Finally The BCCI In Shackles Courtesy Bombay High Court!

Following the national outrage over the IPL Spot Fixing Scandal and the dubious role played by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in the shady unfolding we constantly wondered why nobody could control this mega-rich Board enough to cleanse the most popular game of the land. We saw aghast as the uncontrollable cricket masters arrived at compromises that suited them most. We felt despondent as most of the cricket conspirators started getting scot-free thanks to the limitations of the law of the land. We almost lost hope as SrinIndia (read BCCI Boss N Srinivasan) got ready to come back to his previously held seat of immense power. But today Bombay High Court showed the first signs that the BCCI could indeed be shackled. Sometimes in India rays of hope do really pierce the corrupt.

As a part of the stupendous BCCI compromise formula the richest cricket board of the world appointed a two-member committee to probe the IPL Spot Fixing Scandal and two days back the committee, as expected, gave a clean chit to almost all accused including the son-in-law of the BCCI Boss N Srinivasan Gurunath Meiyappan, the much implicated CSK franchise—again a team effectively owned by the BCCI Boss, and thus set the stage for a Srini comeback. Maybe the righteously minded members inside the BCCI or the righteous members who refused to be a part of the compromise, howsoever tiny, were not sleeping soundly over the mess.

The Bombay High Court in Mumbai today heard a petition filed by the Bihar Cricket Association against the BCCI and ruled that the two-member probe committee was illegal and unconstitutional thus making the probe findings invalid. The Mumbai Police that had been investigating the IPL scam earlier refused to share its evidence with the BCCI probe committee and has reiterated today that it had enough evidence to charge Meiyappan and others. The Indian Sports Ministry has also asked the BCCI to wait for the police investigations to get over before arriving at any conclusion. SrinIndia and his Board have finally found someone who could control the uncontrollable. Now it is to be seen what more tricks the corrupt cricket in India pulls out of its dirty bag to stick on to the compromise or absolute power or status quo.

The Killing Meals: Food Insecurity And Corruption!

A close relative who is a teacher in a high school told me recently that he gave up the responsibility of looking after the free midday meal scheme implemented in his school due to rampant corruption. He lamented that the quality provisions supplied to the school found their way to the homes and kitchens of various members of the staff almost regularly and the leftovers were left for providing meals to the students—many of whom are poor and needy. This has been the universal picture in the largest ‘dysfunctional democracy called India. Here the corrupt human hyenas are not satisfied with the leftovers, but devour away the main chunks. We have seen in this country how the fodder for animals gets siphoned off for the quick buck. The corrupt ‘human’ hyenas do not even spare the ‘human’ kids who have done them no harm at all. Right, in this great country there has never been any dearth of good and suitably targeted schemes, but at the implementation level always the hyenas muck it up in a stinking mess of corruption.

At a time when the Government of India promulgated an ordinance to implement its most ambitious Food Security Bill providing staple grains to the poorest of the poor at nominal rates of 1-2-3 rupees per kilo the free lunches provided to the school children throughout India under the Midday Meal Scheme killed 23 primary school kids in Bihar—the same northern state that got famous for the fodder scam. Thanks to the corrupt human hyenas it was the abysmal quality of the meals and the presence of pesticides in the soybean curry that started killing the kids in the most ruthless manner—some on the spot, some on the way to hospital and some in hospital. More than fifty kids took days of horrible sufferings to escape death. And, the great common-man-obsessed political leaders of this great country hardly cared.

The blame game started in right earnest as the common people of Bihar and the rest of the country looked aghast and distressed. The ruling JD-U government of Bihar indicated a conspiracy of deliberate poisoning while its coalition partner just a month ago—the BJP—announced that it knew about sorry implementation of the midday meal scheme for years. National coalition politics prevented several other parties including the Congress from shouting too much anguish into it. This gives a horrific similarity to the politics in Buddhist Shrine Terror recently. This is very understandable since all the political parties are really busy gearing up for the General Elections-2014 or even earlier in their unique ways of uplifting the common man only. That common man has kids too does not seem to matter for our leaders, obviously because the school kids are not voters.

The Midday Meal Scheme that was adopted by most Indian states after 2001 contributed largely for the spread of education too apart from nutritious meals. Poor families do want to send their kids to primary and high schools as this would take at least one major meal out of their tiny daily budget. But the corrupt human hyenas that rot the system from top to bottom eat up the kids’ food and frighteningly eat up the kids themselves.

Why not make this largest democracy of the world still larger? Why not give voting right to all babies from the day of birth, to all kids at all levels and to all school children? Let us see then if our noble national leaders take up their cause too.

Nation Pays Homage to Pran: The Beloved Villain Of Bollywood!

Veteran actor and the most beloved villain of Bollywood (read Hindi Cinema) passed away at 93 in a Mumbai hospital on the evening of July 12, 2013. He had not been keeping well for a long time and could not attend the National Awards Ceremony held in New Delhi on May 3, 2013. In an emotionally charged function at Pran's Residence in Mumbai on May 10, 2013 the Indian Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewary accompanied by top officers presented the prestigious Dada Saheb Phalke Award to the ailing legend. 

The legendary actor and the classic villain of Bollywood had been cremated with full honors at Shivaji Park in Mumbai around noon yesterday. His body already in a deteriorating state could not be taken home and therefore directly transported to the crematorium in a symbolic last journey. Apart from thousands of fans cutting across the age barrier top stars of Bollywood including Amitabh Bachchan offered their tearful tributes. The national TV channels have been offering their homage stories to Pran round the clock since Thursday night when the 'pran' (life) of India breathed his last. A mourning and grateful nation joined the media showering plaudits on the actor--the bad guy of reel life and a most humble, ever helpful and a perfect gentleman in real life. 

Pran—a name that terrorized us as little kids; a name that we loved to adore as we grew older and a name that has remained with us till now and forever. We were struck with awe by his villainous portrayals and yet we could not stop liking him—his gait, his style of talking, his looks, his smart dress code and the eternal cigarette in his hands. That time we were not capable of judging him as an actor, but the way he kept us spellbound was only due to his intensely powerful and effective performances.  Read More...