Cities or Villages?

I returned yesterday from a 3 day trip to my native village. The visit was due for long time.However a several factors inlcluding incessant rains and procastination conspired to prevent me from undertaking the journey.But I was finally forced to visit my village,albeit not for the reason I would have wanted to .My paternal grandfather passed away recently and hence I had to go for his attend his last rites.However this is not an post-obituary about my grandfather.I prefer to keep such things personal.

I specifically intended to write this post to highlight the kind of backwardness still prevalent in our country and what we can do about it.My native place is a village called Ellapatti.It's situated 19kms from Dindigul,a district close to Madurai city,located in the southern state of Tamil Nadu.

We live in the 21st century and India is among the fastest growing economies in the world,second only to China.However if one were to visit this village,none of that would seem plausible.My recent visit to this village was the first since 2001 and yet there doesn't seem to be even an iota of change.The roads leading upto this village are non existent and patchy at best.

For all the talk about Mobile Telephony and telecom revolution in our country,telephones are still a luxury in this part of the country.There is only one phone booth and only one house that has its own connection(My uncle's house).As for cell phones they are of no use as there isnt even a single cellphone "tower" in this village.According to my uncle they will be inagurating one on January 13th as part of pongal celebrations.

The people here seem oblivious to happenings in other parts of our country.A dilapidated building represents the school with only one teacher for all students from class 1-5.

The only thing "normal" about this village is the abundance of TV sets.Of the 150 houses in this village atleast 100 have TV's equipped with cable facility.

I can go on and on and on about the lack of infrastructure in this village but that isn't going to simplify matters.However if this is the plight of villages in a state like Tamil Nadu which IMHO is among the reasonably developed states in our country,I dread to think about the plight of villages in BIMARU states like Bihar,Uttar Pradesh,Orissa,Jharkand,Chattisgarh etc.

This brings me to the question-Is our country really developing ?

Well I am not a perfect human being and I always have two opinions about most topics.

The socialist in me says -
"I guess it isn't.In all the hype and hoopla related to our new found wealth and prosperity I think we are leaving behind the Real India,the India which lives in our villages.The India which is yet to reap the fruits of globalisation and economic development.We have come to associate development with rising stock markets,shopping malls and liberal lifestyles which in reality affects a minuscle proportion of our country's population.Go to the villages.That's where India lives.These people need your help.Period"

However the capitalist in me says-
"To hell with villages and its inhabitants.Why should I be concerened with them?I live in Chennai,a "metropolitan" city.All I care about is the way the world percieves our country and I think the world percieves us by the performance of our stock market and the overall performance of our economy.We are clocking 8% growth.Our GDP is expanding,so is our share in world trade.The world respects us today.The government of today is wasting its time spending money on futile populist projects like Bharat Nirman and NREGS for which money is being culled from several key urban projects and grants that right now benifit our nation.The money allocated for these rural projects will never reach the poor and will instead find their into the pockets of corrupt state level politicians and bureaucrats.I would rather advise our govt to spend it on developing the infrastructure of our cities.This is where the future lies.No matter how developed our villages are in the future,more and more people will continue to migrate to the cities and hence this is where we have to concentrate.We cannot afford to ignore our cities.Period."

In the end I feel both the theories have their fallacies and the best course lies in adopting the middle path,one where there would be development of both our villages and our cities.As I departed from Ellapatti I questioned myself "Can India ever claim to have completely developed in the fullest sense until such villages continue to exist??And I realised that this question can only be answered by the next generation of this country which incidentally includes me as well as you.

 

Safety of women in India

We live in the 21st century.Globalisations is ubiquitious.India is rapidy developing.We are only behind China.We are supposedly modern.English magazines annually bring out sex surveys claiming open are more open about their sexual preferences today.People talk about the normality of pre marital sex in our society and ask everyone not to expect virgin girls as their wives.

And then there is Meerut.This is a city located in Uttar Pradesh and just 70kms from the national capital and yet couples aren't independent enough to openly talk in parks.They are beaten up and even those who have come to study in parks are thrased and asked to leave.And all this is not the work of goons or anti social elements but the work of police.The enforcers of law have also become the keepers of morality.And it before you think it was a male police officer who did all this correct yourself as it was a female cop who indulged in such barbarism.The behaviour of the cops had greater resemblance to the maniacal elements like VHP,Shiv Sena and Bajrang Dal than to people who are entrusted with the law and order of this country.The SP and the women police have been suspended but is this sufficient?

Now onto Bangalore.The bastion of globalisation,IT and BPO has of late been in the news for all the wrong reasons.From a dilapidated infrastructure to politicans and IT czars who have been bickering all year about the development or lack of it in Bangalore.And now to top it all the rape and murder of a BPO employee by a cab driver hired by the company.Where was the police now???Isn't it their duty to patrol at night??Can't they be a bit more vigourous in their patrolling.Patrolling won't wipe out such incidents but they would atleast reduce such occurances.Can't the government allocated funds for even such ventures?

Earlier it would used to be Delhi that was notorious for this infamy but now rape of women has become a common feature all over India.A day doesn't pass without news piece on a women raped in some part of the country.Rape in hospital,rape at a beach,rape in a mall.Most of these culprits are let off after serving a sentence but very rarely do they get hanged for their punishment.

Well there's a debate raging in our country about the futility of Capital punishment and discussing about it will require an entirely new post,but IMHO,people guilty of such henious crimes like rape deserve nothing less than Capital punishment.When they don't respect the dignity of others what justification do they have for their life??

In view of such atrocities on women what freedom of are the magazines talking about.Isn't this a law and order problem.Doesn't this come under the jurisdiction of the police?When women rule so many states and when the de facto Prime Minister of this country is woman can't we have greater measures to protect women?The media too has to play a role in highlighting these issues.Mere sensationalization of this issue by the media isn't acceptable.

Let there better greater safety for women in our society and we can then talk about pre marital sex and other voyeuristic pleasures of women.

 

The Vice Chancellor of Anna University-Academician or Dictator

I study at Anna University.It is considered to be a prestigious Engineering Institution in our country.Infact according to the India Today Colleges Survey this year it was the 8th best college in India only next to the IIT's.

Well it's a fact to be proud about and the varsity is indeed a remarkable and humungous institution that has 250 private colleges under it's purview.But the Varsity had been rated based on it's four constitutent colleges.

These four are
1.College of Engineering,Guindy
2.Madras Institute of Technology(MIT)
3.School of Architecture & Planning
4.A & C College of Technology

The above mentioned institutions are considered among the best in Chennai and every aspiring engineer would love to study in one of these institutions.

I am not aware about the other three institutions but as far as College of Engineering,Guindy(that's where I study)is concerned there are several chinks in its armour.Poor Infrastructure,dilapidated laboratories & classrooms,a largely lackadaisical and irresponsible faculty are just some of the problems.

Hence when there was a change in the Vice Chancellor this year many expected some changes.There was surprise and expectation.People were surpriseas he was the youngest person to be ever chosen as a VC.He was just 50,an alumuns of this College and had worked as a professor for several years at this very institution.What made it even more pleasing for me was the fact that he was from our Department,Mechanical Engineering.He had worked with our President A.P.J.Abdul Kalam and had given up a lucrative job in US to come back serve his country,atleast that's what he claimed.And well many expected him to revamp this institution partially if not completely.

Just after his swearing in,as with all elected representatives,he made tall claims,claims thated included a promise to "revolutionise education in Tamil Nadu" .Few weeks after his appointment he came over to our department and promised state of the art equipment,electronically equipped classrooms and blah blah.

Well it's been 6 months since his appointment and forget "state of the art equipment" he hasn't even replaced the malfunctioning fan in our classroom.

But what he has become notorious for are his decisions that are nothing short of authoritarianism.Sample these

Decision 1:-Students are required to wear only formal clothing.T-Shirts and Jeans are prohibited.

Explanation:-For boys it ws to make them accustomed to the demands of the industry.You can't wear jeans to your work place?Can you.I read in a magazine that some IT companies allow you to come in casuals on fridays.Ram this is for you.Please answer

For girls it was to prevent "distraction among boys".Hmmm what's that all about??

Decision 2:-Movies and other entertainment activites like singing and dancing are banned at cultural events

Explanation:-Movies corrupt one's mind.Dancing and Singing are waste of times.Children should concentrate on their studies.

Decision 3:-Students should not walk or sit in groups inside the campus.

Explanation:-Waste of time.Go read you fools!!!

Decision 4:-This is the most important of them all and the main purpose I am making this post.Cellphones are prohibited in classrooms and other academic areas.They had initially banned Camera Cellphones due to the DPS MMS scandal .But now the ban was on all cellphones.

Explanation:-Students waster their time sending SMS and don't pay attention to classes.

But the ban wasn't monitored and students hadn't stopped bringing cellphones.But all that changed on 14th december when classes resumed after semester holidays.Students were randomly picked up and had their pockets checked.Cellphones were seized and warnings were issued.

But weren't cellphones only banned inside classrooms.What about canteen and playground?Well it seems cellphones are banned everywhere.Well students realised that it was time to stop bringing their cellphones to classes and some even started realising the intention of this decision.

But things only seem to be getting worse.In an inexplicable move the varsity officials decided to raid hostels yesterday night and seized all cellphones.For god sakes what's the fault in having cell phones in your room.

You can justify the prohibition of cell phones inside classes but hostels???Are we supposed to be studying 24 hrs a day??What about students wanting to talk to their parents?Well everyone is supposed to use the booths inside the campus.The booths are few and far apart.What this has resulted in long queues outside the booths.May be this doesn't have anything to do with the cellphones at all.It could be our VC has been given a kickback by the telecom companies operating inside our Campus.

Now sample some of the explainations given by the Dean and VC.They claim that 4 years isn't sufficicent for B.E and that you need to keep studying all the time and that Cellphones serve as a distraction.For god sakes which age are you people living in??Merely prohibiting cellphones is not going to enthuse everybody to study hard.Studying and learning are intuitive and can't be enforced.Even before cellphones were banned substantial number of students used to go the library.I am pretty sure that the number even after this action would remain the same and won't change dramatically.Why don't you accept cellphone as a technology we have to live with.

What I do feel is that these are nothing more that politically intentioned activities.Our VC is believed to be a sychophant of PMK.PMK is a political party that is quite vociferous in it's opposition against anything modern.It has protested against the use of english,pre marital sex, and god knows what else.It's believed that our VC was appointed because of his links to the PMK leader and he may just be paying his debt back to the party by enforcing their orders.

Vice Chancellor is a post of great reputation and responsibilty.A person appointed to this office is expected to perform his duties with impeccably with great diligence and sincerity.Our VC seems to be doing that but he is focussing on the wrong front.It would be much more advisable if he diverted his attention to more pressing issues on the educational front and desisted himself from further tinkering with student freedom.

 

Please Sign

Well all of you may have heard about the case of Manjunath,the IIM Lucknow almuni who was shot dead recently in a petrol bunk.In an era where people join MBA courses to gain an entry to the world of high salaries and ostentatious lifestyle,Manjunath was an exception.He joined a PSU and aimed at eradicating the corruption prevalent in Petrol Bunks.The day he was shot dead he had gone to a bunk to investigate claims of adulteration but paid with his life for his honesty.

Now don't you think the killing of such a diligent and competent individual is a blot on this society.What about his family?Don't you think he and his family deserves justice,if so then please click on the link below

Click Here

If you are a law abiding individual who believes in the rule of law then please sign this petition and help a beraved family get justice.

 

Down with partisan media

It rained again in Chennai.Well it seems to have become common now.For a city which seemed destined to be become metropolitan dustbowl this must be welcome relief.But anything in excess is not dangerous and that's exactly the case with Chennai as well.The downpour occurred one too many times and the fickle infrastructure of this "metropolitan" city collapsed under the incessant deluge.

The city has so far recieved heavy rains in 4 phases.The first one lasted from 2 days starting from 25th oct and brought in nearly 35cm of rainfall.The second phase occurred between 3rd-6th November 2005.Things then seemed to have settled with life limping back to normal.However rains struck again just before the India-South Africa ODI and lasted till 25th November.And then came Cyclone Baaz.It was supposed to strike on 30th November.But like everything Indian that never occurs on time the cyclone too seemed stationary and it seemed that it would never reach the Tamil Nadu coast.Well everyone was proved wrong and it did hit Chennai and with an intensity that wouldn't be forgotten that easily.Chennai recieved 33 cms in 9 hrs,the same 33 cms that had taken 27 hrs the first time.

If it was north Chennai that bore the brunt the first time around,it was the southern parts of Chennai that got submerged this time.

But the primary reason I am posting this message was to express my consternation at the partisan and biased attitude shown by the vernacular electronic media of this state.It is well known the prominent channels in this state are nothing but fronts for the two main political parties of this state.While Jaya TV is owned by the Jayalalitha run AIDMK,the Sun TV is a part of the conglomerate own by the Maran family,related to Karunanithi.

Ever since their inception both these channels have at all instances tried to villify each other at all costs.And this time it was no different.Let's first take the Sun Tv.According to the Sun Tv the entire Chennai city resembles an island.Well that may partially be true but not the complete truth.According to Sun TV some of the areas affected include Madipakkam,Kotturpuram,Adyar,Velachary,Tambaram,KK Nagar,Nesapakam,Ashok Nagar,Ramapuram,Injampakkam etc.Of these I can talk about KK Nagar,Ashok Nagar,Nesapakkam and Ramapuram.I stay in Ramapuram and I can proudly say that I stay in one of the most efficient rain management zones in Chennai.We don't have any drainage facility and yet the water gets dispersed.Now Ramapuram is large and there may be areas that may be flooded.But that certainly doesn't mean the entire area is flooded and thats exactly what Sun Tv claimed and also doesn't forget to mention that the state administration hasn't taken any action and is making a mess of the entire situation..What this resulted in is a "flood" of concerned caller enquiring whether everything was fine..As for KK Nagar,Ashok Nagar and Nesapakkam it's similar case of selective flooding.But if one watches Sun then all these areas are submerged under water.

Now what did the channel achieve in doing so?Nothing.Absolutely nothing.It is condemnable and shameful that an news channel that is supposed to play the role of a constructive critic makes us of such natural calamities to gain political mileage.If they are that really concerned about it citizens then it would be appreciable if it gathered funds and distributed it among the needy.

Now onto the "state run channel" Jaya Tv.I will concede that in such situations it is impossible to do absolutely everything for everyone and as far as I know the state government has done as much as it's logistics permitted.But as with all state run operations there will always be left to be desired and they should know to accept that.But no ,Jaya Tv will never do that.According to them everything is in absolute control.Despite the odds the government has done everything it can and the situation is completely under control which is nothing but blasphemy,humbug.Not only here anywhere and any operation run the government will always have its deficiences and the government needs to accept that

Thus this tendency of the Indian media to generalise things based on selective findings,right from the sex surverys to the flood situation is disgraceful and shameful.For a nation where the media enjoys freedom unseen in many countries it would be advisable if the media showed a bit of maturity in describing the affairs of the state