Atal Bihari Vajpayee: 5 years too many for a Great Governance

This blog is dedicated to Atal Bihari Vajpayeeji who I think is the best politician I have seen in whatever limited time I have watched the political scenario till the present date.

I wouldnt go into the biography of Atalji but what reminds me is the one full time term of 5 years he served as the Prime minister of India from 1998 and 2004. And in those 5 years we could see lots of things happenig. We could literally see the development which was not happening earlier and which didnt happen later as well.

Firstly when BJP came into power lots of people thought it would even lead to a Civil war and unrest 'coz of the hardline agenda of the BJP. But it was the persona for Atal which absorbed all this. With Pressure from Shiv Sena and Bajrang Dal, it was Atal who maintained a clear distinction among hardline agenda and a more moderate ones. It was Atalji who made the balance perfect so that all the apprehensions of the minorities and muslims get resolved.

Atal Bihari Vajpayee was among the best statesman that India had. Even during Indira Gandhi's (Congress)  time they didnt have anyone as strong as Atalji and he was sent to represent and lead India in the UN during those days in spite of being in the Opposition.

But what stands out is the governance which we had the privilege to witness, though it was a short tenure but in my opinion it was the best so far.

Lets see in perspective what makes this tenure so special:

After a long time since 1974, under Atalji's leadership India tested 5 nuclear tests in Pokharan in 1998. This was a big milestone and espcially when the tests were conducted right under the nose of so many spy satellite cameras and no one even got a hint. What an achievement. It was a shocker to most countries as they couldnt even sense this.

In 1999 Atalji had multiple talks on making peace with pakistan (under musharaf) but also he was stern on the key issues. He started the Peace Train to pakistan but pakistan decieved again and started the Kargil War. It was good Diplomacy by Atalji that we did not go to nuclear missiles (this was closely watched by the CIA). Pakistan was prepared but India was stern and we drove them off and won the war.

Atalji was also involved in facelifting the infrastructure of india. It was during his tenure that the National Highways project started and you could see the development happening rapidly with the Golden Quadrilateral scheme.

Atalji's government also got the encourragement from the markets, it was a very business friendly tenure, the stock markets were high.

Atal Bihari Vajpayee was instrumental in taking the science and technology development a step fruther.  The pokharan nuclear tests were a proof of that. It was during Ataljis' tenure that the very Successful Project Chandryaan was started and today we see it was Chandrayaan which found traces of water on the moon. Another feather in the cap of Indias space projects.

Following the inspiration of Lal Bahadur Shastri, Atalji also took the slogan "Jai Jawaan, Jai Kissan" to a step further, he said - "Jai Jawaan, Jai Kissan, Jai Vigyan", very aptly.

During this tenure, the Telecom segment of India picked up and a lot of development happened in the mobile phones segment.

But all this also happened with lots of compromises, with AIADMK etc. Atal had to go in for 3 terms (2 prior), 'coz of dirty politics in India and coalitions threatning to come down.
Also there were a few issues that the congress led opposition raised: the indian Airlines plane hijack issue, the non removal of Narendra Modi from BJP following the Gujarat Riots that happened during congress tenure.

There was also the Terrorist Attack on the Indian Parliament and Atalji took a strong action by passing the "Prevention of Terrorist Act" under strong opposition as it was a very stern move.  I think post 26/11 something of this sort should have been done by the present Govt but thats not the case.

It was Atalji's Govt which brought in APJ Abdul Kalam as the President. After Atalji's tenure what happened; BJP proposed a second tenure for Kalam but Congress played dirty and brought in Pratibha Patil whose husband was already tainted in a scam.

Atalji also became famous for his poetry and literary work . His style was even imitated by a few media people on talk shows etc.

Sadly after 5 full years, this tenure came to an end after Atalji started having health problems and there was no good face from thje BJPs side for the elections and also 'coz of the overconfidence of BJP on the India Shining drive.
But all said and done today during the second tenure of the UPA with so many failures and so many Scams, increased inflation, we can look back at this governance and can take a leaf out of it.

There are a few Politicians today who follow the same style of politics of the development like Nitish Kumar of Bihar - (named the CNN IBN man of the Year 2010).

 I would say for the sake of development a 5 year tenure was too much for Atalji as a lot was achieved whereas its too less for other govts who are around for almost 60 years now and have hardly done anything substantial.
Though this was a short tenure in the Govt but so many events happened and so much was done solely by the vision and great statesmanship of Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

---- A Salute----------------

Speaking Secular

The first phase of polling is over and the parties are gearing up for the second phase. As I write this blog the second phase of polling is going on. This is high time when the parties are trying to be visible and promissing everything from Rs. 3/- per kilo of rice, uninterrupted water and power supply to bringing back the Swiss account money and all such things.

Also high in the air is word SECULAR floating around and every other party or front is promising to give the public a secular Govt. Now wasn't that the basic agenda when India became a Republic way back in 1950 and part of the constitution?

So what is Secular in the real Indian sense. I would say it is something not to do with Religion only but rather Secular in indian terms means irrespective of Religion, Caste and Creed. I hope you agree.
So lets have a look at the so called secular image of the most important parties and see if there is really something Secular to discusss about in this election or is it just a gimmick played by the parties.

• Congress (I): the oldest party and the one in power for the most number of years has a few black marks on its secular image contrary to what is visible. The most important issue was that of the 1984 riots when there were mass killing of sikhs. Also even after 1984 as reported by newspapers and also by sikh sentiments that during the LTTE issue, troops mostly from Punjab and Sikh regiments were deployed as Peace Keeping Force to fight against the LTTE. This ghost is still chasing the congress since and recently it was fuelled further just before the elections in spite of the PM candidate being a Sikh. Congress in spite of all thise still enjoys the image of a secular party.
• BJP: the second largest part in India. It has the unsecular black marks during the Babri Masjid demolition and the Gujarat riots post Godhra incident in 2002. All other parties are targeting BJP for being non secular in spite of BJP proving them wrong during its 5 years tenure under Vajpayee. But today anything un-secular refers to as anything related to BJP and its allies by other political parties, more of a propaganda to play down BJPs secular credentials and this is also aided by the activities of the more extremist elements.
• BSP, SP, RJD etc: All these regional parties from UP and Bihar in spite of having a secular image are actually very highly Caste based parties some catering to the dalits, while some to the yadavs, thakurs etc. So in the true indian sense they are also fail the fully Secular test.
• Left Parties: these parties though this time are blowing the secular trumpet, they have nothing to do with Secularism or Communalism, they have only to do with Socialism and to bring out issues which hinder development or may be help development depending on the issue itself. :)
• Other regional parties: A few of them have been more or less secular - Ex-TDP, BJD, JDS etc but again mostly the regional parties DMK, AIMDK, Shiv Sena etc are all either caste or religion based.

So I would say the SECULAR stress in this election is just a farce, a gimmick played by political parties who can exploit the situation in getting allies post election to make alliances in the name of secularism so that they are part of the ruling Govt and enjoy the pay offs given to them by this word.

Also to mention all these years irrespective of any party ruling, some where or the other the issues of religion, caste, creed have cropped up and the political parties be it ruling or in opposition have played very oppurtunistic roles to exploit the same both at the center and also at the state levels.

The only people Secular are the common people of India who irrespective of their religion, caste, creed etc carry on with their normal lives and particularly secular are the educated youth, since the are last 2-3 decades who have been watching all this.

But slowly though, things are changing and the people are fed up with the caste and religion issues and they are more inclined towards issues of development and infrastructure to be cattered to first. Also since the last decade with the media playing a very large role more and more people are getting aware of not only the present situation but also the goof ups done in the past.

People have started opposing wrong activities vocally and anyone who does it for mere propaganda comes in to limelight by the media (by sting operations etc) and is strongly opposed by the public. Also there are sms and Internet polls conducted and this shows the people are watching and participating. Also a few campaigns have started on the these issues as already stated in my earlier posts:

• Baba Ramdevji's Bharat Swabhimaan being the biggest campaign
• Pink Chaddi campaign against moral policing etc
• Lead india to remove criminals from contesting
• The jaago re campaign - also driven by youth

All this needs more penetration in to the smaller towns and rural areas where something on a SECULAR front too has to come in a big way.

On the contrary this time around the parties have brought in a fake secular issue and leaving the more important issues on the back burner. Hope the people are watching this and would show it in the poll results - just hoping.

The Dilemma of Voting the Right Candidate or the Right Party !!!

The Voting season is on and the pollen grains of Vote slogans are in the air. Already the war cries have been sounded and swords drawn between the parties. Now the News channels have one more issue to add in their breaking news section in addition to the Indo-Pak Tennis ball tournament on the 26/11 attacks.
Let us look at the issues that the common voter would like getting resolved or at least addressed post elections (the list is endless however):

• Security of the homeland (post 26/11 this is a major concern)
• Rising prices of essential commodities, inflation decrease not in the books but on the field
• Economic stability and Job security/Unemployment
• Better Infrastructure and hygiene
  
• Food, Water, Shelter and Electricity issues - This being an election issue since India was independent
• Public policing by some so called culture savers.

But in spite of all the programmes and successes the Govt has projected on paper in the budget, nothing really seems to be actually visible to the common man. Also none of the parties have clear issues to be tackled rather there are debates going on between them. Lets analyze it further(as per media reports):

• The UPA trying to bank in on the current achievements and the so-called maturity (with no results as of now) shown in tackling the post 26/11 attacks.
• The NDA trying to highlight the security issues and inflation issues. But other parties will do any thing to bring them down in the name of secularism
  
• The newly formed Third front trying to cash in on the lowering mandate for both the UPA and the NDA but not without internal differences. Already there have been some news about a few of the parties contesting elections on their own. All this to do with the clashing interests of the Party leaders to be PM candidates.

With all this going on the Actual voters who are not under any influence to vote are mostly confused as to whether to vote for the right candidate or the right party and in some cases they dont have a choice at all.

• It may so happen that a right person elected doesn't have his party in power and he has to sit in the opposition and finally nothing happens - no progress.
• On the flip side it may so happen that the right party one votes for doesn't win the majority and sits in the opposition and again nothing happens - no progress.

So it is just not voting that matters, the exact timing or luck that the right candidate and the right party comes in power is what matters else you end up with either the wrong party or the wrong candidate. There may be surprises however that a few people after winning really defy the common image (of themselves or their parties) and do some development for the community.

I think this election is a funny mix of all the elements: fighting to prove a point, fighting for PM ambitions, fighting anti-incumbency, fighting a lowering mandate, and finally coming out with compromises - who does the best. All this is just a suspense on how the actual public will reveal it in the elections.

Elections in India have always been a place for Power play, Monetary spending on masses and Huge campaigns and Slogans and doesnt depend on any kind of economic depression. All this on the common tax payers money. But this time post 26/11 there has been some element of Patriotism in the general public and also an urgency to get things resolved or at least some action being taken - especially the security issue.

Also a few organizations and individuals are coming up to the fore front to make the masses aware on a few key issues. A few of such movements are worth taking a note of:

• The Jaagore.com movement for billion voters.
• The Lead India initiative by the Times of India to stop criminals getting elected,
• The Bharat Swabhiman initiative by Baba Ramdev to remove corruption and crime in the governance.

I think such initiatives are really encouraging for the youth and the coming generations and some day these initiatives would really bring in results - if not in this election.

So let us pledge to cast our Vote and hope that whatever be the results something positive comes out. Lets Vote this Out !!!!!!

The Best Software Product Ever

With so much happening on the internet and the lives of a human being getting changed over the past decade so rapidly with technology coming in to play in everyone's life so much, we are surrounded everywhere by some electronic gadget or the other. And each gadget is either run by some Bios commands or more so by some software.
The world is full of software, where ever there are devices or even appliances there is some software runnning in it. Right from a Personal Computer, Mobile phone, an Enterprise server, a Database, a Television, or even a DTH package they all run some software or the other.

So lets look at all the softwares that are available and rate the best one till date. I know calling one software the king of all does invite some argumernt or contradiction with every other person having his/her own opinion. I would modestly put this as my personal opinion
The basic factor I see among to rate the best software would be -

• The number of lives it touches directly every day
• The reliability of the software
• The profitability it brings to every persons livelihood (this I would rate directly or indirectly)
• the ease of use as well its functionality

Keeping all the above factors, I started with the Rating right from all the softwares ranging from Enterprise Software Products to Desktop Applications, from Paid Software to Freeware / Shareware. Though I would say every software has its own purpose and also the comparision seemed to too vague and daunting but still keeping all the factors into picture a few could only stand up till the last.
And finally one software reached the top of the table because of its usability, its versatility, its tenacity and also its scalability and thats is undoubtedly - Microsoft Excel.

This is a software which is used by varied users that other softwares can only envy of. Right from investment bankers to corporate honchos to scientists to business men to housefwives all use this software. It covers the broadest area of coverage be it in Sceince and technology or the investment markets or simple calculations or showing trends and charts or displaying performance reports or dashboards etc etc and the list goes on and on.

Also it is very simple to use and very reliable indeed. A lot of organizations and inviduals have benefited from this software. I personally think this is one software which touches the lives of most individuals (the others being Notepad, MS Word, PDF).

The other day I saw a TV programme on Animal Planet on the most extreme Felines - and in spite of heavy weights like Tiger, Lion, Jaguar, Puma, Lynx etc, the common household Cat was rated the most extreme. Something similar here, in spite of looking at bigger Enterprise softwares, the dektop application MS Excel won the race for me.

MS Excel has really stoood up the test of the time and dominated the market having no competitor in its space and proved it is the best software product ever. I hope you agree to that.

Is it "Jai Ho" for Indian Sports?

I start this new post when the Australian Open is over with some positive performances by Indian Tennis stars and also when the Indian Cricket team has trounced the Sri Lankans to win the Series 3-0.

Since the Last year, India has done really well in Sports - not only in cricket but all round. Lets look at this in perspective - 2008 was a really good year for Indian sports. Never has india performed so well in many a sport and at many a Event.

The Pinnacle was winning 3 medals in the Beijing Olympics and that too in all individual events: Abhinva Bindra (Gold), Vijender Kumar (Bronze) and Sushil Kumar (Bronze). India did well in Tennis - Yuki Bhambri winning the Junior Aus Open and Bhupathi (Hesh) and Sania winning the Mixed Doubles, Paes winning the US open doubles, Somdev creating many an upset in Chennai open. Never has any Indian ODI Cricket team competed for the top spot in its history and no one can forget the dissimation of Sri Lankan Bowling attack by Yuvi and Viru. India has a new star in Badminton - Saina Nehwal - Gold in Coomnwealth Games; Vishwanathan Anand winning the Chess World Championships; Pankaj Advani winning the double World championships in both Billiards and Snooker; Sachin breaking Lara's record; Jeev milkha Singh doing well in Golf in European and Asian Tours; Indian Boxers - Akhil, Jitender, Lakra and Dinesh doing well in the World Championships and the list goes on.

As for Cricket this had started a few years back since the time Ganguly took over the reigns as Indian Captain and is being well complemented by Dhoni now.

I feel the cut throat competition which every Indian faces all through his life is in one way or the other now showing up in Sports too. I was expecting this to happen a few years earlier but better late than never. Gone are the days when India would find excuses for lack of Sports facilties etc, now people are tired of this lament are are finding their own ways to come up in sports. Today young sports persons are more competitive and have what it takes to win. And to Top that Nothing Succeeds like Success which they have recently attained.

Again not only is the importance of sports being recognised but also this has lead to some corporate investments and sponsorships. A few examples of this is the amount of money (which I personally feel is ridculous) in IPL, the rise of a parallel Cricket Academy - ICL and also this is the second year for the Indian owned F1 Team Force India. Today Bollywood Superstar Akshay Kumar too announced that he would sponsor for 6 Wrestlers for their training for the next Olympics. I believe people today are coming forward for the cause of Sports which never happened earlier.

The only ailing sports for India are Hockey and Football. In spite of PHL and so many old and reputed Football Teams and Tournaments, India has still failed to produce any good results in these 2 sports.

But in spite of all this there are individual efforts being made by a few ex-sports persons who are now actively involved in Coaching new and young talents accross India. To name a few - Pullela Gopichand (Saina's mentor), Santhi (remember Doha Games), Venkatesh Prasad, Robin Singh etc and the results are really encouraging.

So in Conclusion, in just one year Indian Sports has moved in to a New Era and I would definitely say: Yes it is "Jai Ho" for Indian Sports and wait and watch there is a lot more to come......

The End of the Indipop Era...?

Just a decade or so ago, when the Hindi film music was running out of creativity and the people were poured on with crappy music from the Gulshan Kumar camp and nasal numbers from Kumar Sanu and Anuradha Paudwal, there was a new set of Parallel (Non Filmi) Indian Music emerging in the form of the Indipop.

Though Indipop had started even earlier but the real breakthrough came with Baba Sehgal, Alisha Chinai, Apache Indian and likes and this was later followed by the more Creative Bands and individuals like Lucky Ali, Silk Route, Euphoria, Colonial Cousins and Bhangra Bands like Daler Mehndi, Sukhbir and so on. This became such a hit with the masses that every other individual who either had money or resources started making an album. More so even Superstars like BigB joined the band wagon with "Eir Bir Phathe".

I think this was one of the best times though for Indian Music industry and we got some good creations, not only from the Indian pop stars but also from Ghazal Singers like Jagjit Singh, Pankaj Udhas and Hariharan and even Classical and Sufi Singers like Shubah Mudgal and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.

Companies like Magnasound and BMG Crescendo were cashing on this Business followed by Universal and Sony and the presence of TIPS and Venus record companies had almost diminished.

This was such a hit that Bollywood music suffered to find a place in the market. Even Bollywood singers chipped in with their own albums with the likes of Sonu Nigam, Shaan, Abhijeet and KK.

But just after a decade or so, today we see nothing of that sort. Since the last few years no big album has created any waves. I ponder "Where have the Indipop bands and singers gone? "

Today its all about Bollywood Music with numbers from Race, Rock On, Singh-is-King and Ghajini making waves. I think all this could be attributed to a few reasons that I cite below. Hope you agree:

• Firstly the Bollywood music directors tried to follow this competition and copied it into their own music. You see today most of the Movie songs sound like albums. This has been complimented with music directors like Pritam and Himesh Reshamiya (again Nasal :)).
• Secondly, the remix era followed with some idiotic DJs and RJs who brought in old songs with new beats and crappy singers but good videos to attract the masses Ex- Kanta Laga. This didn't last for long but was enough to kill the more creative Non Filmi Indipop industry.
• The third and the most important factor was Music Piracy and the popularity of MP3 music and devices and the growth of Internet. India being a very price sensitive market, no one wants to buy an Album CD rather prefer downloading it for free from some P2P source. So where are the music companies like Magnasound and BMG today.

Bollywood on the other hand survived coz it had money and also the sudden Spurge of mutliplexes gave a boost to Movies. This also was complimented by the new avatar of Hindi Movie Music directors who started composing songs like indipop albums (in fact copying the style).

'Coz of these reasons even the album makers had no other option than to sing for Movies and this has further contributed to the Bollywood music directors cause. Today we seldom encounter names like Leslie Lewis, Hariharan, Palash Sen and so on. Most of them still sing for Bollywood movies, and some have recently joined in like Mohit Chauhan from Silk Route.

The last time I heard an Album creating waves was a few years back with Rabbi Shergill's "Bulla Ki Jaana" and Kailash Kher's "Kailasa". But nothing substantial has happened since then.
Most of the Indipop singers today are busy performing on live shows more on the likes of the Indain Rock Bands (who never got off like the Indipop Bands) or they are seen on TV Reality shows.
The only albums created today are those of the Reality Show Pass Outs (Indian Idol, Sa Re Ga Ma stars) or the Hindi Movie Playback Singers and Composers who have business and want to do something different.

This compells me in asking the question: Has the Parallel Indian Music or the Indipop Music really died? or Has it Amalgamated itself with the Hindi Film Music industry?