Hi Friends,

Even as I launch this today ( my 80th Birthday ), I realize that there is yet so much to say and do. There is just no time to look back, no time to wonder,"Will anyone read these pages?"

With regards,
Hemen Parekh
27 June 2013

Now as I approach my 90th birthday ( 27 June 2023 ) , I invite you to visit my Digital Avatar ( www.hemenparekh.ai ) – and continue chatting with me , even when I am no more here physically

Saturday 10 May 2014

The Die is cast



With only 41 seats of Lok Sabha remaining to be voted upon tomorrow , the die is cast

Outcome of those 41 seats is unlikely to make much of a difference to who will form the next Government at the Centre

If BJP falls short of 272 seats , " Aya Ram , Gaya Ram " horse-trading will settle the issue

But what will send a loud and clear message across India is ,

"  Who wins in Varanasi  ? "

It is no more a question of Congress vs BJP

Or , a question of David vs Goliath

It is no more a question of choosing between , lesser of the two evils

Even if AAP has made a few honest mistakes and occasionally , compromised on lofty principles , for the first time , people of Varanasi have a choice

To choose between the least of the THREE EVILS  !

 There are no ABSOLUTE standards by which to judge political parties

There are only RELATIVE standards - and , even these keep shifting

If you think , some of the AAP members - and even , some of its leaders - are susceptible to making immoral compromises , you are entitled to your opinion - which is your right

And Arvind Kejriwal would be the first person to defend your right


Let us ask ourselves ,


"  Who is the Least Corrupt of the three  ?

   Who do I deserve  ?

   Who is likely to resign if he cannot fulfill his poll-promises  ?  "



BJP came into power in Gujarat on 26 Dec 2012 , by promising :

" If voted to power , we will construct 50 lakh houses for the poor in next 5 years "

In the 500 days since BJP came to power , Gujarat Government should have built , and distributed , 13,69,863  homes

To find the truth , file a RTI application - without expecting any answer  !

Of course , by 20th May , expect NaMo to resign as Gujarat CM

Not for having failed to fulfill his promise to people of Gujarat

But , to fulfill his poll-promise to people of India , that , if voted to power , BJP will construct 100 Mega-Cities in next 5 years

That is one Chandigarh or Gandhi-Nagar , every 18 days  !

Hopefully , P C Sorkar ( jr ) will help out with a Mirage
  !



*   hemen  parekh ( 11 May 2014 / Mumbai )


Sunday 4 May 2014

Marriage Season is upon Us !



Election Commission will announce the results of Lok Sabha elections on 16th May


And , declare open the Marriage Season


Marriages of convenience - no doubt  !


Both , NDA and UPA will fall short of absolute majority , by 50 - 100 seats


Floor Managers and Business Brokers will swing into action to weave a complex web of Mergers and Acquisitions ( M & A  )


Independent candidates will offer themselves for Rs 50 Crores


(  Remember the movie , " Dulhaa  Beekta  Hain "  ?  )


Party offices of smaller parties will carry the banners ,



"  Sale  !  Sale  !  


{  Except that this is not , a  " Going out of Business "  sale


It is a ,  " Getting into Business "   sale  !  },


We are selling honesty , integrity , honour , conscience , morals , ethics , self-respect , party-name  etc . You name it - we got it  !


Here are our going " Market Rates " :


* For 10 seat support................. 2 seats of  Minister of State


* For 20 seat support ...............  2 seats of  Cabinet Minister


* For 30 seat support ..............   Minister of Industry + Minister of Trade "



Yesterday's sworn enemies ( who wanted to dispatch you to Pakistan or jump into Indian ocean ) , will suddenly become " Bosom Friends "


" Enemy of enemy " will cease to be a friend


" Friend of a Friend " who sells-out to opposition , will become an enemy !


Like the annual ritual of the Jain Community ( Kshamapana ), saleable Dulhaas , will beg  Kshamaa ( forgiveness )  of everyone they abused during the past one year


They are chanting :


*  Let us forget the insults and forgive each other


*  Let us not be vindictive and let loose the " Caged Parrot " / ED  etc


*  Let us work as a team to quadruple our assets ala Jamaai-Raja


*  Let us reward the people who voted us to power , with "Broken Promises"


*  Let the  "  Winter-of-Conflict "  be over on 12th May


*  Let the  " Summer -of - Swindle "  begin on 16th May



PEOPLE  OF  INDIA ,


Is it any surprise that the " Greatest Circus on the Earth " is followed by the " Weirdest  Horse-trading on the Earth "  ?


And even if you don't like horses , don't insult other animals such as Dogs , Monkeys , Rats , Elephants etc , by naming this trade after them  !


You are damned if you vote : damned if you don't  !



   hemen  parekh  (  04  May  2014  /  Mumbai  )




  

Tuesday 29 April 2014

What would they name it ?



Mahatma Gandhi named his autobiography ,


"  My  Experiments  with  Truth  "


If some of our politicians were to author their own biography ( - even if actually written by ghost writers ) , what would they name it  ?


Here is my guess  :


>  Man Mohan Singh...............     In Search of Silence


>  Sonia Gandhi....................     The Guns are Booming


>  Robert Vadra ( Kin-politico )..  From landless to landlord in 40 days


>  Suresh Kalmadi...................  The Game Theory


>  Pawan Bansal  ....................  Toofaan  Mail


>  Shriprakash Jaiswal.............   The Dark Matter Underground


>  Ashwini Kumar....................  Superior to Supreme


>  Kapil Sibal..........................  Two-timing Lawyer


>  P Chidambaram..................   Re-Count  to  Re-Instate


>  Kamal Nath ......................    A Road Less Travelled


>  Prafulla Patel.....................    Gone with the Wind


>  A Raja.............................     Last Come , First Served


>  Dayanidhi Maran.................  Quid- pro- Quo


>  Kanimozi...........................   Father Knows Best


>  Jayalalithaa........................  Heaven - for those who touch my feet


>  Mamta Banerjee................    The Triumph of the Lawless


>  Narendra Modi..................... Gujarat - that is India

>  Arvind Kejriwal.................... AK-49 and lesser Weapons


>  Mayawati......................     Maya and Maya-Jaal



Feel free to add to the list



In case they decide to come out with their biographies , one thing is certain


Royalty percentage will need to be the same - or more - than the percentages that they are used to get so far  !


And , the branding rights will be sold separately  !


What with the way current Lok Sabha elections are going , most of these Netas will have plenty of time on hand to pen their travails  !


Don't miss the next year's Jaipur Literature Festival 



*  hemen  parekh  (  30 April 2014 / Mumbai )


Monday 28 April 2014

Bribing The Voters



Retired Chief Election Commissioner , S Y Quraishi , is all set to release his book ,


"  The Undocumented Wonder : The Making of the Great Indian Election "


Talking to DNA ( 15 April 2014 ) he listed some 40 different ways in which , Political Parties try to bribe voters


Some of these are :


>   Cash

>   Depositing money in voter's bank account

>   Liquor Bottles

>  LPG Cylinders

>  Free Rice / Food Packets

>  Payments of Electricity / Water Bills

>  Mass Feasts

>  Screening of films

>  Laptops / Tablets

>  Bicycles

>  Mangal Sutras

>  Gold Coins

>  Buffalos

>  Colour TV

>  Mixer - Grinder

>  Unemployment Allowance

>  Waiver of loans

>  Free Houses ......etc



Political Parties are happy that Mr Quarishi , being an honest / straight forward person , could imagine only 10 % of  the ways of bribing voters  !


And who cares that the EC has managed to seize a meager Rs 300 crores worth of cash so far during the current season , when all of the Rs 40,000 Crores worth of black money ( @ Rs 5 crores per candidate * 8,000 candidates ) , has escaped un-noticed ( looking other way ? ) by ,


>  Income Tax Department

>  Enforcement Directorate

>  CAG / CVC

>  Election Commission.....etc



Even the almighty Supreme Court seemed helpless , when it held recently :


"  Although promises of distribution of freebies may not technically constitute  corrupt practice , under the Representation of People Act , they vitiate the electoral process by influencing voters and disturbing the level playing between contesting parties "



And since there is no difference of opinion between the political parties when it comes to exploiting the poverty of 400 million BPL ( Below the Poverty Line ) voters , I would not be surprised if the next government at the Centre , introduces a  ,


 "  Bribe ( given ) Politically ( is ) Legal ( BPL ) Bill "


 in the very first session of 16th Lok Sabha  !


Expect it to be passed unanimously - and without a debate  !


Political parties are firm believer of what Kaushik Basu ( onetime advisor to PM ) once said ( - although in a different context ) ,


"  Giving bribe must not be treated as crime


   Ordinary citizens are forced to give bribes when they are denied , service that is legitimately due to them


If they are held innocent , they will come forward and report all instances when they were forced to bribe bureaucrats



Only bribe-takers must be punished  "




*  hemen parekh  (  28 April 2014 / Mumbai  )


  





Saturday 26 April 2014

As the Sun Rises




As the sun rises on 27th April , the epic battle of Lok Sabha elections will resume


In today's battle , what arrows will the mighty warriors shoot at each other ?


Here is my guess :


>  Narendra Modi will hurl the weapons of ,

    #   Corruption of UPA - 2
    #   Dubious land deals of Jijaji
    #   Declining  GDP .... etc


>   The  FAMILY  will retaliate with ,

     #   Snoop-gate
     #   Godhra riots
     #   Communal policies of BJP...  etc


>   Baba Ramdev

     #   Black Money


>   Sundry Netas

      #   Choicest Abuses ( Blunderer / Plunderer / Murderer ..etc )


By the time the Warriors retire to respective camps by sunset , in the PRECEEDING 24 HOURS , 4383 children ( below 5 years ) would have died due to starvation ( 1,600,000 per year )


But how can "  Reducible Deaths " be made , an Election Issue  ?


So , why talk about deaths due to malnutrition or for the following causes ?


>   Malaria.............................. 10,98,000

>   Cancer...............................   7,32,000

>   HIV..................................     6,83,200

>   Suicide .............................    4,88,000

>   Road Accidents  .................    3,66,000

>   Snake bites  ........................  7,32,000



Or  about millions of Indians dying  PREMATURE DEATH every year , due to :


>  Water and Air Pollution

>  Dowry ( Bride burning )

>  Child Labour

>  Occupational Hazards ( Chemical / Coal / Cement industries )

>  Miscarriage / Abortions / Pregnancy deaths

>  Smoking / Tobacco chewing

>  Junk Food / Adulterated Food

>  Daru ( liquor ) laced with ethyl alcohol

>  Fake Medicines............................etc


And how can you hold MPs / MLAs , responsible for keeping 28.7 Crores of Indians illiterate ( 37 % of World's illiterate ), 66 years after independence  ?


PEOPLE  OF  INDIA ,


What will kill you / me , is of no consequence to our politicians  !


They seem to be saying ,



"   What can we do  ?

   On the EVM of Yamaraaj , there is no NOTA button  !  "



*  hemen  parekh  (  27 April 2014 / Mumbai )


Thursday 24 April 2014

A Software Powerhouse ?



A   Software  Powerhouse  ?

Yesterday , when I went to polling booth , there was a chaos , with a number of people complaining that their names were missing from the Electoral Rolls ( Voter Lists )

As per news-reports , in Mumbai alone , some 50,000 people returned home without casting their votes - including Deepak Parekh  ! Altogether , names of some 15 lakh voters ( out of a total of 98 lakh ) were missing  !


Then there are some 300 million people who will simply won't walk down to the nearest polling booths , and wait for 1 hour to cast their votes ( - assuming that some 40 % of the 814 million eligible voters do not exercise their right to vote )

WHY  ?

Going out to vote is becoming a big hassle

COULD  IT  BE  OTHERWISE  ?

Sure , if Central Government and the Election Commission care to implement my suggestion for developing a mobile App for voting .  I called it , VotesApp

 see .. hemenparekh.in/2013/08/votesapp.html  

Or , just type in Google , " VotesApp "

HOW  WILL  IT  HELP  ?

>  No need for 930,000 polling booths / EVMs / Ink / Papers etc
    Every voter's own mobile becomes a miniature EVM  !
    Any registered Voter can vote from anywhere in the World  !

>  Nor any need to deploy 1,100,000 people to conduct the polls

>  No need for millions of Police / Military personnel

>  No need for months of advance preparations, across entire country

>  Voting can be completed in just ONE day - instead of over 6 weeks -
    and results can be declared next day  !

>  Voting could be 95 % or more  !

>  No worry for booth-capture

>  No  bogus voting ( Bio-metric ID from built-in camera )

>  No duplicate voting ( Self-destruct after single usage )

>  No worry for any terrorist attacks

>  Enormous saving of time for Voters

>  No need to declare a public holiday - costing thousands of crores
     worth of production

>  Central Government will save, at least , Rs 2,000 Crores .

     If business-friendly BJP government comes to power , it would not
    hesitate to earn Rs 20,000 crores , by enabling 15 million Indian
    businesses to advertise to 814 million voters , thru this mobile VotesApp -
    sharply targeting by Gender / Age / Marital Status / City / Street /
    Education / Income Tax paid / Employed or Jobless ..etc

>  No need for Central Government to stop taking even routine decisions

If a tiny country like Estonia ( population 1.6 million ) can elect its Members of Parliament thru a VotesApp type mobile App , why can't we  ?

Already 900+ million Indians have mobiles - all of which , will soon become Smart Phones

And we call our country , a " Software Powerhouse "  !


*   hemen  parekh  ( 25 April 2014 / Mumbai ) 

Wednesday 23 April 2014

Wrong Business ?



Talking about Narendra Modi's " Crony Capitalism " , Rahul Gandhi said ,


"  During 12 years of NaMo's rule in Gujarat , Gautam Adani's companies '
assets  ( or did he mean , Market Cap  ?  or Revenue  ?  it does not matter )
went up from Rs 3000 crores to Rs 40,000 crores  "


That is a CAGR ( Compounded Annual Growth Rate ) of 25 %


Now look at the assets declared by the Congress Candidates of the current Lok Sabha elections ( Let us not inquire re:  Undeclared Assets !  )


Within 5 years ( from 2009 to 2014 ) , the average assets of these Congressmen , went up from Rs 4.87 crores to Rs 54.38 crores  !


That is a CAGR of 62  %  !



So , which is a better business  ?


>  Building Nation by  building Ports , Power Stations , Infrastructure etc  ?



OR



>  Fooling Nation by robbing its precious natural resources , such
     Spectrum , Coal , Gas , Minerals , etc  ?


>   Not revealing the names of 50 individuals who have stashed away black
     money in German Banks - and whose names , German Government has
     provided 3 years back ?


>   Promoting " Crony Relative-ism " when it comes to buying government
      land for Rs 1 lakh / hectare and selling for Rs 100 lakhs / hectare  ?



Gautambhai ,



Obviously , you are in the wrong business  !


Switch over to sycophancy  !


Enjoy a CAGR of 200 %  !


Then , like late Babu Jagjivan Ram , don't file your Income Tax Return for next 10 years - and , if reminded , say , " I just forgot "  !



*   hemen  parekh  (  24  April  2014  /  Mumbai  )