NEWS TO KNOW AND ACT

1. Deccan Herald, May 26, 2006 --> Latin American Model for Bangalore' s Traffice Woes
2. India Together, May 18, 2006 --> Walk on the Road, legally -- Walking Plaza in Pune When will Bangalore have it?
   
3. Samachar Editorial ----> Alitalia humiliates Indian passenger

RESERVATIONS IN INDIA

To deny, to believe, and to doubt absolutely -- this is for man what running is for a horse.

--- Blaise Pascal

Introduction
As soon as I came to India, I have been observing several interesting things. How our TV channels keep on harping on same thing again and again until it gets on to your nerves. At the same time I have been thinking that with the independence that the media is enjoying in this country, it can do wonders towards the country's progress and countrymen's awareness by being more responsible.

Anyways, recently, the topic of interest in India is Reservation Issue. I have been trying to follow it closely and learn more about the issue, its implications etc. I defintiely am not knowledgeable on all the intricate details but I am definitely making progress. I will try to put together the things I have found in newspapers etc. At the same time, I will try to provide my thoughts too.

I started being terribly against the reservation policy, thinking the way most people in agitation are thinking. But with time, I have also been simultaneously educated by my knowledgeable friends with the other side of the story. I sit back, in awe, with uncertainty, as to what stand shoudl I take? What should be the right thing for the country to do to lift the downtrodden masses, to create a a society without caste, creed and discrimination.....

I dont know the art of writing .... All I know is to jot it down as my heart speaks out. May be one day I will learn the art of articulation....

Do our Institutes connect with real India?

Political Agenda
Several people, including some senior members in the congress are of the opinion that Arjun Singh brought this up for scoring poilitical mileage against Manmohan Singh and he had to do this since he was almost on the verge of getting shunted out into some less important corners of Congress. Is there any doubt in it? But lets put politics aside.

White Privilege Shapes the US

Caste and Society
However educated we are, we have not been able to get out of this caste disease. You open up some of the Governement forms to be filled up, you will be asked for your Caste. For example, look at the form to be filled to register your marriage. While we are fighting or trying to fight to eradicate this menace how can a sane society not work towards making sure that caste is indeed not an important factor to filled in a form? An interesting story in the same line is, one day I happened to meet a person who was also telugu. Immediately he asked me am I a Brahmin? When I said yes, his next question was , "whats your surname?"..

ABCs of the OBCS

Reservation
If anyone thinks that reservation is the way to solve the caste problem and hence supporting the plan of the government, I definitely think thats the most foolish decision. I would rather sit, spend time and come up innovative alternate solutions rather than supporting the concept of reserving positions in higher centers of learning.

• Economically Backward? --> Provide economic assitance so that they can take training towards the career they want to pursue. These days every profession, college etc. has entrance. We should look towards providing economic support to the person to be able to prepare for the exam rather than ensuring that a seat will be kept in the institution for him her.

• Socially Backward? --> Its true that "Creamy Layer" concept is brought forward by the government to exclude those who are already established in the society and can sustain themselves, from taking advantage of the reservation. For the remaining, I definitely think they can be considered economically backward too.

CREAMY LAYER

Some Government Decisions

Government, in an effort to take a middle path has said that even the general category seats will be increased. In the institutions like IITs and IIMs, where there is already a severe crunch in the number of faculty, how do they expect to increase the faculty to take of this increase in the number of seats? This is going to force these institute of prominence to dilute their constraints in choosing the faculty. The standards of the institute in turn will take a hit. This is going to definitely show up in the research contributions of the institute. In turn the interest of the global industry in these institutes will definitely take a dip. Someone aptly quoted, “Faculty do not grow on trees”.

Are we refreshing the traumatic moments of 1990? Are we in the process of giving birth to more Rajiv Goswamis in a much larger scale? I fear this is going to lead into a huge conflagration.

Either we correct ourselves or Good luck India for your great “Unity in Diversity”…..

KEEP READING.....

References and Related Links:

1. National Commission for Backward Classes : http://www.ncbc.nic.in
   
2. Information on Mandal Commission -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandal_Commission
3. Who are the OBCs? -- http://www.theotherindia.org/caste/who-are-the-obcs.html
4. http://www.theotherindia.org
5. Cleaning Dead Bodies after Tsunami -- Who were they?
6. Who are the regular sanitation workers in India?
   
7. Do you want to contact the govt. stating your stand? -- http://www.sarkaritel.com/
8. Upper Castes Get More Top Jobs? NO -- Rediff Article -- http://in.rediff.com/money/2006/may/15quota.htm
9. Rediff Article -- Are Brahmins the Dalits of Today? -- http://in.rediff.com/news/2006/may/23franc.htm
10. Indian Express Article -- "Costs and Benefits of Quotas" -- http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1500848.cms
    
11. Affirmative Action in the United States and India by Tom Weisskopf -- http://www-personal.umich.edu/~tomw/bookinformation.htm
    
12. India Together Article -- Letters of Resignation of the Knowledge Commission Members -- http://www.indiatogether.org/2006/may/opi-nkcresign.htm
13. India Together Article -- The merits of Reservation -- http://indiatogether.org/2004/apr/edt-reserve.htm
14. Outlook India Article -- How Sharad Got a Life -- http://www.outlookindia.com/full.asp?fname=Cover%20Story%20(F)&fodname=20060424&sid=1
    

LIFE IN BANGALORE

Currently I am visiting Bangalore and seeing the winds of change....

Came here on May 8. No one can ignore the huge amount of liveliness all around you. So different from the Bangalore that I saw in 1998. "Economic Boom", the word that is being discussed throughout the world with regards to India and China cannot go unnoticed when you are in Bangalore. Young faces all around with full of energy walking all around.

Huge Malls have come up everywhere... Cafe Cofee Days are at every corner.


May 27, 2006
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Continuing with the previous observation... Its a fun thing to go to a mall such a forum mall and watch the activities of people. Its kinda hep to go to these malls it seems. Well people like go to have a cup of coffee and check out some hot women... :-) Most folks, I heard, just come, do window shopping, eat at the Transit, then generally chill out, find their way through the mind boggling crowd and go home. Hmm?

"Bangalore economy is booming"... You will hear everyone saying... Then you will hear the same person saying, "the traffic is awful", "Bangalore is going to dogs", blah blah blah....

For a moments, even I think, is this "boom" sustainable or is it one of those revisits of the bubble? I dont know. Only time will tell and I will have to observe. But I can definitely see that its a seller's market. No one gives a damn about the buyers. Real Estate is skyrocketing....You can buy a mansion in Austin for the price you pay to get a 2 bed room apartment in Bangalore. Is this justified? Hey!! who cares? Its a seller's market duh....

While I am happy to see lots of jobs being created , I cant ignore the gap that is getting increased day after day between the human beings. You go to Forum Mall, you enjoy a cup of coffee for Rs. 20, you enjoy a dosa for Rs. 40. Then come out , you will see a mother with two kids, one under her arm and one holding her hand, desperately trying to get a rupee or two from you. But what will she get for a rupee? You help her by giving a rupee? Dare you not.... Immediately 10 people will line up.... Thats what I experienced....

So where is all this headng to? Is it a fight for the status? is it a fight for the money? Is it like, "let me see how fast can i get richer"? I dont know. I have to see more as I observe.... IN the meantime I have to be equally open to both positive and negative things. I need to have the power to appreciate the good and criticize the wrong. Get awayed away by negativity or false pride.

When an economy booms, when more money comes in, a visionary plan should lead to an equal development of the community, a more value for life, more access to comforts.

I find it soo difficult to find the answers to these questions yet, in Bangalore. People defintiely have more purchasing power. They are buying cars, houses and all. But I have felt, the compassion, the value for life is degrading. God only save you if you meet with an accident on the road and its probability is very high.
The heart rending scene that I observed yesterday is going to go away from my mind for quite some time. Because may be I am not habituated to this. May be I have to habituate myself. May be when I usually see an accident in USA, the first thing I see is an ambulance rushing to first take the individual to a hospital. Yesterday, suddenly when we were driving , the traffic suddenly slowed down. Soon we realized that there was an accident and soon we saw a person lying on the road. Seems like he met with an accident. All we saw around were police, police vehicle and other crap. Where was the ambulance to rush that poor soul to hospital?

In the middle of all this economic boom, is the supreme value of human life dignity lost in the traffic and the roads?

May 31, 2006
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Damn it.... My laptop adaptor got fried . :-( I was working on my laptop and suddenly a blast in front of my face and smoke started coming out. What the heck was that? I am sure one of those power surges. This morning there fire crackers outside and I realized that some transformer burst ... Be careful with electricity here buddy or get electrocuted... :-)


Keep Reading as I add more of my thoughts...

Interesting Links I found on the web...
Garbage Crisis in Bangalore: by Sujatha Bagal