A Decade of Bollywood

10 Best Films of the Decade

1. Dil Chahta Hai

What does the spoilt “I, Me, Myself” generation want really? Simply put, Farhan Akhtar captured the conflict of our times and shifted focus from the family unit to the individual.

2. Rang De Basanti

Rakeysh Mehra’s wake-up call became an anthem for the increasingly alienated youth. To end the film as a nightmare – if the youth take up arms – was a touch of brilliance.

3. Lage Raho Munnabhai

Re-introducing Gandhian principles as a solution to our everyday problems through an already popular Munnabhai. What a masterstroke by Rajkumar Hirani

4. Lagaan

The lunacy of filmmaking indeed! For the sheer magnitude of Ashutosh Gowariker’s vision, effort and conviction to pull off a film with an hour long climax – a cricket match!

5. Company

Sarkar was inspired by The Godfather but this underworld saga saw Ram Gopal Varma reach his peak as Jaideep Sahni worded magic. And, the actors delivered the dynamite.

6. Khosla Ka Ghosla

Dibakar Banerjee and Sahni on a shoestring budget chose to bat for the common man’s struggle against the powerful and reunited the individual self back with the family.

7. Dev D

Anurag Kashyap’s take on Devdas caught the fancy of a generation dealing with the degeneration of values and relationship pangs. ‘Emotional Atyachaar’ we loved.

8. Taare Zameen Par

Making a complex country such as ours spell DYSLEXIA is no mean task and Aamir not only did with great sensitivity, the “Idiot” made us cry.

9. Chak De

Because Shimit Amin brought a game-changer to the party. Shah Rukh Khan with no song and dance or heroine. Just a brat-pack of girls and woman-power.

10. Iqbal

Dor is a better film but since it was inspired by Perumazhakaalam, we’ll give it to Nagesh Kukunoor’s slap on the face to Bhansali’s Black brand of manipulative melodrama. Iqbal made us forget his disability and didn’t really try emotional ‘Black’-mail.

10 Films That Got A Little Too Much Attention:

1. Black – Great synthesis of the art and performance if you can forgive the manipulation.

2. Bheja Fry – But yes, an adorable Vinay Pathak carried this plagiarized film.

3. Hera Pheri – This remake got a way more attention than it deserved, spawned sequels

4. Ghajini – Banked on Aamir’s six-pack body to deliver the punches

5. Golmaal – And assembly-line comedies were back in business

6. Krissh – And you thought Koi Mil Gaya was too much?

7. Jism – Bipasha showed what a great body can do.

8. Murder – Mallika Sherawat and Emraan Hashmi made out and went serial kissing

9. Dhoom 2 – Aishwarya Rai finally gave in and kissed on screen finally.

10. Fanaa – Kajol’s comeback film was ‘inspired’ too but the director didn’t know that.

10 Films So Bad That They Are Good

1. Neal n Nikki – Shot on a lavish lingerie-string budget, holds record for maximum skin shown in a film

2. Sins – Constructed as a series of excuses for sex scenes involving an old priest and young girl

3. RGV Ki Aag – Inspired critics to come up with the funniest reviews

4. Love Story 2050 – Where a Hrithik Roshan clone looked like the special effect

5. Karzzz – Since I missed Aap Ka Suroor – The Moviee – The Real Luv Story

6. Koi Mil Gaya – Took bad acting to new depths but it worked Jadoo at box office

7. Kyon Ki – That got remade about 20 years too late

8. Jhoom Barabar Jhoom – Before Sunrise with crazy dancing for 20 minutes and strange bearded Bachchan for no reason.

9. Hero Love Story of a Spy – For the brilliance of Anil Sharma and Sunny Deol’s range of disguises involving a mere change in sunglasses to fool Pakistani intelligence

10. Kisna – But hey, that Tarzan girl was good dancing on trees.

10 Films That Did Not Get Their Due

1. Rocket Singh - Honesty that deserves to be watched

2. Johnny Gaddar - A fantastic crime-thriller plays games with your mind

3. Delhi 6 - Gets to the root of our problem - our inherent need for the boogeyman

4. Socha Na Tha - A director was born, Imtiaz Ali's best film till date

5. Luck By Chance - Such a complex film sensitively handled with great balance

6. Flavours - A refreshing debut by the guys who gave us 99

7. Ek Chalis Ki Last Local - Much before Kaminey, a lesser known director paid tribute to the Coens and Tarantino

8. Parzania - Absolutely gutsy filmmaking

9. Blue Umbrella - One of Vishal Bhardwaj's most beautiful films with a Malgudi Days-like charm

10. Hazaaron Kwaishein Aisi – Sudhir Mishra’s masterpiece deserved better but still has a cult following.

10 unforgettable onscreen moments of the decade

1. When Katrina debuted by pulling out a stone from her bikini – Boom

2. When Abhishek kissed John – Dostana

3. When Emraan made out with Mallika – Murder

4. When Sunny Paaji uprooted a hand-pump – Gadar

5. When Hrithik first went on stage to shake a leg – Kaho Na Pyaar hai

6. When Bachchan, Shah Rukh and Hrithik shared screen – Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham

7. When a desperate Tabu negotiated helplessly – Chandni Bar

8. When Madhuri and Aishwarya went Dhola Re Dhola – Devdas

9. When Bollywood heroes began to walk like Reservoir Dogs – Kaante

10. When half the movie stars partied on screen – Om Shanti Om

Top 10 Filmmakers of the Decade

1. Anurag Kashyap – What a range of films by the auteur – Paanch, Black Friday, No Smoking, Dev D, Gulaal and Return of Hanuman

2. Farhan Akhtar – For bringing refreshing restraint, understatement

3. Rajkumar Hirani – For preserving the drama in our films

4. Shimit Amin – For giving characters space to breathe

5. Farah Khan – For celebrating our escapist cinema

6. Nagesh Kukunoor – For breaking the mould every time

7. Vishal Bhardwaj – For bringing literature, poetry and lyricism to cinema

8. Rakeysh Mehra – For inspiring and trying hard to make relevant films

9. Ashutosh Gowariker – For his sincerity and conviction

10. Ram Gopal Varma and Priyadarshan – For not letting criticism affect their spirit

10 Indie Films You Must Watch

1 Let’s Talk - For its structureless-ness

2 A Wednesday - For taking offbeat mainstream

3 Mithya - For Rajat Kapoor's uncompromising vision and and Ranvir Shorey's performance

4 Being Cyrus - Indian English cinema's first experiment with a A-list star

5 Phir Milenge - The most sensitive film on AIDS that deals with the drama with great restraint

6 Aamir - An art-house thriller that takes you into the mind of the Muslim who refuses to subscribe to the ideology of violence

7 Mr and Mrs Iyer - A poignant love story that launched Konkana Sen

8 Dil Dosti etc - The anti-thesis to Dil Chahta Hai

9 Loins of Punjab - One of the best written Indian English films

10 Mumbai Meri Jaan - For giving hope, an uplifting tribute to the spirit of Mumbai.

Electricity

Electricity crisis..., power cuts,
We are sweating badly and go nuts.
We use electricity to switch on the AC,
But we never switch it off as we are too busy.
When the bill comes, which is very high,
We say to ourselves, "I didn't use it this much, did I"?
Of the problems it causes... people aren't aware,
So of its ill demerits, beware!
Let us strive to save electricity,
So that people can sleep in peace in the whole city.

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nowadays not finding much time to write as something or other is keeping me busy..

and these days i am getting addicted to facebook & twitter and to top it all i am lazy like never before.

i will post some nonsense now & then ..but the frequency of my posting has reduced and i dont think it will increase in the near future....

Jungle mount Adventure Camp Experience

Let me start this one with a question.
Who is the most beautiful woman on Earth?
Aishwarya Rai? Priyanka Chopra? Definitely not…

I was awe struck by the beauty of Mother Nature in the form of Kakkabe village near Coorg.
I have been to Coorg couple of times before but experience and enjoyment was definitely not on this scale.

As a part of the outbound program,our team of 7( me,rahul nair,rahul ,jayanth,snigdha,Krishna
and chintan) along with Konrad made a trip to Coorg. Fun started from the moment we boarded the cab to koyembedu with the initial culprits being snigdha and Krishna. I bet Krishna would never mess again with Snigdha again when she is on a call! By the time we fought for the songs to be played in the cab,we reached Koyembedu bus stand.

Many of you would have not noticed a big difference between Railways and Bus transportation.
Mostly trains start on time and reach late and it’s vice versa with Road transport system.The bus supposed to start at 10.30 after much deliberation started at 11.00. We all were set to sleep but there was something else in store for us from the conductor of the bus! He played a Kannada film! I don’t know the name of the movie and I don’t want to know. That was the worst of the dumbest films I have ever seen .Heroine sees and talks to herself in the mirror cut there was a song cut fight between the hero & heroine and the sequence repeated without the change in order. I take a bow to the director of the film for coming out with such a novel idea and film industry needs people like you(sarcasm and offences intended). To make us struggle more to sleep, a guy behind was snoring like hell. I wonder how Snigdha and Rahul managed to sleep and I wasn’t amused with Krishna sleeping as he was past his sleeping time already.

We reached Bangalore in the morning and I woke up to see everybody was sleeping as if they haven’t slept for years and I thanked God as that guy stopped snoring. After 2-3 hrs we reached Mysore and had a decent breakfast at a hotel. Let me be honest to tell you that the dosa’s made in Karnataka are lot better than the one made at TN. We took a tempo traveler from Mysore for Coorg and reached there after a scenic drive of another 3 hours to Jungle Mountain Adventures in Kakkabe!

We were all tired by the time we reached that place. We were welcomed by a energizer called Uncle Topaz(Wow!! what a man he is){to understand the meaning of the previous sentence ,you need to experience it} and his mates Ashley (who was physically similar to Ashley Cole) and Sagar (the king of Coorg). These 3 guys take care of the Jungle Mountain Adventure and trust me these guys are fun to be with. We retired to our huts, refreshed and went for rappelling near the water falls(pardon me I don’t remember the name of the falls). We spent around 3-4 hrs rappelling and then came back to the camp ,had dinner and had the discussion on “Tell me about yourself”. This was not a formal tell me about session and emotions were flowing through everybody’s adrenalines-That’s the point where I think the team of 7 that left Chennai came back as 1 family!

After the dinner and the session came the ride of my life. I never had or will have such an experience again. We went for a night safari (though we did not spot any animal). Sagar was riding his jeep at 11.00 pm without lights on a muddy and narrow mountain unfenced road which was far away from whats called as “being tarred” at almost 80 kmph with our heart coming to our mouth! YOU DEFINITELY NEED TO EXPERIENCE IT to FEEL IT. We came back from the safari after sometime we retired to sleep to wake up next day to see Lord Varuna crying to purify our earth.
We went for the kayaking in that heavy rain followed by lunch and a talk with Dr.Topaz which was really really inspiring. You have got to meet him to see how he gels with the young people like us even after him being 60 years old. He reads minds and hearts!

Every good things must come to an end and there came the time for us to depart from Kakkabe(really touched to see Uncle Topaz shedding tears). We started our journey back home and reached Bangalore by 10.30 pm. Snigdha took us to KFC (the last time I visited KFC was in Connought Place in New Delhi,if I remember right it was May 19 2008) and next morning we were back in Chennai back as normal homosapiens.

However best this trip can be put in words, you really need to experience it.

I became famous for the word “stupid fellow” which I use frequently with a unique tone and they were constantly pulling my leg over it, but never mind as a part of a family we are subjected to these kind of leg pullings. Not only this, we gave a nick name to every member of our family (me – venky, Rahul Nair – Dimples, Rahul – Ramu, Snigdha – Sniggy, Jayant – Dada and Chintan – Chintu). And we were back to our sweet home getting ready for the coming busy week. I was happy and the fitting finale was BE HAPPY NO B.P - BINDAAS--------------------------------------

Base by Venky :) &Spice up,Edit & Feel by Sniggy :)

October 1st : Leaving for Coorg

I have visited Coorg few times mainly as a part of school excursions.

But this visit with my new team has been promised to me as an adventurous one.

Eager to see what is in store..

Few recent things which made me think and smile for a while...

1. Pankaj Advani winning the World title was a scrolling news whereas Dhoni being a top earning Cricketer was a given a special coverage for 15 minutes.

2. Several disabled children were made to stand in between railway crossings.

3. Harbhajan Singh's temperamental activities was a special show for 30 minutes with two expert panels discussing about it.

4. Actress Roja quitting Telugu Desam Party was the first headline at prime time in a leading news channel.

It was by pure chance that one came across the news that next week Padmashree Dr. Kamal Haasan is set to complete fifty years in cinema. It is rather shocking that one had chance upon this news which is nothing short of history. One wonders whether there is any other actor in the world who started out at 4 and is still going strong at 54. The legend and iconic status of Kamal Haasan are beyond comparison in contemporary Tamil cinema. Yet, there is no denying the possibility that his 50th anniversary in cinema might pass unnoticed and uncelebrated. There has been so little attention around the approaching landmark that this feeling is getting stronger by the day.

Why does it have to be commemorated? Some might feel. Well, there are only few things in our lives that are really worthy of celebration. There are only very few things in cinema that are worthy of celebration and when there is one such occasion, it should not be allowed to pass unattended to. Kamal’s genius, hard work and commitment are undeniable. If we do not recognize this, then there is hardly anything else in Tamil cinema that is worthy of any notice at all. By letting this landmark pass, a very wrong message might be sent to the entire younger generation at work in the industry – ‘hard work, longevity and commitment to good cinema can go unnoticed and unrewarded’. It might not be wrong to say that there have been times in the Tamil industry when Kamal Haasan has been the sole flag bearer of originality and quality when things around him were in a state of decadence. He was the one who kept reminding us during periods of deterioration that good cinema is still possible, he was the one who made Bollywood sit up and take notice of the industry down south. If this man’s life is not celebrated, then Tamil cinema and culture will be doing a great disservice unto themselves.

This is not the place to be elaborating on what Kamal has delivered for Tamil cinema. His body of work is there to be seen for everyone. So, how do we celebrate or commemorate this landmark year in his career? Well, there are different ways to do it. The latest fad that is doing the rounds in terms of recognizing people who have contributed meaningfully is giving away doctorate degrees. But, Kamal has got one by now and going by the frequency with which these degrees are being handed out, they will soon cease to have much of significance! Maybe a grand night of music and dance where the entire industry gets together to salute the legend – but we get to see such programs every weekend on TV, it wouldn’t be really unique either. We could do with something small and simple, but original and unique. Uniqueness and originality have always been the defining traits of Kamal Haasan and anything that commemorates his achievements should remains true to these traits. Perhaps a one of its kind film festival screening some of his best works over the years (it would be really hard to pick). And, considering the fact that he has been around in the industry for 50 years now, it is surprising that a definitive biography is still missing. These are times when even a 23 year old cricketer with a few wickets or runs has books written on him. This man should have had an epic written by now.

If Kamal Haasan’s 50th anniversary in films passes unnoticed, it will show Tamil cinema in poor light. For years we have enjoyed his brilliance, felt proud that such a fine craftsman belongs to the state, if we don’t celebrate the pride that is ours’ who will? Kamal is genius par excellence, commitment that peerless and vision that is unmatched. Many years down the line, we may have nothing that comes even close to Kamal to celebrate in the Tamil industry. Let us celebrate his genius when is still going great guns. There are places in the world where they build monuments for far lesser men. Let us give this man his due, let us celebrate 50 years of Kamal Haasan.

Beat the summer heat

Going out in the heat
Is not a very good treat
Better instead
Have a good read
Books of Blyton, Dahl, Rowling and Bond
That'll take you to a magical land
Between you and the world, of late
Where you have to survive even without a fellow mate
Create art, go to camps, make a tunic
Learn to dance, swim or play or listen to music
Keep yourself enchanted
But be sure you are enlightened too
Beat the summer heat!

It's raining Malls in Chennai

Be it a lazy Sunday, or one of those after work hang-out sessions, shopping for that pretty pink dress or that footwear you eyed your colleague wearing, catching up with a friend over a cup of coffee, window shopping or just aimlessly sauntering arou nd — malls seem to be the best place to head to, what with everything available under one roof.

But the only bummer is when there aren’t enough malls and you have to frequent the same old places time and again.

Ever since Spencer’s Plaza and Citi Centre happened to Chennai, the other malls have been ‘near-dead’. Many people have admittedly spent hours together at these two places because of lack of choice. But, now there’s happy news for all compulsive shoppers — Chennai is coming up with at least 17 more multi-storied malls and shopping centres.

According to Ramesh Nair, Managing Director, Chennai, of global property consultancy firm Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj: “Around 17 new malls totalling 8.5 million square feet are expected to be operational in the next three-and-a-half years. The majority of these malls are located in the CBD, Old Mahabalipuram Road, GST Road and Velachery.”

However, the most prominent and centrally located ones are Express Avenue, Chennai Central and Ampa Mall. Being built on an area of 10 acres, Express Avenue is a property of Express Infrastructure and will house not just a mall but also a leading hotel, office space and a multiplex with six or seven screens. Right in the middle of Patullos Road and scaffolded by corrugated metal sheets with ‘EA’ inscribed on them, this building, which has been under construction for sometime now, has generated a lot of interest.

Reluctant to give more information about it, all that the Chief Financial Officer, Express Infrastructure, would reveal is: “The movie screens will be run by one of Chennai’s well-known cinema groups. Around five to six floors will be allotted to a hotel and the offices; the mall will occupy four floors.” The mall will cater to both middle and upper middle class and will have a parking area of six lakh square foot. Express Avenue will be open to the public by 2009.

Set on 48,000 square feet and vying with the designer boutiques on Khader Nawaz Khan Road will be Chennai Central Mall. “It is a joint venture between SSPDL Ltd. and Pantaloons and should be ready in another two-and-a-half year’s time,” says Balaji Narasimhan, Assistant General Manager-Marketing, SSPDL Ltd.

Central started operations around four years ago in Bangalore and branched out to Pune, Vadodara, Gurgaon and Hyderabad, before coming to Chennai. “It will house around 200 national and international brands, a Food Bazaar and maybe, a lounge bar too,” says Rajesh Seth, Marketing Head, Central-Bangalore.

Nearing completion and all set to woo the crowds is Ampa Mall on Nelson Manickam Road. According to sources, the mall, spread over three acres, boasts a hypermarket, three floors of retail space, a seven-screen multiplex, food mall, fine dining restaurants and a 20-room boutique hotel. And, PVR Cinemas makes it entry into Chennai through Ampa. Westside and Spencer’s Hypermarket will be among the other players in this mall.

Citing the reason for the sudden increase in the number of malls in Chennai, Ramesh Nair says, “Chennai has been the pioneer in organised retail from the early 1990s. The penetration of organised players, especially in the food segment, is quite high. The economy is doing well; disposable incomes have increased. A number of new companies in the IT and manufacturing sectors are investing in India. There has been a shift in the mentality from saving to spending. Cashing in on these trends, national players such as DLF and South Indian majors such as Prestige, Shriram, Ozone and local players Marg, Ampa and Allied have zeroed in on this city.”

The Emperor of Pop

Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American recording artist and entertainer. The seventh child of the Jackson family, he debuted on the professional music scene at the age of 11 as a member of The Jackson 5 and began a solo career in 1971 while still a member of the group. Referred to as the "King of Pop" in subsequent years, four of his solo studio albums are among the world's best-selling records: Off the Wall (1979), Bad (1987), Dangerous (1991) and HIStory (1995), while his 1982 Thriller is the world's best-selling record of all time.

In the early 1980s, he became a dominant figure in popular music and the first African-American entertainer to amass a strong crossover following on MTV. The popularity of his music videos airing on MTV, such as "Beat It", "Billie Jean" and Thriller—credited for transforming the music video into an art form and a promotional tool—helped bring the relatively new channel to fame. Videos such as "Black or White" and "Scream" made Jackson an enduring staple on MTV in the 1990s. With stage performances and music videos, Jackson popularized a number of physically complicated dance techniques, such as the robot and the moonwalk. His distinctive musical sound and vocal style influenced many hip hop, pop and contemporary R&B artists.

One of the few artists to have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice, his other achievements include multiple Guinness World Records—including one for "Most Successful Entertainer of All Time"— Grammy Awards, 13 number one singles in his solo career—more than any other male artist in the Hot 100 era. Jackson's highly publicized personal life, coupled with his successful career, made him a part of popular culture for almost four decades. Michael Jackson died of cardiac arrest on June 25, 2009, aged 50.

A long forgooten story of 3rd std with a new ending

It's an old story that we read in Class 3 but with a new ending.

A hat-seller who was passing by a forest decided to take a nap under one of the trees, so he left his whole basket of hats by the side. A few hours later, he woke up and realized that all his hats were gone.

He looked up and to his surprise, the tree was full of monkeys and they had taken all his hats. The jaat sits down and thinks of how he can get the hats down.

While thinking he started to scratch his head. The next moment, the monkeys were doing the same. Next, he took down his own hat, the monkeys did exactly the same. An idea came to him, he took his hat and threw it on the floor and the monkeys did that too. So he finally managed to get all his hats back.

Fifty years later, his grandson, Sukhwinder, also became a hat-seller and had heard this monkey story from his grandfather. One day, just like his grandfather, he passed by the same forest. It was very hot, and he took a nap under the same tree and left the hats on the floor.

He woke up and realized that all his hats were taken by the monkeys on the tree. He remembered his grandfather’s words, started scratching his head and the monkeys followed. He took down his hat and fanned himself and again the monkeys followed. Now, very convinced of his grandfather's idea, Sukhwinder threw his hat on the floor but to his surprise, the
Monkeys still held on to all the hats.

Then one monkey climbed down the tree, grabbed the hat on the floor, gave him a slap and said........................


Guess What????????

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"You think only you have a grandfather?!!!"

H-1B & L1 visas to get tougher

The new legislation on H-1B and L1 visa program will make it tough for Indians to gain work permit in the US. The H-1B visa under which Indian professionals are recruited in the US will suffer a set back if the legislation brought to the floor by Senators Chuck Grassley and Dick Durbin is passed by the Congress.

According to the bill that was introduced in the US Senate on Thursday, employers in the US who are willing to hire workers from other countries should make a ‘good faith attempt’ to recruit American workers.

Senator Durbin stated, “Our bill will put a stop to the outsourcing of American jobs and discrimination against American workers. The H-1B visa program should complement the US workforce, not replace it,” he claimed. He further added that the Department of Labor will be given power to scrutinize, audit and penalize abuse of H-1B and L1 visa employers.

The Prime Minister bazaar

The complaint is as old as the politics of social justice: the hegemony of urban elite over the wretched and the dispossessed. Votaries of the so-called Other India the India beyond the sensations of the Sensex and the temptations of the marketplace never get tired of narrating the conspiracy of the privileged.

Twelve of our 14 prime ministers, they keep reminding us, have been from urban India. Only two, H.D. Deve Gowda and Charan Singh, came from the peasant class, and both were accidental. Now that the politics of cohabitation has made India one of the most crowded and politically promiscuous democracies in the world, the sociology of power has become starker.

The most obvious trend in the India Today Mood of the Nation poll on the eve of the General Elections is the shrinking bipolarity or the thriving multiplicity. There are no clear winners as the ruling UPA and the NDA are separated by only 19 votes. The middle is occupied by that amorphous group called Third Front, populated by provincial pachyderms who think their time has come to be the rulers of India. If they can't, they will decide who will. It may not be the revenge of the regions but it certainly brings out the less-than-national appeal of the national parties.

The only certainty in a fragmented polity is that we have an embarrassment of prime ministerial riches. In the beginning, there was only one, and BJP leader L.K. Advani has been campaigning in true presidential style, that too without an identifiable opponent.

Much belatedly, and less ceremoniously, Congress President Sonia Gandhi said Manmohan Singh would get another term as prime minister if the UPA won the elections. She can only name him, she just can't make him prime minister. Without the support of regional parties with more than 70 members, either Advani or Manmohan can't become prime minister. That support can no longer be taken for granted as kingmakers now aspire to be kings.

As Lalu Prasad Yadav, a Sonia worshipper-turned-heartbreaker, said in an interview with the television channel Aaj Tak, The UPA exists only in Delhi and why can't we consider Ram Vilas Paswan, a Dalit leader, for prime ministership after the elections? Then, why just Paswan? Why not Pawar? The NCP has been projecting its leader and Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar as a future prime minister for a while.

He will share a platform with CPI(M) leader Prakash Karat and Orissa Chief Minister and BJD leader Naveen Patnaik at a rally in Bhubaneswar on April 13. That is the freedom of being Pawar. His party is fighting the Congress everywhere except his home state of Maharashtra and Goa. The strategy of each regional party is to contest maximum number of seats so that they can improve their tally of 2004. Obviously, both the Congress and BJP are anxious, and they may end up fielding more candidates than they did in 2004.

The poll provides little cheer to the Congress and BJP. Parties which belong to neither of the two alliances are likely to get almost the same number of seats as the others. Leaders like Lalu, Mulayam Singh Yadav, Paswan, Jayalalithaa, Mayawati and the communists are an independent lot.

Pawar's feet may be on the UPA ground but his heart is elsewhere. And each of these satraps is worth 25 to 30 seats, and their combined strength could go up to 180. Still, they are too volatile a group to remain intact. Will Maya and Mulayam ever be compatible? Unlikely. A candidate sponsored by the so-called Third Front led by the Left and others can't reach 7 Race Course Road without the support of either the Congress or the BJP. In the marketplace of prime ministers, choices are many and the art of bargain alone can ensure a politically profitable deal.

How come we have got so many choices or so many competing ideas of India in the fray? The UPA has been particularly fertile for prime ministers in waiting. Leaders like Lalu and Pawar have acquired a national profile as star Cabinet performers. They used their power at the Centre to expand their regional base. For the UPA, the vote of confidence was the moment when it realised the true worth of its allies. It survived the vote because partners like SP, RJD and DMK not only kept their flock together but broke the ranks of others.

It gave the allies a new confidence. As the poll illustrates, all those regional leaders seeking national glory enjoy more support in their states than the prime ministerial candidates of both the national parties. Mayawati with 24 per cent votes and Mulayam with 21 per cent are way ahead of both Advani (11) and Manmohan (7) in Uttar Pradesh. For the voters of Bihar, Lalu or Nitish Kumar would make a better prime minister than Advani or Manmohan.

With 120 seats, these two states will play the arbiters after the elections. In Gujarat, Modi is the choice of over 40 per cent of voters: Advani gets only 3 per cent. In Maharashtra, Pawar is the second most popular candidate for the top job. In the South though, Manmohan scores over the likes of Gowda, Jaya, Karunanidhi and Chandrababu Naidu. When Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and Atal Bihari Vajpayee were in power, there were no regional leaders who could match or come anywhere near their popularity.

This regional eruption in leadership also means the rise of so many little Indias. Post-election, India is all set to stage a thriller of mathematics and megalomania, of oversized prime ministerial ambitions and total repudiation of political morality.

Ramayana and Management

Duty has the regular definition of a moral or legal obligation, a responsibility, or a task or action that someone is required to perform. However, in the context of the story of Ramayana, duty, or dharma, has a more specific interpretation. Dharma is a set of laws or principles carried out with the purpose of creating social and religious order in the society. In this story of Ramayana, many times this duty conflicts with other values or personal desires, forcing characters to compare the choices of following the dharma or fulfilling another human value. Within the context of the relationship between Rama and Sita in the story "The Ramayana of Valmiki", duty is worth the sacrificing of love, because his duty is fulfilled to maintain order within the society and above all, order is needed for a society to run well.


For example, teamwork is an important principle in management, and Rama applied the same in search of Sita and was successful in the mission. Another one is in an organisation one must be treated affectionately which Rama did when he met Guhan and Vibhishana. Management principles such as encouraging lower category of employees, rewards for good work, self-motivation, decision-making, recognition, market survey, market exploitation, time management and the art of communication are aligned with instances in the epic. The book is a valuable one, giving new interpretation to Ramayana.

One of the most obvious incidences, in which use management principles is very clearly visible is that of Hanuman going to Lanka. His mission was to locate Sita there and give her Lord Ram’s message. When it became clear that Sita was in Lanka, Jamvant asked Hanuman to go there. He helped him in realising his true potential and motivated him to go in the enemy’s camp. Once mentally prepared for the job and reached there, first thing which Hanuman did was to completely analyse the situation in Lanka. He did a complete study about the Lankans, assessing their strengths and weaknesses, the various threats and opportunities which he had in the enemy’s camp.

This is what management is all about

· Ascertaining the goals, or job to be done.

· Getting mentally prepared for it.

· Having a right plan.

· Analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of the competitor and what threats and opportunities are there in the business.

This SWOT [strength, weakness, opportunities and threats] analysis is one of the most important aspects of modern day management. Moreover Jamvant motivating Hanuman is a classic example of a good Manager helping his personnel to realise their potential and acting accordingly.

The other example which I would like to talk about here is that of good and bad managers. A good manager is the one, who can get his work done even from the rivals. In Ramayana Sughriv has shown some of the best managerial characteristics. As a successful manager he had Ram to work accordingly and got his kingdom back from a brother who was far mightier than him.

· A good example of getting into strategic alliance with others to achieve your desired goal.

Using his managerial skills he even had Angad to work for him. Angad was the son of his brother whom he got killed by Ram. Had Sughriv been a bad manager then the same Angad would have proved to be his arch nemesis.

In the same Ramayana, again and again Ravana has shown the signs of a bad manager, and hence led to the demise of his kingdom. From the starting itself he ignored the suggestions of his managers and got his kingdom in the state of war with Ram. Moreover during a crisis, a company needs its best of the managers to bail it out of the same. A good manager listens to what his subordinates has to say and tries to keep them together especially when the organization needs them the most. But Ravana’s mismanagement was responsible for Vibhishan [one of the wisest manager he should have listened to] leaving him amidst a crisis.

It is said that businesses are run on relations. A manager who can nurture good relations with the employees, clients and anyone in whose contact the organization and the manager comes in, can do wonders for his company. Lord Ram was very good at it. He was the master of nurturing relations. His prowess at it was so great that while Ravana was lying wounded in the battle field and was about to die, he shared some important lessons which he had learnt in his life. The same Ravana, who at the same time had not responded to Lakshman, when he was sent to seek Ravana’s wisdom by Ram, was more than happy in sharing his knowledge with Ram.

All these examples and many more like this, tells us a great deal about management. For a manager there is lot to learn from our epics. Not just Ramayana, but Gita, Mahabharat and others as well have a lot to offer as management lessons.

IPL 2009 - Teams Preview

Owners: Ness Wadia & Preeti Zinta (Bombay Dyeing), Karan Paul (Apeejay Surendra Group) & Mohit Burman (Dabur)

Bought for: USD 76 million

Captain: Yuvraj Singh

Coach: Tom Moody

Highest Paid Player: Yuvraj Singh – USD 1,063,750

Icon Player: Yuvraj Singh

Celebrity Ambassador: Preeti Zinta

IPL 2008 Standing: Three

Last Year Record: Played – 15, Won –10, Lost – 5, Tie – 0, No Result -0

Watch Out For:

Kumar Sangakkara – The mental preparedness and form of the newly appointed Sri Lankan captain will be a decisive factor and will be the sign of things to come for Sri Lankan cricket after cruel terror experience in Pakistan. His positive approach and good show on field will surely boost the morale of other Sri Lankan cricketers.

Shaun Marsh – He was one of IPL’s find last season by topping the scoring charts with 614 runs in the tournament. Opening the batting for the Punjab team he impressed everyone with his superb strokeplay. However, he hasn’t yet cemented his place in the Australian team.

Dark Horse:

Yusuf Abdulla – This 26-year old South African pacer will make his IPL debut this season. He was drafted in as a replacement for injured Jerome Taylor. However, his local knowledge and experience of playing domestic T20 will help the side. In addition, Punjab playing six out of their 14 matches in Durban which is Abdulla’s home ground will be of a great advantage for team Mohali. In the absence of pace trio Sreesanth, Lee and Taylor, Abdulla is likely to play more games.

The Squad:

Yuvraj Singh (captain), Brett Lee, James Hopes, Shaun Marsh, Luke Pomersbach, Simon Katich, Burt Cockley (Australia), Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene (Sri Lanka), Ravi Bopara (England), Jerome Taylor (West Indies), Yusuf Abdulla (South Africa), Irfan Pathan, S Sreesanth, Ramesh Powar, VRV Singh, Piyush Chawla, Karan Goel, Uday Kaul, Wilkin Mota, Ajitesh Argal, Tanmay Srivastava, Sunny Sohal, Ryan Ninan, Yash Gandhi



Owners: Deccan Chronicle

Bought for: USD 107 million

Captain: Adam Gilchrist

Coach: Darren Lehman

Highest Paid Player: Andrew Symonds – USD 1.35 million

IPL 2008 Standing: Eight

Last Year Record: Played – 14, Won –2, Lost – 12, Tie – 0, No Result -0

Watch Out For:

Rohit Sharma – The Mumbai boy scored a match winning 50 in his debut against South Africa in the ICC World T20 match in 2007. He also was the lone consistent performer for Chargers last year. Rohit will be hoping for another good show at IPL to cement his place in the Indian team.

Andrew Symonds – Mr. Roy has plenty at stake in this year’s IPL. After he was pulled up for unruly behavior six times in last six months he has undergone rehabilitation program with Cricket Australia recently. A good showing on and off the field will help him reclaim the tainted international stature and also confirm his place in the team for T20 World Cup in England.

Dark Horse:

RP Singh – The left-arm fast bowler was out of the Indian team in the recent past due to injury. His form has not been good but he enjoys the confidence of the Indian team captain Dhoni. He was an integral part of the T20 World Cup winning team in 2007. Happy memories of South Africa should help him regain his confidence and form to get back his place in the national team.

The Squad:

Adam Gilchrist (Captain), Herschelle Gibbs(South Africa), Scott Styris (New Zealand), Andrew Symonds, Ryan Harris (Australia), Fidel Edwards, Dwayne Smith(West Indies), Chamara Silva, Chaminda Vaas, Nuwan Zoysa (Sri Lanka), VVS Laxman, Rohit Sharma, RP Singh, Pragyan Ojha, Venugopal Rao, Dwaraka Ravi Teja, Tirumalasetti Suman, Arjun Yadav, Doddapaneni Kalyankrishna, Paidikalva Vijay Kumar, Abhinav Kumar, Manvinder Bisla, Jaskaran Deep Singh, Harmeet Singh, Sarvesh Kumar, Haladhar Das, Syed Mohammad, Shoaib Ahmed



Owners: Shahrukh Khan, Juhi Chawla & Jai Mehta

Bought for: USD 75.09 million

Captain: Sourav Ganguly

Coach: John Buchanan

Highest Paid Player: Sourav Ganguly – USD 1,092,500

Icon Player: Sourav Ganguly

Celebrity Ambassador: Shahrukh Khan and Juhi Chawla

IPL 2008 Standing: Six

Last Year Record: Played – 14, Won –6, Lost – 7, Tie – 0, No Result -1

Watch Out For:

Sourav Ganguly – He is certainly not the fittest player and a vibrant fielder in the tournament but he is also not of the kind to take criticism lying down. Sourav Ganguly is a fighter and he has already started proving his critics wrong by scoring big in the warm-up matches for KKR. The Bengal Tiger is likely to roar big in IPL’s African Safari.

Ishant Sharma – The star bowler didn’t make an impressive performance in the first year after surprising all with an auction price of USD 950,000. Sharing the new ball, Ishant has grown up leaps and bounds since last IPL and he will be raring to lead KKR bowling attack.

Dark Horse:

Cheteshwar Pujara – He had a remarkable Ranji Trophy this season scoring 906 runs at an average of 71.45. His consistent performance in domestic matches earned him a nickname ‘the Wall’ with reference to Rahul Dravid. However a national call is eluding him for a while. This IPL could provide him the big break he is looking for.

The Squad:

Sourav Ganguly (captain), Chris Gayle (West Indies), Brendon McCullum (New Zealand), Brad Hodge, Ricky Ponting, David Hussey, Moises Henriques, Mark Cameron (Australia), Ajantha Mendis, Angelo Mathews (Sri Lanka), Mashrafe Mortaza (Bangaladesh), Debabrata Das, Laxmi Ratan Shukla, Wriddhiman Saha, Ashoke Dinda, Ajit Agarkar, Ishant Sharma, Murali Kartik, Iqbal Abdullah, Cheteshwar Pujara, Yashpal Singh, Aakash Chopra, Anureet Singh, Rajesh Verma, Aditya Dole, S Niyaz, Ishwar Chaudhury, Mohnish Parmar, ME Sanauth, Sheldon Jackson, Amit Das, Sanjib Sanyal, Avik Chowdhury, Sachin Rana, Sunny Singh, Gaurav Chhabra, Nataraj Behera, Shatrunjay Gaekwad, Shoaib Sheikh, Rohan Prem, Sanjay Bangar, Gnaneshwar Rao, Bhavik Thakkar, Kedar Jadhav, P Prashant, Prashant Parmeshwar, Kshemal Waingmankar, Murtaza Hussain, Sourav Sarkar, Arindam Ghosh, Ameya Shrikhande, Chetan Suryavanshi, Abhishek Banerjee, Anustup Mazumdar, Dhiran Salvi, Sanju Samson, Vinit Indulkar



Owners: Emerging Media Group & Shilpa Shetty

Bought for: USD 67 million

Captain & Coach: Shane Warne

Highest Paid Player: Mohammad Kaif –USD 675,000

Celebrity Ambassador: Shilpa Shetty

IPL 2008 Standing: One

Last Year Record: Played – 16, Won –13, Lost – 3, Tie – 0, No Result -0

Watch Out For:

Shane Warne – All eyes will be on this magician leg-spinner after he spurred his team of unknown players to a title win last year. Royals will be without Shoail Tanvir and Shane Watson – their top performers last season. Warne has a challenging task at hand to retain the crown.

Yusuf Pathan – He was the biggest gainer from the IPL first edition. His international career took off after IPL and he is now a permanent face in the Indian one-day and T20 teams. Today Yusuf Pathan is a household name in international circuit. All eyes will be on him with expectations of some brutal blows from his willow when he walks out to bat.

Dark Horse:

Shaun Tait– A familiar name but an unfamiliar recent past is the story of this Australian fast bowler. He has been out of the national team for more than a year due to injury and mental stress. IPL will provide him the stage to knock at the selector’s door again. Tait finished the second highest wicket taker with 23 wickets in 2007 World Cup.

The Squad:

Shane Warne (captain), Graeme Smith, Morne Morkel, Tyron Henderson (South Africa), Shane Watson, Robert Quiney, Shaun Tait, Shane Harwood, Lee Carlesdine (Australia), Dmitri Mascarenhas (England), Mohammad Kaif, Munaf Patel, Yusuf Pathan, Siddharth Trivedi, Swapnil Asnodkar, Niraj Patel, Mahesh Rawat, Anup Revandkar, Ravindra Jadeja, Dinesh Salunkhe, Naman Ojha, Siddharth Chitnis, Paras Dogra, Amit Singh, Ahad Malek, Raphi Vincent Gomes, Kamran Khan, Ashraf Makda, Paul Valhaty, Srideep Mangela, Mohammad Arif, Gajendra Singh, Atul Sharma, Pratmesh Salunkhe, Pushkarraj Chavan



Owner: Mukesh Ambani, Reliance Industries

Bought for: USD 111.9 million

Captain: Sachin Tendulkar

Coach: Praveen Amre

Highest Paid Player: Sachin Tendulkar – USD 1,121,250

Icon Player: Sachin Tendulkar

Celebrity Ambassador: Hrithik Roshan

IPL 2008 Standing: Five

Last Year Record: Played – 14, Won –7, Lost – 7, Tie – 0, No Result -0

Watch Out For:

Sanath Jayasuria – He is the oldest player in the circuit at 40 years of age, but his superiority with the bat has not gone down a bit even today. If anyone had seen his recent century against India this year, one can only admire his power hitting. T20 version will suit him the best and he can be a big match winner if he gets going.

Zaheer Khan – He is considered the number one bowler in world cricket today. Zaheer has excelled in reverse swing and consistently troubled the batsmen all over the world. He will play for his home side Mumbai after playing for Bangalore Royal Challengers last year.

Dark Horse:

Dhawal Kulkarni – A street smart cricketer, Kulkarni is primarily a medium pace bowler. His call to the national squad for the New Zealand tour would have done a world of confidence though he didn’t play any matches in the tour His dressing room experience will come in handy in South Africa.

The Squad:

Sachin Tendulkar (captain), Jean-Paul Duminy, Ryan McLaren (South Africa), Graham Napier (England), Lasith Malinga, Dilhara Fernando, Sanath Jayasuriya (Sri Lanka), Dwayne Bravo (West Indies), Mohammad Ashraful (Bangladesh), Kyle Mills (New Zealand), Luke Ronchi (Australia), Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh, Shikhar Dhawan, Abhishek Nayar, Dhawal Kulkarni, Jude Singh, Jaydev Shah, Raahil Shaikh, Yogesh Takawale, Pinal Shah, Ajinkya Rahane, Chetanya Nanda, Rohan Raje and Saurabh Tiwary



Owner: GMR Holdings

Bought for: USD 84 million

Captain: Virender Sehwag

Coach: Greg Sheppard

Highest Paid Player: Virender Sehwag – USD 833,750

Icon Player: Virender Sehwag

Celebrity Ambassador: Akshay Kumar

IPL 2008 Standing: Four

Last Year Record: Played – 15, Won –7, Lost – 7, Tie – 0, No Result -1

Watch Out For:

Virender Sehwag – His murderous form with the bat in the past one year should be a big boost for Delhi. Sehwag has been scoring at an average of above 60 during this period in international cricket and not surprisingly he was chosen Wisden Cricketer for the year 2008.

David Warner - Opening the batting for Australia he blasted 89 runs off 43 balls in his debut T20 match against South Africa. Tipped to be a big hitter IPL should be a tailor-made one for him. It will be interesting to see if he opens the batting along with skipper Sehwag, with Gambhir dropping one down.

Dark Horse:

Farveez Maharoof – A quality all-rounder Maharoof did a decent job with both the bat and the ball last year. His all-round skills will be of most importance to the team as they will not have Shaoib Malik in their side.

The Squad:

Virender Sehwag (captain), AB de Villiers (South Africa), Daniel Vettori (New Zealand), Owais Shah, Paul Collingwood (England), David Warner, Andrew McDonald, Dirk Nannes, Glenn McGrath (Australia), Farveez Maharoof, Tillakaratne Dilshan (Sri Lanka), Gautam Gambhir, Dinesh Karthik, Manoj Tiwary, Rajat Bhatia, Mithun Manhas, Avishkar Salvi, Ashish Nehra, Yo Mahesh, Pradeep Sangwan, Umesh Yadav, Yogesh Nagar, Tejaswi Yadav, Amit Mishra



Owner: N. Srinivasan, India Cements

Bought for: USD 91 million

Captain: Mahendra Singh Dhoni

Coach cum Player: Stephen Fleming

Highest Paid Player: Andrew Flintoff – USD 1.55 million

Celebrity Ambassador: Actor Vijay

IPL 2008 Standing: Two (Finalist)

Last Year Record: Played – 16, Won –9, Lost – 7, Tie – 0, No Result - 0

Watch Out For:

MS Dhoni – Dhoni has almost won everything as a captain starting with ICC World Twenty20, CB Series, home series against Australia and England and now the New Zealand series. He also took Chennai Super Kings to the final, losing out on the final ball of the match. Now he has also been named the captain of Wisden Test XI ahead of Graeme Smith. All eyes will again be on him to get a hint or two about his plans for the World Twenty20 the following month.

Andrew Flintoff – Chennai Super King’s latest and one of the costliest recruit Flintoff will add the balance to the team with his all-round ability. However, he will be available only for first two weeks of the tournament.

Dark Horse:

Subramaniam Badrinath – a household name in domestic cricket, the right-handed batsman feels that he is yet to get a fair run at the international level. True to his ability and reliability the 29-yr old will keep his hopes floating to find a place in the World Twenty20 in England.

The Squad:

MS Dhoni (captain), Muttiah Muralitharan, Thilan Thushara (Sri Lanka), Matthew Hayden, Michael Hussey, George Bailey (Australia), Albie Morkel, Makhaya Ntini (South Africa), Jacob Oram, Stephen Fleming (New Zealand), Andrew Flintoff (England), Parthiv Patel, Suresh Raina, S Badrinath, L Balaji, Murali Vijay, Joginder Sharma, Manpreet Singh Gony, Sudeep Tyagi, Viraj Kadbe, Shadab Jakati, R Ashwin, Abhinav Mukund, Anirudha Srikkanth, Sivaramakrishnan Vidyut, Palani Amarnath, KB Arun Karthik, Nepoleon Einstein, Suresh Kumar



Owner: Dr. Vijay Mallya, UB Group

Bought for: USD 111.6 million

Captain: Kevin Pietersen

Coach: Ray Jennings

Highest Paid Player: Kevin Pietersen – USD 1.55 million

Icon Player: Rahul Dravid

Celebrity Ambassadors: Deepika Padukone & Katrina Kaif

IPL 2008 Standing: Seven

Last Year Record: Played – 14, Won – 4, Lost – 10, Tie – 0, No Result – 0

Watch Out For:

Kevin Pietersen – a destructive batsman and arguably the team’s best bet for shortest format of the game. Being the highest paid player in the league he would like to do some justice to his price tag with match winning performances.

Robin Uthappa – the Bangalore boy is certain to play in all matches and will desperately try to push hard for a place in the Indian team for the World Twenty20 with some eye catching performances. The fact that the tournament is played in South Africa and that he was a part of the winning team two years back by itself will be a huge positive sign for this talented cricketer.

Dark Horse:

Praveen Kumar – he has performed well for India since CB series in 2008 however his weakness in batting and agility in the field might cost him his place in the T20 team. Can he put up a good all-round show? If he does he will be the likely replacement for Joginder Sharma.

The Squad:

Kevin Pietersen (Captain), Jacques Kallis, Mark Boucher, Dale Steyn, Dillon Du Preez, Roelof van der Merwe (South Africa), Cameron White, Nathan Bracken (Australia), Ross Taylor, Jesse Ryder (New Zealand), Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble, Robin Uthappa, Praveen Kumar, Virat Kohli, Wasim Jaffer, Manish Pandey, Sreevats Goswami, Suteesh R, Pankaj Singh, Vinay Kumar, Bhuvnesh Kumar, Karan Sharma, Saurav Bandekar, Tinu Yohanan, Bharat Chipli, B Akhil, Devraj Patil, J Arun Kumar, K P Appanna, Sunil Joshi, Gaurav Dhiman, Jitendra Patil, Udit Patel, Mithun A, Aravind S, Kedar Jadhav, Gautam C M, Raju Bhatkal, Rajesh Bishnoi, Ishank Jaggi and Rohit Sabharwal

Sub Prime Crisis - Origin and Impact

The origins of this crisis can be traced from late 1990s, when the dotcom bubble started. After the crash of the dotcom bubble in 2000s most of the countries including US were facing economic recession. Interest rates were low during these periods and lending standards were not good. This led to the rise of another bubble in 2001 in the form of real estate. The prices of the real estate property sky rocketed during this period. There was a rat-race for buying houses and people were taking loans as it was very cheaply and easily available. Lending agencies used innovative products to attract customers. During 2004 through 2006, concepts like teaser rates became popular in mortgages. These teaser rates (initial low interest rate) applied through varied time period, ranging from few months to couple of years depending on the mortgage creditworthiness. The thing which the borrowers forgot was that at the end of this freedom period the rates can rise rapidly, raising the minimum installment to be paid out of their capacity. During this period lenders were so confident that they qualified borrowers only by their ability to pay the teaser rates.

One may trace the sub-prime crisis to the securitization – conversion of home mortgages into bonds. Securitization had some negative implications on the mortgage standards. Since anyone can originate a loan and sell it to the Investments Banks, which package them and sell them as MBS, it lead to originators writing risky loans as they need not worry about the payback of loan. This problem was dealt by slicing MBS into tranches on the basis of the risk profile. These tranches which may have different maturity period were given ratings by credit rating agencies like S&P and Fitch. The most risky tranches were difficult to sell except for the hedge funds and some pension funds. These hedge funds were so eager to buy these securities that they didn’t care about the huge impending risk associated with these tranches and continued to invest in them.

With the collapse of the housing bubble in mid 2005 real property price declined so much that many owners holding became negative equity, mortgage debt became higher than the value of the property. During the housing bubble, many property owners used their property as collateral to raise money for consumer spending. With the crash of housing markets these lenders faced huge defaulter problem and were unable to recover their losses.

Aggravating the issue was the rising interest rates, coupled with the maturity of the freedom period of teaser rates, which increased the monthly payments. Many house owners felt incapable of meeting their financial liabilities and went bankrupt. Amongst the institutional players affected were the sub-prime lenders, banks, housing developers, and investors like hedge funds and pension funds.

Lok Sabha Elections 2009: Curtain Raiser

The greatest democratic exercise in this country, however, has been preceded by one of the most undemocratic and politically churlish phases. The period leading to the current election has seen political maturity and discourse plummet to record lows, dampening the very spirit of democracy and politics. And the culprits range across the political spectrum.

A few days back, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh referred to independent candidates as "spoilers", urging voters in Mumbai to "not encourage them because they cannot win". This statement is not only condescending and pompous but is downright undemocratic. And coming from the Prime Minister of the country, who is eyeing a second term, it also sets a dangerous precedent. If the Constitution of the country permits individuals, who choose not to or are unable contest on party tickets, to stand as independents, then nobody has a right to question their candidature.

By calling independents spoilers and questioning their winnability, Singh has not just reduced his stature as a politician but has also inadvertently disclosed his party's dismissive attitude towards those who choose to contest in their own right and not be affiliated to any political party. Dr Singh, independents are not "spoilers". Perhaps people who decide to lead the country, staking claim to the top post without having the courage to face the electorate are "spoilers" for this democracy.

The prime minister's unfortunate comment, however, was just one of the many off-colour remarks passed in the pre-election phase.
Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi launched an unwarranted, childish attack against the Congress, calling it "budhia" (old woman) and later "gudia" (doll). While Modi's secular credentials are more than just dubious, he has done well for himself by playing up his development plank, which has worked for him at the hustings as well. Mr Modi, by indulging in an unnecessary game of mindless semantics, you are not only reducing your election speeches to at best page 10 entertainment, but are also depriving Indian politics of meaningful debate.

Modi's phrases were so juvenile that they didn't even warrant a reaction. But Priyanka Gandhi decided to humour him and responded with an equally inane statement. "Do I look old to you...Does Sonia Gandhi (Congress president and her mother), Rahul Gandhi or I look old to you," she asked. Better sense prevailed a day later (but not before enough damage had been done to pre-election discourse) when she termed Modi's ‘gudia' comment "ridiculous" and said the focus should be on development issues.
BJP prime ministerial candidate L K Advani has been constantly attacking the Prime Minister as "weak" and Singh has responded with equally acrimonious and un-intellectual barbs.

Unfortunately, the level of political repartee in India has become so poor that it is not just unintelligent and far from being witty but also not entertaining.
Varun Gandhi's now-infamous speech is another example of meaningless, undemocratic rant in the run up to elections. But even worse than his venomous words was RJD chief Lalu Yadav's response, which invited the Election Commission's ire. The heated exchange between Lalu's wife Rabri Devi and JD (U) chief Nitish Kumar was made of the same irrelevant stuff.

Election 2009, which boasts of political assertion by several regional parties, a close contest between various blocs and participation by urbane, intellectual independents, has seen personal mud slinging and a mindless escalation of words, which have done irreparable damage to public discourse. Instead of engaging in constructive and sensible debate and discussion, India's political class has reduced itself to the lowest possible standard.

I do not know who will win the 2009 Lok Sabha election, but democracy, political maturity and public discourse will definitely emerge as the main losers.

Indian Premier League Vs Indian Political League

Last month this topic grabbed the headlines of all new channels more than anything else. Several more important issues were given a backseat. Why a cricket tournament is given much importance?. (the 5 letter magic word : MONEY)

The IPL Season 2 has been shifted to South Africa putting an end to a long debate between the UPA government and BCCI over organizing IPL during elections. But this has become a central point of argument for politicians. They have found it very good election masala. The decision of Lalit Modi might have disappointed the cricket fans of India, but somewhere down the line it can be said that the UPA government has taken the right step.

Now cricket-lovers are of the opinion that the government and BCCI can provide full security to the players and there should not be any if's and but's about security issues. But they should know that the if's and but's the results of past incidents. If nothing can be guaranteed then how could security be, that too to an event as large as IPL simultaneously with the elections.

The UPA might have broken the hearts of cricket-lovers but it has spared a thought for voters. And let's accept the fact that any given day elections are a much bigger issue than IPL. It might or might not affect the Congress party's performance in the forthcoming election but if something measurable happens during IPL and election then who is to be blamed.

Will all those cricket-lovers and so called politicians take the responsibility? Few days back Narendra Modi had said that it is a national shame that we could not organize IPL in India, but what will he say if something untoward happens to the players during IPL...national pride? .The matches cannot be held during any other time other than his as the availability of foreign players and international schedules clashes with IPL. And you cannot cancel the tournament for the year as everyone know the amount of money involved in this show and in this economic situation , all club owners would prefer something over nothing.

All said and done, it was a wise move to shift the Indian Premier League to South Africa as both IPL and elections can be conducted smoothly.

After all , the show(s) must go on.

Indian Black Money in Swiss Bank

LOOK WHERE OUR MONEY IS GOING????

Revelation on Swiss Bank Accounts "who can save India no one knows
where tax payer money is going "

Revelation on Swiss Bank Accounts

This is so shocking . . . . wish black money deposits was an Olympics event . . . . .
India would have won a gold medal hands down.

The second best
Russia has 4 times lesser deposit.US is not even there in the counting in top five !!

India has more money in Swiss banks than all the other countries combined !!!!

Recently,due to international pressure,Swiss govt. agreed to disclose the names of the account holders only if the respective govts formally asked for it. Indian govt. is not asking for the details . .. . no marks for guessing why ????

We need to start a movement to pressurise the govt.to do so !!This is perhaps the only way,and a golden opportunity, to expose the high and mighty and weed out corruption !!

Is India poor, who says?Ask Swiss banks With personal account deposit bank of $1500 billion in foreign reserve which have been misappropriated, an amount 13 times larger than the country's foreign debt,one needs to rethink if India is a poor country?.

DISHONEST INDUSTRIALISTS,scandalous politicians and corrupt IAS, IRS, IPS
officers have deposited in foreign banks in their illegal personal accounts
a sum of about $ 1500 billion,which have been misappropriated by them..

With this amount 45 crore poor people can get Rs 1,00,000 each.This huge amount
has been appropriated from the people of India by exploiting and betraying them.

Once this huge amount of black money & property comes back to India , the
entire foreign debt can be repaid in 24 hours.After paying the entire
foreign debt,we will have surplus amount,almost 12 times larger than the foreign debt.If this surplus amount is invested inearning interest,the amount of interest will be more than the annual budget of the Central government.

So even if all the taxes are abolished, then also the Central government will be able
to maintain the country very comfortably. .

Some 80,000 people travel to Switzerland every year,of whom 25,000 travel
very frequently. 'Obviously,these people won't be tourists.They must be travelling there for some other reason,'believes an official involved in tracking illegal money.
And,clearly, he isn't referring to the commerce ministry bureaucrats who've been flitting in and out of Geneva ever since the World Trade Organisation (WTO)
negotiations went into a tailspin!

Just read the following details and note how these dishonest industrialists,
scandalous politicians, corrupt officers,cricketers, film actors, illegal sex trade
and protected wildlife operators, to name just a few,sucked this country's wealth and prosperity. This may be the picture of deposits in Swiss banks only.
What about other international banks?

Black money in Swiss banks -
- Swiss Banking Association report, 2006 detailsbank deposits in the territory of Switzerland by nationals of following countries :

Top Five
1. India ---- $1,456 billion
2. Russia ---$ 470 billion
3. UK -------$390 billion
4. Ukraine - $100 billion
5. China -----$ 96 billion

Now do the maths

India with $1456 billion or $1.4 trillion has more money
in Swiss banks than rest of the world combined.

No wonder,everyone in India loots with impunity and without any fear.What is even more depressing in that this ill-gotten wealth of ours has been stashed
away abroad into secret bank accounts located
in some of the world's best
known tax havens.
And
to that extent the Indian economy
has been stripped of its wealth..

Ordinary Indians (now recently named as slumdogs, by proud Indian Film Stars)
may not be exactly aware of how such secret accounts operate and what are the rules and regulations that go on to govern such tax havens. However, one may well be aware of 'Swiss bank accounts,' the shorthand for murky dealings, secrecy and of course
pilferage from developing countries into rich developed ones.

In fact,some finance experts and economists believe tax havens to be a conspiracy of the western world against the poor countries. By allowing the proliferation of tax havens in the twentieth century, the western world explicitly encourages the movement of scarce capital from the developing countries to the rich..

In March 2005, the Tax Justice Network (TJN) published a research finding
demonstrating that $11.5 trillion of personal wealth was held offshore by rich individuals across the globe.The findings estimated that a large proportion of this wealth was managed from some 70 tax havens.

It is further estimated by experts that 1 % of the world's population holds more than 57 % of total global wealth,routing it invariably through these tax havens.

How much of this is from India is anybody's guess.What is to be noted here is that most of the wealth of Indians parked in these tax havens is illegitimate money acquired through corrupt means.

Naturally, the secrecy associated with the bank accounts in such places is
central to the issue, not their low tax rates as the term 'tax havens' suggests.
Remember Bofors and how India could not trace the ultimate beneficiary of those transactions because of the secrecy associated with these bank accounts?

IS THERE ANY ONE WHO CAN SAVE INDIA ?

Some Definitions - Will bring smile to your faces

School: A place where Father pays and Son plays.

Life Insurance: A contract that keeps you poor all your life so that you can die Rich.

Nurse: A person who wakes u up to give you sleeping pills.

Marriage: It's an agreement in which a man loses his bachelor degree and a woman gains her masters.

Tears: The hydraulic force by which masculine willpower is defeated by feminine waterpower.

Lecture: An art of transferring information from the notes of the Lecturer to the notes of the students without passing through 'the minds of either'

Conference: The confusion of one man multiplied by the number present.

Compromise: The art of dividing a cake in such a way that everybody believes he got the biggest piece.

Dictionary: A place where success comes before work.

Conference Room: A place where everybody talks, nobody listens and everybody disagrees later on.

Father: A banker provided by nature.

The Lahore Attack

Increasingly, Zardari resembles a man with a begging bowl in one hand, and a gun in the other pointed at his own head. The reality is that for decades, we have sacrificed the bulk of our resources to support a vast defence apparatus we could ill afford. The extremist menace that threatens to destroy us was largely a creation of our own military establishment. And now that we need the army to defend us, we find it is not up to the task.

Sri Lanka’s cricketers agreed to replace the Indian cricket team. The latter’s tour of Pakistan, arranged prior to the Mumbai carnage as one of the confidence building measures between India and Pakistan, was canceled for very obvious reasons. The Pakistani cricket establishment invited Sri Lanka instead and the great sporting nation that they are, they agreed to the tour albeit after some initial hiccups.

Pakistan however is a destination that many other cricketing countries have decided not to visit for the very present danger there. The hapless Sri Lankans have just found out what it costs to play in Pakistan. Details of exactly what happened have not been made available, but it has been established that the bus carrying the Sri Lankan cricket team was attacked by gunmen and seven players and a coach have been wounded.

Quite what it means to the South Asian countries is best left unsaid by me. Sri Lankans have enough to handle on their own turf with a decisive stage having been reached by their armed forces against the dreaded LTTE.

If Pakistan’s establishment plays true to their flip flop, first they will blame India for this mishap, after that, they will blame the LTTE, and eventually, they will accept that it was homegrown terrorists who were responsible and that they will be brought to book. After that, nothing more will be heard of the incident till the next attack takes place.

Quite how the Obama administration will make use of their ally and front line partner in the USA’s fight against terror is becoming murkier by the day. May be now, the Zardari government will hand over Lahore also to the Taliban to implement Sharia law as their own machinery does not seem to be functional.

Madeline Albright suggested that Pakistan is now the International Migraine. Perhaps now she will call it the International joke.

81st Academy Awards Winners .....

BEST ACTRESS - KATE WINSLET ( THE READER )


BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR - HEATH LEDGER (POSTHUMOUS ( THE DARK KNIGHT )


BEST FOREIGN FILM - DEPARTURES (JAPAN)


BEST ORIGINAL SONG - A.R.RAHMAN - JAI HO ( SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE )



BEST PICTURE - SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE


BEST ACTOR - SEAN PENN ( MILK )


BEST SOUND MIXING - RESUL POOKUTY - (SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE)


BEST DIRECTOR - DANNY BOYLE - ( SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE )


BEST VISUAL EFFECTS - THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON


BEST EDITOR - CHRIS DICKENS (SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE)


BEST ART DIRECTION - THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON


BEST MAKE-UP - THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON



BEST COSTUME DESIGN - THE DUCHESS


BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY - SIMON BEAUFOY (SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE)


BEST CINEMATOGRAPHER - ANTONY DOD MANTLE (SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE)


BEST ANIMATED FILM - WALL-E


BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY - DUSTIN LANCE BLACK - (MILK)


BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS - PENELOPE CRUZ (VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA)

Allah Rakkah Rahman - Elevating India to Oscars

A R Rahman proved once again why he is a composer who stands apart in the crowd. He was awarded two Oscar awards, for Best Original Score and Best Song in the movie. It was the song ‘Jai Ho’ which won the much acclaimed award and Rahman provided a glimpse of his brilliance as he performed it live at the Oscars. The other award which he received was for original score in the movie.

Rahman was in a dark black sherwani and said in his usual humble manner that the reason for his being there was him choosing love between love and hate in life! The entire team of Slumdog Millionaire was ecstatic after grabbing 8 Oscar awards thereby making it appear like a one sided affair!

AR Rahman with these awards has proved that he is musician and composer with that extra fizz that makes him a lone crusader in his league. For all of you who wish to have a look at his genius in this movie, you could enjoy the feet thumping music by watching the following videos of O Saya, Jai Ho, Ringa Ringa and more!