Executive and Bureaucracy---Excerpts from memoirs of LK Advani

For someone who hails from a state like UP, keeping himself aloof from politics is not so easy………. so when former Deputy PM and PM in waiting came up with his memoirs, I simply could not resist myself from getting a copy for me….I am only halfway of this book “My Country, My Life” and my first reactions would be:
There is a great flow in the book. As you go through the sequence of events in the book, you seem to be reliving the Post Independence India in front of your eyes .How the political landscape has changed in the past 61 years is one thing which most people of my generation are unaware of, and this is what you’ll get from this book whether you subscribe to Advani’s views or not. The first few pages also talk of Sindh before partition which is unarguably the best part of whatever I have read till now in these memoirs. The city of Karachi, through Advani’s eyes will make you spellbound. I’m sure Sindhis will be able to appreciate this description more.
Midway, I stumbled upon a very interesting anecdote……….which I could not stop myself from sharing with you all. This was the time when Mr.Advani was Presiding Officer of Delhi Metropolitan Council.
He writes:
“Interacting with Adityanath Jha, who was Lt.Governor of Delhi during those days, was always a pleasure. Once I and Jha were discussing the question of minister-bureaucrat relations, Jha recounted me an interesting fable. This was about a centipede which became afflicted with arthiritis.Naturally, for the centipede, the ailment was extremely agonising. Her family, unable to see her mother suffer from such excruciating pain, advised her to consult the wise owl living on the nearby tree. The centipede went to wise owl who, after listening to her woes, gravely pronounced:’ your problem is that you have too many feet. The remedy is simple. Convert yourself into a crow, and the pain will be considerably mitigated.’ Mother centipede returned home very happy, and shared the wise owl’s prescription with her children. One of the little ones asked: ‘Mother, but how will you convert yourself into a crow?’ The centipede felt stumped.’ I forgot to ask him that,’ she said, and forthwith proceeded to the wise owl to get his guidance. Jha completed his narrative thus:’ The wise owl’s response was that of a typical minister: My function is to lay down policy; how to execute it is your job!’ “
This says so much for the shoddy state of affairs, red-tapism and inefficient implementation in Government Departments.

Let Aarushi RIP !!!!!!

A family's tragedy..
A nation shocked...
Clueless cops...
An insensitive media.......
A teenager mercilessly taken away by the cruel hands of death and nobody seems to be bothered for her.Media is only concerned for their TRPs, they start poking their noses anywhere they sniff extra marital affairs and people like Deepak chaurasia suddenly turn private detectives.Our great cops, when they don't find anything, shamelessly cast aspersions on a girl's character (Gosh!!!!! she was only 14 and that servant was 46).
I can't stop myself from asking these questions
1) Is this the responsibility of a human being towards other humans
2) Has morality vanished from society.
3) Aarushi has been lost somewhere and nobody cares for the ordeal she went through.What would that pretty girl be thinking if she watches these state of affairs from heaven
I only pray to GOD.....................let her Rest in Peace

A Tale of Two Cities

Shahrukh Khan once told in an interview”When I came to Mumbai I thought that one day I will conquer this city,but now when i look back and see I realise that I have been conquered by Mumbai.The city has made me its slave.”Every year hordes of people from all over the country come to their city of dreams..for their livelihood,for their survival..such is the cosmopolitan nature of this city…All these years I used to have this impression of Mumbai….but the recent events there have made me think if I am correct or not.
The second city in the tale is Namma Bengalooru…India’s Silicon Valley….which,15 years back was a pensioner’s paradise,the city of gardens,city of udupi restaurants,city of iyengar bakeries.The city now is a concrete jungle.Udupi restaurnats and Iyengar bakeries have given their way to CCDs and McD’s.The garden city is now called a PubHub.I can imagine how it feels to be a person who lived all his life here in bangalore.similar to mumbai hordes of engineers,IT Professionals come here every year with dreams in their eyes only to give its collapsing infrastructure a further beating..
Now,what has happened in mumbai,If I’m asked is a murder of democracy.Keeping a state on gunpoint by a failed politician to hog limelight can never be justified.If Mumbai is for Mumbaikars and delhi for delhites becomes the law of today,then the basics our nation are somewhere wrong.Infrastructure is a issue but after 25-30 years only you realise that infrastructure is collapsing and not to forget that the people whom you are chasing out of Mumbai are the very ppl who have been utilised by virtually every political party for their votebank politics.
What has come as a full blow in Mumbai is only an undercurrent in Bengalooru(by the grace of Almighty).I also live here and I love this place,its Culture,its tolerance.Mindless expansion(without having the infrastructure in place) has definitely taken away the soul from the city but IT sector cannot be blamed for every problem in the city.
It is for bengalooru to decide whether to go the Mumbai way or find some alternative…
Bouquets and Brickbats expected and awaited