Politics of the Beg Word!

Article first published as Politics of the Beg Word on Technorati.

Politics has  myriad shades and colors. Just now in India it has achieved another unique dimension—the politics of begging!

Rahul Gandhi, the youthful general secretary of the Congress party who has commanded tremendous youth following all over the country of late, was in Uttar Pradesh to kickstart the party’s campaign for the forthcoming assembly elections of the state. He lambasted the ruling party there for total lack of economic development and for resembling almost a mafia rule. He went on with his diatribe by saying that had there been some developmental progress the people there would not have been forced to migrate to other states and beg for work.

There was an inherent truth in what he said about the state and it had to be analyzed in the context of an opposition party leader addressing an election rally. But all hell broke loose because of just one word ‘beg’! Rahul Gandhi must have said it with bitter sarcasm and sentiments, but ‘beg’ created a chain effect of self-righteous protests and self-dignified ejaculations. Just how dare he call the people of the biggest state of India beggars!
Now, the word ‘beg’ has a deeper significance too. Maharashtra, a state in western India, was prominently included as the other ‘states’ due to the fact that regional parties there made it very clear that north Indian migrants were not at all welcome there. There had been disturbances, arguments, mini riots and running court cases over the issue in the last two years.

Because of the political significance of the ‘beg’ word the Congress party had been caught in a dilemma how to go about defending its leader while at the same time getting concerned for its north Indian votes. The main opposition party of the country held protests and effigy burnings in many parts defending the dignity of the north Indians. Even the regional leaders in Maharashtra who oppose north Indian migrants advised Rahul to take home all such beggars and feed them well so that they did not have to come to their state to ‘beg’ for work.

The Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Mayawati, cried hoarse for her hard working and self respecting people while on the very next day announcing a proposal for dividing the state into four parts or states to be placed in the coming assembly session. If this latest politicking is linked to the ‘beg’ and how one only time will tell.
Meanwhile rejoice O’ Indian beggars! Politics has finally caught up with you too!

The Baby Disaster!

Article first published as The Baby Disaster! on Technorati.

In the last week of October, 2011 more than forty infants died in different government hospitals of West Bengal, a state in eastern India. Despite the media outrage the deaths continued and the state government decided to look the other way.

While the world celebrated the birth of the 7 billionth baby in Manila, Philippines on October 31^st India too decided to join in by claiming a baby born in a northern state as the 7 billionth one. The terrible apathy was too strong to ignore.

Of the seven billion global inhabitants India account for nearly 18 per cent which hardly makes any excuse for celebrations. Add to it the fact that the northern state, Uttar Pradesh, is the most populous one of India and a feudalistic oppressor of women. The concerned NGO there who made the claims for the unique occasion was quick to point out that they wanted to pass on a message since the 7 billionth baby was a girl child. That particular state also boasts of the worst sex ratio at 899 girls per 1000 men. 

Indian villages, cities and the overall infrastructure are at a bursting point due to the tremendous and unabated population pressure. The facilities at government hospitals are abysmal and private hospitals are out of reach of poor people. Here the right cause for celebration would be when there is a drop in population growth rate.

The priorities must be set right. There has to be a concerted effort to better the conditions that human beings need for a minimum standard of living. But the explosive population growth has been slowing down progress at all levels.

No wonder that the West Bengal government found nothing abnormal in the infants deaths with the Chief Minister who recently dislodged the long ruling Marxist government ordering only an audit after a fortnight.

Or is it the other way round? Do they welcome more infant deaths to directly control population growth? So mean, yes! But what exactly are we supposed to understand?

PS:  Recently one doctor was found drunk on duty in another Kolkata hospital. The saga of baby deaths have also continued with the report of 6 more deaths yesterday in Malda hospital.

Shahrukh Khan’s Ra. One: A Hit or Just Break Even?

Ra.One—Shahrukh Khan’s most ambitious project called a vision written and directed by Anubhav Sinha, the most expensive Hindi movie ever (a budget of over US $30 million), the first Hindi movie at par with Hollywood special effects blockbusters, the first Hindi movie to release in over 4000 screens globally, the first Hindi movie to create all-time overseas box office collection records and top grosser in weekend collections—released on the Diwali day (October 26, Wednesday) all over. It lost out to Salman Khan’s Bodyguard in first day collection, but went on to overcome on the second day and the five-day weekend collections. 

But after the weekend the movie’s box office collections started to fall drastically and the trend continued with shows heavily cut down in the second week. The fall continued in the second weekend and the third weekend is tough competition due to the release of  the Ranbir Kapoor starred Rockstar. Ra.One is still far behind all recent blockbusters of Salman Khan and Aamir Khan’s 3 Idiots. The significant fact is that all these movies have been made at almost one-third of Ra. One’s budget. Is this mega-movie a hit or just break even? 

Read the Full Review Here...