April 12, 2009

Of this and that

Exciting times are coming ahead of us over the next couple of months. Elections 09 and IPL 2.0! Most news these days surrounds the two mega-events. Rightly so. As they say, it cannot get bigger than this perhaps.

Elections 2009 is one of the most closely watched national elections ever. After 26/11, the young, restless, forward-looking India wants change. It is so very evident with the kind of pro-voting stunts that we are witnessing for few weeks now. In Mumbai, going by a recent news report, the voter registrations have touched an all-time high. If not anything, it means there is a desire to see things change for the better. Also, we are seeing an interesting mix of candidates venturing out to stand in the polls. Shashi Tharoor, Capt. Gopinath, Mallika Sarabhai, Meera Sanyal to name a few. Fresh minds, thoughts and ideas are surely welcome. Will they be able to win their respective seats? Not sure. Tharoor might, for he is fighting on a Congress seat. Mallika is up against L K Advani! Brave woman!! Meera Sanyal in the plush South Mumbai against the likes of Deora. Hmm.. tough. On a related note, here's a good piece on the independent candidatures. I quite agree with his thoughts.

Wishing them all the best any way. And kudos for standing up for what is right. True inspirations in many ways.

So who looks good to win the elections? Purely going by the media bytes, UPA. One major factor that could hurt them - anti-incumbency. Can NDA clinch it? Probably. It is not a very unrealistic scenario. Can a widely spoken-about Third-front emerge? Difficult. Very difficult. Whom do I root for? I prefer to choose from the lesser of all evils and that would be UPA.

Just one thought to close on. When we pick stocks to invest in, we consider the management of the company as an extremely important criteria to base our decision on. After all, they run the company in which I invest. Same way, the leaders are extremely crucial, at least the ones who would hold the key portfolios like finance, defence, home, law, trade and ofcourse the prime ministership. We must know the political parties' nominees for each of these portfolios to base our decision on. That way, I know whom am I choosing to be the Finance Minister, Defence Minister, etc. What say?

I cannot wait much for IPL 2.0 to start. There was a lot of noise about shifting it to SA. I care two hoots about it. It does not matter where it is held. What matters is it is being held against all odds. 8 exciting teams. Lively matches. Super show in waiting. Who will win? Can't say. My heart is with Mumbai Indians for the captain being a God named SRT, literally. My mind says Delhi. On form, that is. Rest all depends on the day. Too difficult to pick a winner here. Team with key South African players might have a lot of advantage. Again, in form Duminy is with Mumbai Indians. :)

I am extremely annoyed with the amount of controversies that gets raked up relating to both the two events, especially elections. Most of it is unnecessary gibberish. A lot of it is due to ultra-stupid media reporting. I am sure there are many politicians saying great things at many places and positive speeches and remarks being made in this big country. Yet, what we get is the he-throwed-dirt-on-him and shoe stories. It makes one think whether we are so rotten deep inside! I'm sure we are not but that is not what comes out in the light. Sad.

Ironically, we do not have a lot of movie releases lined up for the coming weeks. I'm not complaining. Too many choices are always confusing.

3 comments:

Nilima ;) said...

This was one of the mails forwarded by one of my friend, so I would like to share this short story as a comment:

Exercise your vote thoughtfully...
While walking down the street one day a "INDIAN man" is tragically hit by a truck and dies.

His soul arrives in heaven and is met by Gods angel at the entrance.

'Welcome to heaven,' says the Angel. 'Before you settle in, it seems there is a problem. We seldom see a Good Man around these parts, you see, so we're not sure what to do with you.'

'No problem, just let me in,' says the man.

'Well, I'd like to, but I have orders from higher up. What we'll do is have you spend one day in hell and one in heaven. Then you can choose where to spend eternity..'

'Really, I've made up my mind. I want to be in heaven,' says the Man.

'I'm sorry, but we have our rules.'

And with that, the Angel escorts him to the elevator and he goes down, down, down to hell. The doors open and he finds himself in the middle of a green golf course. In the distance is a clubhouse and standing in front of it are some of his friends and other politicians who had dies after amassing Indias wealth.

Everyone is very happy and in evening dress. They run to greet him, Shake his hand, and reminisce about the good times they had, while getting Rich at the expense of the people.

They play a friendly game of golf and then dine on lobster, caviar and champagne.

Also present is the devil, who really is a very friendly guy who has a good time dancing and telling jokes. They are having such a good time that before he realizes it, it is time to go.

Everyone gives him a hearty farewell and waves while the elevator rises....

The elevator goes up, up, up and the door reopens on heaven where the Angel is waiting for him.

'Now it's time to visit heaven.'

So, 24 hours pass with the Man joining a group of contented souls moving from cloud to cloud, playing the harp and singing. They have a good time and, before he realizes it, the 24 hours have gone by and the Angel returns.

'Well, then, you've spent a day in hell and another in heaven. Now choose your eternity.'

The Man reflects for a minute, then he answers: 'Well, I would never have said it before, I mean heaven has been delightful, but I think I would be better off in hell.'

So the Angel escorts him to the elevator and he goes down, down, down to hell.

Now the doors of the elevator open and he's in the middle of a barren land covered with waste and garbage.

He sees his friends and the politicians, dressed in rags, picking up the trash and putting it in black bags as more trash falls from above.

The devil comes over to him and puts his arm around his shoulder. 'I don't understand,' stammers the Man. 'Yesterday I was here and there was a golf course and clubhouse, and we ate lobster and caviar, drank champagne, and danced and had a great time. Now there's just a wasteland full of garbage and my friends and politicians look miserable. What happened?'

The devil looks at him, smiles and says, 'Yesterday we were campaigning. Today you voted.'

Hey all u Indians! Be careful whom u vote for and dont get carried away with the sweet talking Politicians!!!!!!



And for IPL it's really going to be BLASTING :)
I hope and I wish Mumbai Indians win{because brought up in Mumbai} but even Rajasthan Royals will also do... {though I am not a great miser but still born in Raj makes me think that and they were the WINNERS ofcourse}
But isn't it bad that Indian Premier League will be conducted in SA,actually a bit annoying :(

Joamoo said...

GOD does not exist and so Mr. SRT ;)
Its going to be KKR this time..:D
and DUMINY is in the WORST form since MI signed him :)

hariharan said...

Nice post sir as usual