste of the development that the country is experiencing elsewhere. Its very easy to get people to get on the wrong side of the law when they are gullible. I do not believe that it is so difficult to weed out these maoists. Given our military strength, and intelligence support, they are a very small problem. But I do not see an approach from the government that would directly address this problem and aim to solve it, whatever decisions need to be taken notwithstanding. And if this problem lurks long, I see that more such groups will crop up. So its time the government takes a firm decision and makes a plan as to how they plan to end this maoist menace. Otherwise, who knows, next time you or I are traveling, we are the hostages!

Calcutta Chronicles

Thank God. And thank Chetan Bhagat. In the last three years, I have traveled quite a bit and fair bit involving air travel. And I have never had so many air-hostesses talk to me so much before, in one single journey. But today was different, thanks to Chetan Bhagat.

I was carrying a copy of “2 States”, Bhagat’s latest offering. As soon as I stepped inside the aircraft, the lady welcoming me said “That’s a nice book” and that was the start of it. She kept walking past me, nudging me and telling, “oh you are so engrossed”, “I hope you are enjoying it” and such. The head of the herd, the one who makes all the announcements, was the attention seeking types, with tonnes of make up on her face. While announcing the name of the captains, instead of saying anil gupta and rahul kapoor, she said Anil Kapoor and believe me, she made such a huge fuss about it that every passenger noticed her. She hung up the phone mid-way, acted very embarrassed, walked out to the stairs leading up, walked in, covered her face, went inside the cockpit (wonder why they call it cockpit), went to the other hostess, and what not. Then finally when she did start her announcement again, she hung up once again as if to convey her embarrassment from the previous misfortune. Anyways, like I said, she was the attention seeking types. So when she walked past me, she chatted me up. Once again, thanks to the book. And it was a long conversation by any standards. Seems she doesn’t like to read Chetan Bhagat, his English is not great. Ahem. Miss Bagchi, my English teacher in school would have been proud of her reason I must say!

Anyways, so then the flight started its descent and I saw the city of Calcutta. It is so strikingly different from any other city that I have seen. There are old buildings and older buildings. Many of them look like ruins from some architectural times. And this time when I came outside the airport, I saw what I have never seen in Calcutta before. A special AC bus service from the airport. Man, I tell you. That was some sight. Something other than the old yellow and black ambassadors, or those rickety buses. And the sight inside the bus was so Calcutta! The songs, the people clicking pictures, the conversations and all of that. It was so much fun. I love this city.

Advertising Pundits

Advertising seems to be a lucrative business. That is why we probably have tons of sundry agencies opening up everyday each promising to re-energize/restructure/rejuvenate the brand that they go pitching for. And that is why we have companies with taglines like "electronics and more", "luxury/fine dining/fun/enetrtainement/etc redefined", "the blah/blah/blah/ people" and so on. I wonder when they would stop doing it!!! Feel free to add to this list of overused taglines.

Next is what?

I read a story in TOI today which said Anil Kumble has been appointed Vice-chairman of the Karnataka state wildlife board with minister of state rank. Which means kumble will be entitled to a car, salary, assistants, office and residence. Apparently, he is crazy about wildlife and ventures into a forest whenever he can. So do half the tribal population of the jungle. To defecate.

I have two issues with this kind of ad-hoc decisions made by any government, be it local or national. One, on what basis has he been selected the VC of the board? Just because he is a celebrity and he supposedly loves wildlife. Isn't there a qualification, an understanding of the functioning of the board required to become such an integral part of it? Second, do these celebrities even have time to perform their duties as VC's of the numerous boards that they are serving? If there argument for it is that there is not so much work attached to it then I want to understand why are there so many perks attached to it. And if there is work to be done, when do these guys find the time? Look at kumble itself. He is now a commentator, a player in IPL, a player in the Champions league and a would be indian bowling/mental strength/spin/gow-knows-what coach. Plus he has his brands that he endorses. And he might have a business or something to take care of... So amidst all these, he is also a VC now.

This is sheer wastage of public resources. This is similar to actors still very much pursuing their careers also being in active politics. Some of these actors have the lowest attendance in the parliament. Govinda for one has hardly attended the parliament. So why are these guys even there in the ministry. Eye-candy?

Next is what? SRK for PM?

scary flyovers

Is it just me or has anyone else also experienced that whenever you stop atop any of the flyovers in Bangalore, the car keeps shaking. Haven't noticed? Next time you are on a flyover, specially the richmond road flyover, make sure you notice. Bizarre. I feel as if someone is slowly pushing the car. Anyone has a clue why does this happen?

Wtf!

I wonder what our judicial system is doing. How is this guy still at large. And how come he has the audacity to say something like this in public! I am talking about Raj Thackrey, today comparing north indians to swine flu, and how they keep spreading. Watch it. here -

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/index.php?option=com_magazine&opt=section&sectionid=86&ptype=video&secid=42&videoid=56271

What a shame!

The effect of advertisements

Have you all seen the Pepsi my-can advertisements? When they had first launched that thin pepsi can, they had Shahrukh and John abraham with some random guy calling them uncle and John smirking on shahrukh and so on... Then there was this Ranbir and deepika ads also. If you notice, the ads show a different way of holding these thin cans. You can check out that ad here

http://www.afaqs.com/perl/advertising/creative_showcase/index.html?id=13845&media=TV

Actually I did not like any of those ads. Specially the Ranbir Kapoor one. And I had thought that the style of holding the can was not just strange but also inconvenient. However, from what I saw couple of days back, I stand corrected.

I was traveling on a private bus and we had stopped for a quick Chai. I decided to grab an ice-cream. The Orange candy! Sadly, they did not have orange candy in stock so I picked up a choco bar. And after I picked up the ice cream, a lot of people did. I saw the bus driver also come that side and pick up an ice cream. And after that I saw him taking out a pepsi can from the fridge. I haven't seen bus drivers drinking pepsi cans so my eyes followed what he was doing. And then I saw him open the can and then hold the can in exactly the same fashion as those pepsi my-can ads. I was amazed.

The point of advertising is to create a certain wow-factor around the brand and then get customers to try it. One of the basic tenets of advertising is to create a want where none exists. And if its a very homogenous product category then create the distinction between various brands. When I saw the bus driver holding the can the way he did, I thought the pepsi my-can ad had achieved its purpose. If I were the brand manager and if I had seen this, I would be proud of my effort! :)