Wah Taj!!

"You can fool some of the people all the time,
you can fool all the people some of the time,
but you cannot fool all the people all the time."

The following is a piece of an conversation that took place between two friends a few days ago. I really thought that I should put this up here.

Person1: Heyyyy...long time yaar, kya haal hai?? How have you been doing??
Person2: Heyya, Ive been doing well. By the way.. have you voted for the Taj??

Person1: Na! What about you? Have you?( the answer was clear and blunt!)
Person2: Err?? No? You havent voted? Are you even planning to?
Person1: No, not really. Why? I mean, why should I vote for the Taj?
Person2(scandalized): For the country's sake you idiot?? Dont you think its nice to have a wonder from your country?

Person1: OK, relax. Yes, I would love to have a wonder from my country. What I really want to know is that.. err.. that organisation?? Who gave them the authority to elect the wonders?
Person2(looking awfully confused): Err.. dint get you there. Who are they? As in?

Person1: Arre yaar, what Im really saying is that this organisation, the NewOpenWorld Foundation isnt really a world body na? I mean, do they really represent the entire world? Who made this organisation? Is it a part of the UN or any other world body?
Person2(now getting his side of the argument): Well, somebody will have to,right??

Person1: Why? Why not leave things the way it is now? I remember my history textbook telling me that there were the Ancient, the Medieval and the Modern Wonders of the World. So why have this "new seven wonders" at all??
Person2: So you mean to say that we shouldnt be having the seven wonders at all?

Person1: Yes, there is nothing wrong in picking them but not by some unknown organisation na?
Person2: But the entire world is voting for them. The fact that so many people have voted just shows the trust that has been placed in this organisation.
Person1: Arre dont you get it? This is some frigging company that wants millions to SMS and email their votes and eventually fuel them.
Person2: But the entire world is voting for them. Its not that they are choosing the wonders, we are. Do you think that this voting maybe rigged?

(A few other people who were just minding their business decided to watch them fight instead!)

Person1: No, maybe, or maybe not. Arre have you visited their site? Theyve got all kinda sponsors on their webpage. Christianno Ronaldo t-shirts, some shady travel-and-tour operators..blah blah. All they want is sponsors!
Person2: Arre but to do their job, that is, to publicise and advertise they would need money na?
Person1: That just shows that it aint really a non-profit organisation. I mean, I wouldnt care about their decision even if the Taj was voted because this organisation isnt representative of a world body as is the UN. Who knows, they might be filled with people from Papua New Guniea?
Person2: What I know is that all the major TV news agencies are encouraging people to vote and everyone really should.

Just when there was surely going to be a fist-fight, Person3(our hero!) comes in and..
Person3: All right, the two of you! Shut up and get back to class. Now!
...........................................................................................................................................................
My views?? I dont really know. I was Person1 till a few days ago, but Im sure that if the entire world ends up accepting the 7 wonders after the 7th of July(07.07.07) then I would probably have no choice and accept them too!

Yeh Paisa Bolta Hai...

When was the last time you really felt that our judiciary system was working the way it is supposed to be?? When was the last time you felt that no matter what, justice would be served to the common man and the guilty would be punished?? And when was your trust in the entire judicial system,crushed when the guilty walked scot-free in the end??

(This reminds me of a few lines of a popular Hindi song..Mumbhai by Javed Jaferi
Chotta-chotta matter baney police case..
Bada-Bada lafda, gul without trace..)

There are times like these when the efforts of TV organizations like NDTV and individuals like Sunil Kulkarni(the main witness who approached NDTV fr the sting operation) should be commended and encouraged. This also shows the shoddy state of our judiciary system, where Public Prosecutors like IU Khan who was meant to prove the killing in the famous BMW Case charged a fee of Re.1 and would have almost ended up walking away with much more than that.

It is not really surprising that the defence lawyer Mr RK Anand had indulged in this 'activity'. After all, he is the defence lawyer and he needs to protect his client Mr Sanjeev Nanda(son of an arms dealer and grandson of an Ex-Navy Chief of Naval Staff). Money was not the problem, it was the testimony of the lone witness who hadnt turned hostile in the recent past, which was the matter for concern. But like every other human, he could be bought. At least thats what the defence thought.

What was really surprising(but not so if you watch a lot of Hindi Movies!) was that even the public prosecutor was involved in the deal. After having been initially dropped from giving the testimony on charges of being bought by the Nandas(in debatable circumstances) Kulkarni was brought back again to give his side of the story. We do know that Kulkarni was going to ask for 2 crores. So how much was the PP's cut?

What made Kulkarni bring about this expose?? Was it the satisfaction of being able to bring justice to the families of the six dead? Or was it just to gain fame and popularity of being the person responsible for bringing a turnaround in one of India's most high-profile criminal cases and become a household name? All we do know now is that what's done is done and that the PP was involved hand-in-hand with the defence which means both of them are in trouble.

Or are they??

Not really, if u ask the other big-shot lawyers of Delhi. Legal experts say that they can be booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act. But that is only if a formal complaint has been filed against them. Here's the icing- many of RK Anand's supporters occupy key positions in the Delhi Bar Council, the body which can reprimand them and therefore refrain them from furthur practising their profession.

All we can expect now is a total national outrage. Let this nation speak out, speak out for what is right, speak out for the people who really deserve justice and speak out against those who mess up with our judiciary.

Kya 'Saccha' ...Kya Jhoota???

religion n. the belief in a superhuman controlling power, esp. in a personal God or gods entitled to obedience and worship.

Would you believe me if I said I was God?? Would you believe me if I said that I had the power to cure,to heal,to repair and to forgive??Would you believe me if I began preaching a new set of doctrines and rules defining a whole new religion??

I believe that religion is a personal matter and that if u wish to believe what I claim then its really upto you. 'Cause thats what defines religion and faith.. ur OWN personal belief in a set of practices and methods. It is for us to see what is right and whats not. So if a particular individual today claims he can do things which are extra-human and if that has been verified(or not fot that matter!) then its upto the people themselves to decide what they really want. Nobody can force a religion upon us. Its our personal choice, a choice which would define who we are and make us feel a part of something and maybe a feeling of one-ness among a certain group of people.

What was really wrong in the incident that happened in Punjab was that the leader of the "Dera Saccha Sauda" imitated himself as the 10th Guru of the Sikhs-Guru Gobind Singh and called himself as the next Guru. This is probably what infuriated the Sikhs all over the world. What he could have done was not to imitate anybody and preach his own ideas in his 'own' way. This way his followers could do what they want and the Sikhs wouldnt really have a problem.(this is actually what scores of other 'religious leaders' are doing today!)

What went wrong later?? The clashes between the 'sects' which was splashed all over the TV. There was another side to this whole issue. I really wanted to write this blog after watching a TV debate on a popular news channel.Questions were raised whether Sikhism (being one of the newer religions) was too rigid in its beliefs and practises. What was really being targetted was the fact that Sikhism does not encourage its followers to cut their hair and the other practises they follow..(or rather 'we' follow).. Whether a small man like Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh (the leader of the Dera) can shake the foundations of an established religion and whether Sikhism would really survive the next few generations after knowing fully well that many of the youth in Punjab arent keeping their hair anymore. Another issue which was raised was that many people still continue to call themselves as Sikhs inspite of already having cut their hair.

Its all a matter of self-belief.