A State of Mind ?

It is only reported ( HT / 7 Aug 2013 ) :


It is reported that Rahul Gandhi said that poverty is a state of mind and has nothing to do with the shortage of food , money or material things !

Obviously , a " Misquote " - something for which , our journalists are notorious !

An inside , reliable source tells me that once , when Rahul Gandhi undertook an overnight " fast " , he actually suffered " hunger pain " the next morning , despite many scientists saying that , pain is a state of mind !

Who knows better than him , that shortage of food , even overnight , is a real pain !

Give the guy a break !

How to colonize a Distant Star

An Anti Corruption Bureau Court sentenced a peon with one year of rigorous imprisonment for taking a bribe of Rs 1,000 / -

What would happen if the punishments were to be " Linear and without an upper limit " ?

Then any Government servant taking a bribe of Rs 1 lakh , would ( if caught ), go behind the bars for 100 years !

Now today's newspaper also talks about a Delhi Municipal Corporation officer accepting a bribe of Rs 30 lakhs , from a leading manufacturer , for allowing construction of a banquet hall

That would mean being behind bars for 3,000 years !

And a bribe of Rs 1 Crore would take you to 10,000 years !

At this rate , India can supply enough people to colonize a distant star , 10,000 light-years away !

And , we would save all the money to build so many jails !

That reminds me of a petty thief who got lynched recently, by an angry mob, for stealing Rs 75 , 000 /-

Poor fellow !

Had he stolen Rs 75 Crores , he would be out on bail , enjoying summer vacation in Switzerland !

Inscrutable are the ways of Justice

--  hemen

Awaiting a Messiah

Just read in newspapers :

With one voice , all political parties ( except Aam Aadmi Party ) , have requested the Central Government to amend relevant laws , in order to negate / nullify the Supreme Court orders , which will prevent persons locked up in jails to contest elections or those MLAs / MPs to contest elections who have been found guilty and awarded a jail term of 2 years or more .

Political parties also want Central Government to amend Right to Information Act , to nullify the order of the CIC , which would make the parties " answerable " to queries of the public

What surprises me is how come no political party has asked for amendment of laws that require them to file Income Tax return under Representation of People Act !

Could it be that this is because they need not provide any details ( or , keep any records ) of donations of less than Rs 20,000  ?

And , Lo and Behold !

None have received any donation of Rs 20,000 or more !

Do not ask how Congress has managed to build up a war chest of Rs 2,000 Crores and BJP , a fund of Rs 1,000 Crores !

Despite all my admiration for the achievements of Narendra Modi , I fail to see any difference between BJP and Congress !

Since I was old enough  ( around 10 years of age - in 1943 ) , I have not felt more cynical about our so called " Democracy " , ever being able to lift our 600 million , malnourished poor people out of their abject poverty

In the remaining years of my life , I await the arrival of a Benevolent Dictator like Netaji Shubhash Chandra Bose or Ironman Sardar Patel

Hemen

The Shape of Womb to Come ?

HTcafe newspaper ( 21 July 2013 ) , carries following headline :

“ Surrogacy shouldn’t become a money making racket – Kiran Rao talks… “

I assure Kiran that I will never launch a web site , to be called, Babies.com or Surrogacy.com ( - may be already existing ! )

But , in not too distant a future , I can imagine some clever Indian youngsters to launch just such a web site

It will have following databases :

Ø  Sperm Database ( with Ethnicity / Age / Health / Location etc )

Ø  Egg Database     ( also add , “ Beauty Index “ )

Ø  Surrogate Mothers Database ( also add , “ Past Performance “ )

Ø  Nearest Clinic Database ( giving details of supervising Doctors )

> Delivery Service ( UPS / FedEx / Drop Box / Hand Delivery etc ) 

Obviously , the web site will list prices / tariffs for thousands of possible permutations / combinations , and enable online payments - in advance of course !

After making a “ Purchase “ , the Buyers ( want – to – be – parents ) would be able to monitor the progress of their “ Order “ online ( Reports / Sono-graphs / DNA / Genetic Aberrations etc )

And since there are bound to be several such web sites within a short period , some more clever Indian youngsters are bound to come up with a “ Baby Price Comparison Shopping Site “ !

Kiran ;

Future is already here – in the form of “ Mass – Customization “ !

With regards,

hemen  parekh

www.hemenparekh.in

Oh Detroit

Oh  Detroit

Morning papers say
You have gone bust
Bankrupt
Though not altogether abrupt ;

Even as I walked those endless miles
Of Grand River Avenue
Past the used car marts
And many noisy bars,

I thought about my own
Future bleak
Sitting on the edge of your waterfront,

But you gave me friends
Who gave me hope
And found KU
To begin a life anew

That was 1956
And though my memories
Are fading and few
I will never give up on you

Oh Detroit

Why Do We need Drama ?

I am all for Preventive Action , when catastrophy strikes and suddenly kills a few people

Eg:

>   Uttarakhand Floods / Landslides

>   Food-poisioning of kids in Chapara ( Bihar )

>   Building Collapses in Mumbai


But many many more people get " killed " everyday  all around us , through ;

>   Malnutrition ( 4383 children every day ! )

>   Breathing polluted gases emanating from Coal-fired Power plants ( 1 Lakh / Year )

>   Car accidents due to bad roads ( 50 , 000 / year )

>   Lack of Health care during pregnancy  (  30,000 /  year )

>   Farmer Suicide due lack of Rain water  (  20,000 /  year )

>   Run over by local trains in Mumbai  (  4,000 /  year  )


But there is hardly a murmur amongst people

Therefore , no preventive action amongst politicians / bureaucrats !

Shall we act only where there is high drama ?


hemen

Is Lokpal Overdue ?

Sunday Times ( 14  July  2013 ) reports following findings of latest Transperency International Survey for India :

>  Who  takes  bribes and  how  often ( Bribe  Quotient )

*    Political  parties  ...........................  86 %
*    Police  .........................................  75 %
*    Legislature  .................................   65 %
*    Education  .....................................61 %
*    Health  Systems  ..........................  56 %
*    Business   ....................................   50 %
*    Judiciary  ...................................    45 %
*    Religious  Bodies  ......................    44 %
*    Media  ......................................... 41 %
*    NGO  ........................................   30 %
*    Military  ....................................... 20 %

And 68 % of the people surveyed say , Government actions to fight corruption have been ineffective

Obvious, isn't it , considering that the Central Government is so busy fighting Lokpal Bill !

hemen