Dirty politics in India - is their a bottom to the pit?

This must be one of the most reluctant posts that I have written. It is almost a compulsive one.
Nearly 150 lives were lost in the train accident in Bengal. On one hand, I was  glad that there actually were helicopters carrying the injured to hospitals. Otherwise, one always wonders how in USA helicopters are always present to rescue people. So it can happen in India too, I said to myself.
Barely 48 hours later, I see the ministers divided in their opinion about how the accident happened. I am OK with people having different opinions, but can they hold their tongues for some time?
Mamta Banerjee has hit her all-time low by claiming that this was a result of 'political conspiracy'. How insensitive can one get? It is no surprise that this statement comes with WB civic body elections around the corner. The last time she did this was when she raked up the Singur controversy. Clearly, she was keeping the oncoming general elections in mind at that time. Now it is the civic body elections.
Mamta seems to have got her act together in terms of her moves in the arena of electoral politics. I just hope that the voters get their act right some day and hand out to her what she deserves. A resounding defeat.

Ill prepared for Commonwealth Games. So, what's new?

So with just over an year to go for the commonwealth games, Indian authorities finally wake up to the realities.
That we are ill-prepared. That the work for the stadiums etc. is going on (IF it is going on at all, that is) at a snail's pace and won't probably be completed in time.
Why did it take them so long to learn this lesson? That we Indians are ill-prepared, more often that not?
We were ill-prepared to counter 8 men who could simply land up on our shores, walk openly on our streets into our buildings and spray bullets randomly.
We were ill-prepared when hijackers could take control of our aircraft, land in Amritsar, take off again, land in Lahore, get refuelled, land in Dubai, take off again, and land in Kandahar.
We were ill-prepared when an aircraft could simply fly over our skies and drop arms in Purulia.
We were ill-prepared when hoodlums blinded with hatred could butcher thousands of Sikhs in Delhi in 1984.
We were ill-prepared when 13 bombs went off one after the other in our economic capital.
We were ill prepared when 7 bombs ripped apart our suburban trains.
We were ill-prepared when people could drive into our Paliament complex armed with automatic rifles.
More recently, we were ill prepared when a Chief Minister could coolly build a monument (of herself!!!) over ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY ACRES OF LAND IN THE MIDDLE OF ONE OF OUR STATE'S CAPITAL.

So, dear authorities, why are you so surprised? We have been ill prepared always. Even to counter our own internal detractors, leave alone outside forces. So why are you surprised, really?
OK, forget all these 'serious' matters. You are into sports, right? So let's consider that only.
Not too long ago, in 2009 in fact, your own Mr. Suresh Kalmadi did this very trick in Pune. With the Commonwealth Youth Games. The city of Pune needed better infrastructure, not the Games. We gullible residents of Pune beleived that development of roads etc. with the Games would eventually lead to the better infrastructure that we so badly needed.
The Games came. The roads were not ready. In fact, the planned Games village was also not ready. Shooters were practicing two days before the Ganes with construction workers still walking around the site in a frantic bid to complete the work.
The Commonwealth Youth Games came and went. And dear Mr. authorities, the road near my house (Paud road. One of the main arterial roads in the city - its unfortunate that it was not the one that led to the stadium!) is STILL being dug and re-dug and re-re-re-dug for THE PAST TWO YEARS !! It is exasperating, to say the least.
And where has Suresh Kalmadi been in all this? Invisible. We only saw him when he came for the blessed Games here.
So, dear authorities, don't worry. The Games in 2010 will happen. Suresh Kalmadi will make them happen. But soon after the Games, the stadium walls will develop cracks, velodromes will crumble, polygrass will come off, but it will make not an iota of difference to Suresh Kalmadi. He will continue to rule.

Indian Masala Mix

I have been intently reading 'Being Indian' by Pavan Verma. Absolutely brilliant book, but more about that later. I noticed something on the road on which I been traveling twice a day for the past five years. Never noticed this in all these years. Maybe Pavan Verma has sensitized me about some things uniquely Indian in a way that I now notice these. Firstly, note the temple and the wine shop coexisting peacefully as neighbours. Next, note the nice arrangement made for crossing the road. Now, now, wait. What was the purpose of putting up the metal railing on the road divider? To ostensibly prevent the pedestrians from crossing the road which has pretty fast traffic (by Pune standards definitely). But then, wont the railing be such a great inconvenience to devout partrons of the shop? They would then have to walk about 300 mt. more and go in a roundabout way to get to their favourite daily dose. Hence this very convenient arrangement. The drivers would never mind (they are used to pedestrians suddenly appearing out of nowhere in front of their windscreens anyway!), the pedestrians are of course more than happy, the shopkeeper is smiling, and I am sure the Gods have no objection too. Pavan Varma is absolutely right when he speaks about the ambivalence of Indians and our ability to 'muddle our way to a critical equilibrium'.
I would simply like to quote Pavan Varma here "A critical equilibrium combining several factors has to be in place for nations of the complexity and size of India to appraoch the take-off stage in the right direction for a journey that can be expected to be relatively stable." Well said.