Under the Rainbow

"We have got to talk"

"Do we? Shoot, I am all ears"

"Well, you know, I have been with you for over an year and you have been a constant companion all along"

"Why is this sounding a little er... emotional?"

"No no, listen me out. I have expected a lot from you and you have done your best to please me"

"Wait a minute, this sounds so much like you so long post"

"Will you cut it out and just listen to me? I am trying to be serious here"

"(giggle) Oops! you are 'forcing' yourself to be serious. I better be. Ok ok, don't frown now, go ahead"

"I have to go"

"Go? Go where? Oh yeah right, your anniversary is here. It is that time of the year when you take a break and roam the country side. Cool, go for it. Come back and tell me and your readers how it was. Your Kerala travelogue is still one of your top read posts, you know"

"Yeah, I know that. And thanks for the wishes. But I am saying something different. I have taken a new blog space. I am heading there"

"What? Are you kidding? Tell me you are kidding."

"Actually, I wish I was. But no, I am not. You know, I had this space on blogger for a long while."

"Yeah, and you also cribbed about my flaws and compared me with my competitors. Hey, is that what you are trying to tell me?"

"Kinda... yes. You know I get bored too soon and need a change. I want more freedom in terms of what I publish and when, the layout, the colours, everything"

"(Almost pleading) I told you, I am working on it, right? Didn't that customer support lady mail you the same thing? My boss has acknowledged your complaints/requests, alright? It takes time to implement. You've gotta understand, you are in the same industry too"

"I know. I know. Again, it has been more than a year and nothing has happened"

"So, thats it? We stop walking to together now and take different turns? Rather, you take a different turn and follow the (making faces) 'light'"

"Hey, stop being so senti ok? You have earned so much because of me, what with your banner ads and all."

"Come on, I am providing a service, I need money to sustain too. And somebody has to pay for it. I can't keep providing server space and publishing features. And those support personnel on whose shoulders you frequently cry on, they take salary every month. (Getting angry) And you don't pay for those. Understand?"

"(Eyes down. Feeling sorry) I do."

"Ha Ha. And you know what? You may be able to copy the posts there but you don't get the comments"

"Yes, that is something I'll miss"

"Thats all you are going to miss? What about me?"

"Yeah, you too. But lets make this deal. I am going to keep you alive. I might even publish my pictures here. I'll keep coming back from time to time."

"And then?"

"And then, if you get better, I'll come back to you. Hey, may be I can maintain two spaces. Big deal!"

"Ha ha, yeah, thats stupid, if you don't already realise"

"Thats right too. But you understand right?"

"Do I have a choice? Atleast, I know what your expectations are. I'll try working on it. I do hope you come back"

"I do too" I say and part ways with a warm hug and what seemed like a never-ending hand shake.

Good-byes are really tough and some are not forever. I really hope this one falls into the category. Anyways, so, the news of the day is, I have moved to blogger. You can read my posts at http://shilpaprabhu.blogspot.com. Looking forward to meeting you and chatting with you there.

We Indians are funny. We try to translate to English from our mother language as-is, even grammar-wise. How many times haven't we been corrected, "It's not 'Rain is coming'. You should say 'Its raining'". But, its our mother tongue and it takes some conscious thinking when we translate our thoughts to English. And when we don't, it takes a whole new unintended meaning.

So, I was chatting with a friend on the messenger and here is the conversation

Friend: (Lonely) Parents r not there
Me: oh! where have they gone?
Friend: my son in laws's cradle ceremony
Me: (Puzzled) what? where?
Friend: to thier house
Me: but you are not even married
Friend: (Perplexed) yeah, so?
Me: how do you know you'll have a daughter?
Friend: (Confused) what? i don't understand
Me: (Bamboozled) how can u have a son-in-law?
Friend: what? i am talking about Seenu's son
Me: oh.... but Seenu is ur cousin
Friend: (Emphatic) yeah, on my mother's side, remember?
             so, his son is my sahodara aliya
Me: (Laughing) oh God!
Friend: ??
Me: he is ur nephew
Friend: (Red Faced) oh yeah, damn!

Kalamandir arrived in Bangalore a few months ago and have thier show rooms in Jayanagar and Malleswaram. The advertisements in print and hoardings have been very attractive. And yes, I had been planning for atleast a couple of months to visit the Malleswaram store and it materialized only a fortnight ago. I solely and completely blame my studies for the delay. But there are priorities in life, aren't there?

They had a 'upto 30%' discount sale happening on the occasion of Ugadi. So, while researching for the electronic items and furnishings to be bought for the house, amma and I landed in Kalamandir. It is situated on the busy Sampige road. they have limited basement parking space but I saw that people preferred parking on the road instead. The store is a multi-storeyed building (more than three for sure) with garments ranging from kids to men and women. They also sell jewellery and accessories.

The ground floor has immitation jewellery and sarees - mostly daily wear and fancy sarees and salwar kameez dress material. Two levels up, they have traditional and party wear sarees. I liked most of thier stuff and I think they are competitively priced in comparison with thier contemporaries like Angadi and Deepam silks. However, thier traditional sarees didn't suit my taste. They do not have intricate designs, instead they have heavy sarees with large designs that would have probably worked a couple of decades ago. I don't know, may be this was because of the sale.

Well, I was only interested in browsing through the shop but you know amma. She coaxed me into buying a soft spun cotton saree with a lot of thread work. It is real neat and feels nice to touch. With 15% discount and priced at 700+ bucks, it was a good buy, I'd say. (Would I ever admit regretting a buy? Hmmm... will discuss this some time later :-) My next visit will be to check out the salwar kameez material.

My first ever blog was about caste-based reservation proposed by the Indian government. I wrote it at a time when the supreme court had ordered a stay on the reservation quota implementation and had demanded the government to explain why seats should be reserver in super-speciality courses and why 1931 census was being used as a basis to implement the same.

Now, here is my second blog. This time the supreme court has upheld the government proposal. Arjun Singh feels vindicated. Ofcourse, this means a guaranteed ticket from Congress next year. This also means the vote bank may sway towards the Congress in the next election. Obviously all political parties have welcome the decision. But then I wonder, why wouldn't they? I mean, thier children/grand-children always study is the hippest of international schools. Thier highr education invariably happens in the USA, UK, Australia, or anywhere but our dear motherland. They can't be the sore one out when all other parties are supporting, they'll lose votes, remember? Sigh!

But the court has also said that the 'creamy layer' doesn't get the benefit. Should I say something is better than nothing? Now what the court means by 'creamy layer' is explained below

Simply speaking, the following would be excluded from the reservation quota benefits.

• children of constitutional functionaries including the President, judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts, members of the Union Public Service Commission, Groups A and B
• children of Class I or II officers of the All-India Central and State services and public sector employees
• children of armed forces and paramilitary personnel in the rank of colonel
• children of professionals such as lawyers, chartered accountants, doctors, financial and management consultants, engineers, film artists, authors and playwrights
• children of all OBCs, whose gross annual income is more than Rs. 2.5 lakhs

As I read it. it appears to me that the real criteria is the gross annual income of Rs 2.5 lakhs 'coz I understand that the constitutional functionaries certainly earn more than the line. Central and State services officers will lie above the line, now with the pay comission hike and all. The colonels and above get a higher salary, thier children are also covered under the defence quota. And the professionals also touch the line, with varied sources of income.

So, it really boils down to money. Now, here's my question. If money was the criteria, why bring up caste? What about children from 'upper castes' whose parents earn less than 2.5 lakhs? If you are saying that they are covered under IIA, IIIA, IIIB, etc, then why not club the new reservation quota with them and may be, increase the percentage? Besides, most transactions these days require a PAN number. Hence, it is tougher to cheat on the income than the caste. It is really easy to walk in to an office and get a caste certificate, wouldn't you agree?

I mean, if the government really wanted to cash in on this, they could have just made this a 'pro-poor' propoganda just like the annual budget 2008. Why dishevel the caste issue? Why divide an already diverse and divided nation?

Is Indian politics only about families now? I mean, look at the Nehru-Gandhi family, the Gowda family and the Karunanidhi family. I am sure there are many more but these have been the most prominent in shaping India's modern history. Yeah yeah, I agree in all professions and trades, there are families involved. We have families of farmers, doctors, engineers, actors, et. al.,. But that's different 'coz there you are really serving the people and/or earning your bread. In case of politics, you are running a nation or a state. There is no guarantee that the son is going to be as (in)efficient as the father. Its all the more risky because there are a billion (or proportionate) people involved, thier furture and thier monies.

Alright, for a moment, let's assume that the son has father's genes and hence he will as good as his father. But what about the wife/daughter-in law? Can she be as competent as her husband or in-laws just by being a part of the family? No no, I am not getting into the saas-bahu (mother-in-law/daughter-in-law) argument here, but I am just trying to think logically.

Because I do not understand how an entire political party can rest of the delicate shoulders of a woman? (Please, I am not questioning the capabilities of 'women' in general or even 'the woman'.) Or any single person for that matter? The oldest party of the biggest democracy in the world? The party that fought for the independence and unity of this nation? Why her? Because she married into 'the' family? Because her family has a history of being victimised by terrorists? Because she has a sympathy wave in her favour because her husband met a violent death? I mean, this is the grand old party. Are they trying to say, there is no one else? Thats like the Indian cricket team sometime back. It would collapse the moment Sachin Tendulkar got out.

There is absolutely no doubt that Sonia Gandhi is playing the king-maker. What with her 'sacrifice' of the prime-minister's post and all? It made me cringe to see all those party workers getting there 30 seconds of fame by 'begging' Sonia Gandhi to change her decision and lead the nation. And this was broadcast on national television (sic). She makes Manmohan Singh the PM (a good choice, may I add here, only if he wasn't remote controlled) and he promptly goes and greets/thanks her soon after taking the oath. She makes Pratibha Patil the first woman president. (Personally, I would have preferred Kiran Bedi, if 'woman' was the criteria). And now, six new ministers are being inducted and she gets the credit there too. If this isn't remotely running the government, what is? Jyotiraditya Scindia, who was one of those recently inducted had this to say in a recent debate

Beginning the debate, Scindia said, “Age is not the only factor to determine effectiveness of one’s job. It has to be a combination of age and experience. Agreed that the country has a large young population but we cannot ignore the experienced. I am thankful to Sonia Gandhiji, the PM and Rahulji for giving me this opportunity. But the jury is still out on the age factor. Dipstick polls are not the done thing in this regard.”

Whats the point? Like, he wouldn't have been a minister hadn't she 'influenced'? For God's sake people, she is leading a party, not heading a nation. Let her do just that. And regarding dynastic politics, in the same debate he says

Refuting charges that Indian politics has now become a family business, Scindia added, “There are many examples of dynastic politics in India but there are also many who come from political families but they still did not make a mark. This happens across the board and not only in this country but across the world.”

Right, absolutely. Of the 60 years of independent India's prime ministers, for 49 years (over 80%) the Indian National Congress has been in power. Of that, 37 years have been ruled by the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty, the remaining by Lal Bahadur Shastri, PVN Rao and the incumbent Manmohan Singh. I might still agree with a family in politics, but a family of prime-ministers. Now, thats not right, is it?

By the looks of it, Rahul Gandhi will take over the mantle as the PM of the nation in the next-to-next election if not next year itself. After all, he has established his credibility by 'refusing' a ministerial berth in the last expansion (Like mother, like son? For a while, I guess). And this is going to continue as far as I see it.

Frankly, I don't have a problem with hierarchies in the same family ruling the nation as long as they are capable and have earned it like others. Otherwise, we might as well declare monarchy and make Sonia Gandhi the reigning queen (Queen Elizabeth style). No?

PS: Using the 'father-son' phrase 'coz it comes naturally to us. You know, we are a male dominated world. But that applies to mother-daughter and any combinations between two generations of a family