A thoroughly wet day. Kochi has been afloat ever since the monsoons have begun. The city's roads are thankfully free of potholes and therefore, driving on them is okay. I intend going through a few incidents that have grabbed the headlines in the media coupled with my experiences and so, here I go:-
(a) The Champions Trophy.
The Indian team are the champions in the 50 over game by winning the cup convincingly. I'm both
happy and sad at the outcome. Paradoxical, you might say but please allow me to clarify. I'm happy
that the team had put up excellent performances in each of its matches and had defeated all the teams
in its quest for the trophy and that too, convincingly - so, they deserved the win.
But I'm sad because there's nothing that's right in the way we manage our cricket and in the manner in
which we play. The recent muck that had come up needs to be sorted out and the Augean stables need
to be cleaned up once for all. I'm apprehensive about the fact that there would be a tendency to sweep
the unpleasantness under the carpet and show that everything is fine against the Champions trophy win.
It should not happen and on a very personal note, Dhoni, my current cricketing hero, who's under a
cloud needs to clear the air!
(b) The ruckus in the Kerala Assembly.
I saw a new acronym for Kerala in one of the newspapers of the day - 'Fraud's own country'. Sounds
apt with the number of scams and scandals tumbling out of the cupboard, involving top politicians. The
opposition has been clamouring for the chief minister's head saying that his secretariat has been the
focal point of corruption. The members of his personal staff have not acquitted themselves well by their
actions - corroborated by telephone conversations that they've had with people of questionable integrity
- have not contributed to the transparency that the CM was always harping on!
The personal staff of the ministers are known to be high handed, haughty and simply obnoxious. They
often usurp the powers of their bosses and behave like extra-constitutional authorities. God forbid, if
anyone of them feels slighted - most of them, small people with big egos - can ensure that you do not
get the audience of the 'worthy' citing some reason or the other. As has come out in the recent brouhaha
many of them do not even have the mandatory qualifications as the stipulations are nebulous and
unclear.
The continuing disruptions have ensured that no serious legislation would take place. With the rains
creating havoc, a combined action for tackling the situation has not been thought about as the channel
of communications has snapped between the treasury benches and the opposition. And the people
of Kerala continue to suffer!
(c) A disaster of massive proportions.
The havoc caused by the rains in Uttarakhand continue to bring about miseries to the tens of
thousands of pilgrims, stranded at various places on the hills. Rescue by choppers has its limitations
but the Army, the Air Force and the paramilitary forces are doing a commendable job despite the
tremendous odds that they're working against. And to top it all, it's absolutely shameful to see the
political parties trying to score brownie points!
Tailpiece.
I think I can go on and on and hence, I must desist leaving the following questions to ponder:-
(a) Whatever has happened to our 'National Disaster Management' team? They seem to be loud
by their silence!
(b) Why don't our leaders understand that it's good governance that we, the ordinary citizens,
are looking for? The people who indulge in petty things or are habitual wrongdoers will stew
in their own juice at the appropriate time.
(c) Why do crooks and fixers form an integral part of their working environment? Don't the leaders
want the right people to be their eyes and ears to get the correct feedback on what they do?
(a) The Champions Trophy.
The Indian team are the champions in the 50 over game by winning the cup convincingly. I'm both
happy and sad at the outcome. Paradoxical, you might say but please allow me to clarify. I'm happy
that the team had put up excellent performances in each of its matches and had defeated all the teams
in its quest for the trophy and that too, convincingly - so, they deserved the win.
But I'm sad because there's nothing that's right in the way we manage our cricket and in the manner in
which we play. The recent muck that had come up needs to be sorted out and the Augean stables need
to be cleaned up once for all. I'm apprehensive about the fact that there would be a tendency to sweep
the unpleasantness under the carpet and show that everything is fine against the Champions trophy win.
It should not happen and on a very personal note, Dhoni, my current cricketing hero, who's under a
cloud needs to clear the air!
(b) The ruckus in the Kerala Assembly.
I saw a new acronym for Kerala in one of the newspapers of the day - 'Fraud's own country'. Sounds
apt with the number of scams and scandals tumbling out of the cupboard, involving top politicians. The
opposition has been clamouring for the chief minister's head saying that his secretariat has been the
focal point of corruption. The members of his personal staff have not acquitted themselves well by their
actions - corroborated by telephone conversations that they've had with people of questionable integrity
- have not contributed to the transparency that the CM was always harping on!
The personal staff of the ministers are known to be high handed, haughty and simply obnoxious. They
often usurp the powers of their bosses and behave like extra-constitutional authorities. God forbid, if
anyone of them feels slighted - most of them, small people with big egos - can ensure that you do not
get the audience of the 'worthy' citing some reason or the other. As has come out in the recent brouhaha
many of them do not even have the mandatory qualifications as the stipulations are nebulous and
unclear.
The continuing disruptions have ensured that no serious legislation would take place. With the rains
creating havoc, a combined action for tackling the situation has not been thought about as the channel
of communications has snapped between the treasury benches and the opposition. And the people
of Kerala continue to suffer!
(c) A disaster of massive proportions.
The havoc caused by the rains in Uttarakhand continue to bring about miseries to the tens of
thousands of pilgrims, stranded at various places on the hills. Rescue by choppers has its limitations
but the Army, the Air Force and the paramilitary forces are doing a commendable job despite the
tremendous odds that they're working against. And to top it all, it's absolutely shameful to see the
political parties trying to score brownie points!
Tailpiece.
I think I can go on and on and hence, I must desist leaving the following questions to ponder:-
(a) Whatever has happened to our 'National Disaster Management' team? They seem to be loud
by their silence!
(b) Why don't our leaders understand that it's good governance that we, the ordinary citizens,
are looking for? The people who indulge in petty things or are habitual wrongdoers will stew
in their own juice at the appropriate time.
(c) Why do crooks and fixers form an integral part of their working environment? Don't the leaders
want the right people to be their eyes and ears to get the correct feedback on what they do?
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