Scam, Diwali and Obama!

Yes. all the shades are there! The Adarsh Society Scam of Mumbai is raging with the Chief Minister of the state of Maharashtra Ashok Chavan in the dock and many others in the ministerial cum ex-ministerial cum top bureaucratic hierarchy deeply involved.

A Society building in a plot supposedly belonging to the Indian Army, a society building supposedly for the widows of martyrs of Kargil, a society building supposedly to be a six story affair soaring to 31 floors eventually and a society building decidedly in the richest and poshest locality of India. Even if widows would have been given the flats how on earth could they have maintained themselves in the costliest neighborhood!

And so, over the decade every famous and powerful managed themselves one or more flats. Today in the Times of India, a national newspaper that exposed the scam, one top retired bureaucrat belligerently justified his two flats, ' You see, my father was an army officer and so my mother deserved a flat, then my daughter being the granddaughter of my father deserved one too!'

Things are in a heap with Diwali, the festival of lights, starting on 5th of November and..dear me...US President Barack Obama arriving in Mumbai on 6th on his three day visit to India. Obama is looking forward to celebrating Diwali in this sparkling city and unprecedented security arrangements are being made. Maybe for this twin big reasons the Congress party high command is delaying the decision on Chavan's offer of resignation. While the State Chief should indeed receive the huge profile guest the opposition parties are clamoring for disallowing a corrupt chief to do so!

Anyway, Happy Diwali to all! Let the lights clear the doubts. And, let us all try to announce 'ALL IS WELL!'

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