Tackling Chipak!

India-China face-off worsens over ADB loan for Arunachal Pradesh
Pak claims Hafiz Saeed is a 'free man'

Clearly India finds itself in an unenviable position as it becomes increasingly clear that no cooperation can be expected from her two main neighbours. So is there a way out? There are no easy answers, but there may be worthwhile options to to explore...

Lets begin with China. First a quick snapshot of China's pesky behaviour. China has successfully blocked a 2.9 billion $ loan at the Asian Development Bank meant for infrastructural development in Arunachal Pradesh. It voiced maniacal protests about our prime minister's visit to the state. And stapled Chinese visas to passports of Indians travelling from J&K, in an attempt to underline its disputed status. Chinese incursions in Ladakh left behind scores of 'red' rocks with China written over them. Its probably now time to pay back in kind - the proverbial tit for tat.

First we must begin with our biggest asset in Indo-China relations - the Dalai Lama. Hail his contribution and efforts in attempting a peaceful resolution of Tibet, even in the face of severe Chinese repression. STOP scuttling protests by Tibetans in India. Rather, stealthily begin feeding them. And for good measure, give them wide publicity. Start stapling Indian visas to Tibetans. Rachet up rhetoric on Xinjiang and the human rights violations of Uighurs.

That should temper the Chinese a bit and lead them to think twice before they take us for granted. In the meantime continue the diplomatic offensive by lodging formal protests and raking up the issue in diplomatic forums. Payback!

And now, for Pakistan. No summary or recounting required here! When we say terrorism, US invariably comes into the picture. The only way a country can truly fight its war on terror is if that country is the US - and that is the harsh reality of today. India can do nothing till the US decides something needs to be done. So can we make that happen?

Well yes...the suggestion might sound atrocious...and this is probably the best time to do it. War mongering! (of course nobody wants a war)

Pakistan has launched a fresh offensive against the Taliban in the traditionally lawless province of Waziristan. And the US is impressed with Pakistan's new found commitment to fighting the Taliban. All we need to do is to change Pakistan's threat perception of India. And that will force it to pull out troops from Waziristan, badly denting the US's war on terror. And that might sufficiently capture the US's attention to Pakistan's duplicity in calling a set of people terrorists and another, freedom fighters. It is important for the world to know that India has been patient for too long and will now take no more at this juncture. Only then will it lead the US to pressure Pakistan to act against terror outfits targetting India.

Some might say that we did the same in 2001 after the parliament attack with little consequence. But the situation is different now. Then the focus was on Afghanistan. Now it is Pakistan. The US has a lot to lose today in case of a similar military deployment and standoff. It might just give us the breakthrough we have been waiting for so long.

We are and will always be a very responsible nation.
But it's time for audacious thoughts.
And it's time for confident actions.
Then the world will indeed stop and take notice.

SARKAR RAJ

Four questions – to the man himself, and all other people who sympathise, empathise and root for this lone warrior in today's mean mean world.

1. What are you going to do when the other nerve centres of the India story – Bangalore, Delhi and Hyderabad – with indelible contributions from the Marathi Manoos - begin throwing them out of their respective cities?

2. Going by your campaigns, you would be dead against outsourcing – so what are you planning to do, to support the millions of Indians (which would include lakhs of Maharashtrians as well) who are going to be thrown out of the US, since, quite obviously, we are not sons of their soil.

3. As the old adage goes, charity begins at home. So, if Bombay should become Mumbai, then Thakre should never have become Thackeray.

4. And yes, we have also heard that your son opted for German instead of Marathi….[Read More]

P.S:1. I hate the way throwing out sounds – the usage is only in keeping with what has been happening in the past few days.

2. I am a South Indian. It's high time we began identifying ourselves as Indians first.

3. Crimes sadly figure in tthe Key Achievements portion of a politician's resume even today. I was overjoyed when Raj on founding the MNS began speaking about development and nothing else. I was actually wondering that he would herald a new era in politics that would bring about a change in the ethos of the Indian Politician.

4. Today's state of affairs say a whole lot about the maturity (or should I say gullibility) of the Indian Voter. We are probably as much responsible for what's happening.

Read more >> Options >>

If You Ever Read This

To all members of organizations claiming to wage the Holy War:

Who do you think you are waging this war against? Against a girl waiting for her school bus thinking about her kid brother whom she lost to you? Against an unborn child that is yet to see this beautiful world? Against a vegetable vendor, who as the sole breadwinner was taking care of his ailing mother?

Who do you think you are waging this war against? Are these the people who were coming in the way of your goals? Looking at the 'glorious' profile of the victims of your war, you would be so ashamed…

Reason enough for you to be in hiding…never can you muster the courage to come face to face. Courage comes with truth. Courage comes with conviction. And you know in your heart of hearts, deep within, that you are wrong. And what you are doing is wrong.

A life spent yearning for your loved ones…a life spent looking over the shoulder every moment…a life spent under covers…at the end of it all…was it worth it? Of course you can continue to do as you wish – but we refuse to be deterred now.

Because you cannot oppress the people who are not afraid anymore.
Because you cannot humiliate the people who feel pride.
Because you cannot uneducate the people who have learned to read.
We have seen the future – and the future is ours.

Womens Liberation - Liberated For Ever...

In Punjab, 300 girls survive for every 1000 boys that survive among the rich upper class elite.

Remember that Sushant Singh starrer - "Mathrubhumi - A Land Without Women..."

It seems just round the corner, doesnt it?

Lost in the Celestial Soup

Ever thought big? In the literal sense? And REAL big at that?
Ever thought about the universe?

Well I have, and every time I think, it bowls me over completely, and leaves me awestruck, dumbstruck, wide eyed (and whatever other adjectives you can pool in), when I think of those ethereal mysteries starry eyed sky gazers try to unravel.

Try and visualise. Trust me, its going to be a fantastic voyage!

The universe is said to be expanding, and at a crazy rate. All matter existing is essentially a part of our universe. Then somebody please enlighten me, what in goddamn hell is the universe expanding into?

And again, before the Big Bang, the universe was a singularity - a cosmic dot, with infinite density. By god, please tell me what was all around it, that the universe is now blissfully punching into, in its effort, conquer the entire, ahem, errr, ummmm Universe? No, thats wrong; so what exactly is it conquering then?

Every now and then, we have these new cheeky galaxies popping up in every nook and corner of this universe. And some sane people had told me in school that energy and matter in this universe remains constant.

And now for the question of the cosmos. Does God play dice? The good man Frank Drake wants us to believe his Equation of Life which claims that statistically, Earth is the only planet that can harbour life. (Dear God, my apologies for the observation but that really is a MASSIVE waste of resources out there then!)

Who says you cant go back in time. Every day when you look at the star lit sky, you travel back in time many many years. A peep at the Andromeda galaxy, and you were probably looking at a prehistoric era so back in time that humans were a long time away in the future. The farther you peep into the universe, the more you get back in time.

Isn't it fascinating?

One of my deepest regrets would be having to go to my grave without answers to these cosmic questions; questions to which the human race may never ever have answers to.

Lets hope that mankind would be advanced enough to dig for the answers. Lets hope that we would still have Earth as a home at that time.

If not, God, please please roll that die again!

Wheels Of Doom

TATA is all set to create history (and a whole new market) by introducing Mint (that is what it was originally called), the 1 lakh car in the upcoming edition oh the Delhi Auto Expo in January 2008. Must I admit, the prospect of owning a car, and that too at such a low cost, is too enticing. While the features and standards adopted for this car are doggedly kept under wraps, it stands a very good chance to forever alter the dynamics of the Indian auto industry.

And that is what terrifies me…

I’m scared to think of the prospects when the Mint, as cool as ever, is lapped up in thousands, or maybe even lakhs, by urban and semi urban (and a lot of rural) India alike. It is natural to expect that several of these new age car owners will chuck hanging out of local trains and buses to opt for a comfortable drive to work on our already log-jammed roads.

What this will do to the environment could well be what nightmares are made of…

Imagine having thousands and thousands of more cars on the already choked roads of Indian cities. Imagine what it would do to the ambient air quality… Imagine what it will do to Carbon Dioxide emissions…People might one day need oxygen masks to step outside their homes.

The prospects look bleak, and they are not entirely impossible.

We need to prevent that. How will we? Or more importantly, will we? Time is running out…

The wheels of doom are going to begin rolling very soon…

P.S: Neeraj – it’s nothing but your status based snobbery that TATA is going to cater to. Guys, check out ‘Batti Bandh’ his amazing post on the social aspects of global warming @ Mind Chow.

Realty Bites

The real estate is doing very good with the property prices going over the roof. Innumerable infrastructure projects and big ticket efforts like the New Bombay Airport, SEZs, Trans Harbour Sea Link, The Metro, and all such other projects promise to change the face of the city.

Take pride in the fact that soon you will be in a city with global aspirations that will boast of infrastructure par excellence and a very international experience.

I now enjoy higher incomes, better lifestyles and all the other things the middle class now considers a routine and mundane part of their life.

I am happy. But can I rejoice? NO.

Around ten years ago, I could have afforded a house in Bombay City.
Now no longer.
Around two years ago, I could have afforded a house in New Bombay.
Now no longer.
I am progressively being edged out of the city that I call my home.

New Bombay was conceptualized as a means of providing affordable mass housing to people. Somewehre down the lane, that objective seems to have been (conveniently) forgotten. CIDCO, is now on a money making spree and is amongst the main entities responsible for the property prices sky rocketing there.

Every square inch of land is being auctioned off. If CIDCO has 500 plots to sell, it creates some sort of an artificial scarcity by only releasing say 5 plots at a time. We have innumerable builders who fight amongst themselves to grab the prized plots. The direct result of this bidding is that the plot under question gets grossly overvalued at the bidding stage itself. CIDCO is now doing to New Bombay realty exactly the opposite of what it was meant to do.

And now the builders pitch in to earn their profit over and above the over valued realty rates. The buyer is made to pay for ‘super built up area’ - area that is not even owned by her (mind you, this is everywhere now). [Since my emphasis in this post is about affordability of housing, I had better not deviate – the builder angle of the realty industry needs due attention – maybe in the next post!]

Is the government doing anything at all to control the situation?

The Housing Policy of the GoM drafted last year is yet to take shape. It does heavily emphasize on integrated townships to provide affordable housing to mainly the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) and the Lower Income Group (LIG). Building affordable housing is to be incentivised by providing the developers with additional FSI and other incentives.

The in the pipeline ‘Aam Aadmi Awas’ of the GoI envisages to provide 45 million housing units to the LIG/EWS - all at just a lakh each. 270 sq feet dwellings with in house sanitation facilities and other recreational facilities to complement the settlements will surely provide at least a reasonably better standard of living. Interest subsidies are planned to try and take care of the funding aspect as well. Which means the LIG does have some concrete proposals to look up in anticipation to.

Now what about a normal middle class or a MIG (Middle Income Group) family which is too rich to fall into the LIG and too poor to fall in the UIG (Upper Income Group) to be able to afford a house in Bombay (well I specify Bombay because I reside here – the sorry state of affairs hold true for all major Indian cities)? It is the middle class which is the worst hit and is being marginalised with every passing day. The LIG, being the vote bank, (and honestly deserving the governments due attention too, at least in this case) is always considered by the Government in its policy making. The UIG does not need any pampering anyways.

Gets stuck, the middle class.
Do they need affordable housing? Yes.
Do they have affordable options? No.
Are they affluent enough in the government’s eyes? Yes.
Are they affluent enough to get themselves a place to call home? No.

I feel it is high time that the state played its role in making life a little easier for the MIG. The MIG wouldn’t need much – coz they are halfway there already. Instead of having a rigid cut off for interest subsidies, the government can have some sort of an inverse proportionality between the net income of the family and the interest subsidy they are eligible for. They can incentivise banks that hand out step up loans and thus help the MIG in buying better houses. Softening prepayment laws just in case they are able to cough up the finances required to pay off their dues to the bank, so that net outflow is restricted.

A few thoughts that require the governments’ action for me to find my dream home. Till then, it might just remain as my dream of a home…