kuldeep's blog

Dear friends,

Many of you don’t know me, many will say ‘unsubscribe’, many would not like to read it at all but I need to write..

It’s not about me, it’s not about you. It’s about the place we stay in, the society we live in, the systems we have!!

I often wonder when a mosquito bites me why do I think of a repellant, why a coil or hit, why don’t I have the courage to question my municipality?

Why do I buy water in a bottle? Why do I purify water at my home? Does the water bill say that the tap water is only for washing clothes or having a bath? Why don’t I get drinking water in my tap?

Why should I pay a toll tax on every single black, nice looking road? Why a basic road is not my right?

Why do I buy an inverter or dream of a generator? Why don’t I get current in my wires?

Why do we call the private schools as public schools.. I always thought schools run by the government should be called public schools!!

Why- the cricketer who sold the ethics of game sits in parliament or come as experts on channels?

Why someone known for beating his wife and had charges of holding drugs is a celebrity to judge dance shows and all of us watch and clap too.

Why is it that the so called high profile tainted journalists still run public shows and we all watch it..

Why don’t I know the fine on jumping red light or for not wearing a helmet but am very well aware of power of 100 rupees: the cost of duty of most of the traffic guys across the country!!

Why is a girl raped in a roaming car in the capital of the country almost every month and all that the government says is that “girls should be careful..”

Why does the trial and judgment of social activists just takes a few weeks but Raja, Raju, Reddy roam around!!

Why even after killing hundreds of people on road the blue line buses remained on roads? Do you know any city apart from the capital of your country where the city buses crushed people on a daily basis?

Why didn’t we come on the roads when someone made elephants of stones for thousands of crores rupees in U.P. where people still dig pits to sleep or die of hunger?

Why a tainted, corrupt minister is called to IIM and Academy for IAS and applauded – unstopped on his desi style?

It’s so easy to call someone corrupt but have you ever thought; The act of bribe starts by giving not by taking.. it starts from me not from him or her.. so why don’t I look at myself first ?

I strongly believe that the Logic is always for NOT doing something.. Doing does not need logic, doers don’t believe in logics!!

Just a couple of years back some people came and played with us, killed our pride and people. We were angry.. some people thought that the attack in Mumbai was on rich people and therefore something would change..

Nothing happened.. we all go to gateway of Indian on every anniversary in November, burn some wax, sing some songs and come back. Nothing changes- the government is back, Z security is back and people are back at the Gateway of India…

It’s time to come out, stand up...move.. do something.. Sitting in drawing rooms or discussing over a mug of beer will not solve anything..

Please remember this country does not need thinkers any more, enough of them.. what you need is an action .. an initiative !!

Even when the government listens to Anna, the voice has to go on… corruption is not limited to the government only !! we all need to start with ourselves and march..

Anna Hazare is there.. and there are thousands of people across.. its time for you to join.. Time to create lots of Jantar Mantars- across the country.

The budget for the last Common Wealth Games in Australia was $1.1 billion while the budget for the Indian event is more than double! That is, more than 18000 crores rupees. This does not include expenditure on non-sports-related infrastructure development in the city like airports, roads and other structures.

Having started with such a huge budget provision, one would have expected that the arrangements would be great and simply surprise the world. The tremendous appreciation obtained by China for having hosted the recent Olympics was fresh in the memory of all and expectations were understandably high.

This is the first time that India secured the chance of hosting the Commonwealth Games. What is happening, and what is not happening make one wonder if this would be the last chance also. To begin with there were delays and further delays causing concerns in the minds of others if everything would go on well in time. The Commonwealth Games Organizing Committee was giving excuses, and promises to keep everything ready in time.

Worse still is the reaction to the complaint about the residential flats. The complaint was that the flats in the Games village were filthy, littered with excrement and urine left there by construction workers! There were a number of stray dogs. A photograph showing a stray dog jumping on a bed in the village has been given to the CWG organizers.

A number of sports persons have already withdrawn from the event, bringing down the standard of competition. What was hoped to enhance India’s reputation and boost its image in the world has turned out to be a source of exasperation and shame. As it is, the Games may go on rather with a reduced participation but the damage to the reputation of India has been done, thanks to Kalmadi team. The corrupt people have already damaged the Delhi Commonwealth Games, 2010 even before its beginning! We know, not many heads would roll; at best we may hope for some leisurely enquiry that would peter out to nothing after spending a lot of public money.

It is a special kind of democracy and for now, we may have to satisfy only with such rhymes; and be thankful, even this may not last for long, if Indian citizens continue to be ensconcing themselves in the shells of caste, religion, region, and language provided to them by scheming politicians of the country.

Largest democracy in the World- India, got independence in 1947. It’s been more than sixty years now! Well no prize for guesses. But I would like to ask you if you ever have consulted the dictionary to find the meaning of independence. Well you are not alone. Many of us assume we got our independence in 1947. But, are we really independent?

Well that depends. A country cannot be said independent till its nationals can freely express their opinions and act within defined limits. Is Iraq an independent nation? Why not? Well you say their Government is hand picked exiled puppets of America. Well it is true. To be called an independent nation, we must be self-sustaining with least dependence on foreign culture, money, power and influence. When we talk about our culture – we are ready to shun our customs and traditions and embrace the Americanism for money and status symbol. Let us take power – did we not withdraw from Kashmir border on insistence of America? Did we not settle in Kargil and not cross the LOC because of what the super powers will do in United Nation? Are we not compromising with China to keep America and Pakistan in check? Well, many diplomats would call it a part of foreign strategy of the country. So are we really independent? Sure, we are independent according to the definition’s minimum benchmark. We have an independent army and we have an independent political system. But is the government really doing what a common Indian wants to do, Not at all.

So what will make us really independent? Who is really independent? Is even America independent? So when will you call India an independent nation? Well first India must be a member of the Security Council with full veto power. Second, our economy should be independent. Just by doing outsourced jobs can not make India an economic superpower. We need to make goods and services on our own and other countries should be eager to buy that. That is what happens in Japan. Third, we should invest and research in alternative fuel. Like America India is dependent on imported Petroleum and that has to go. India should move ahead and start using Hydrogen as an alternative fuel and show the world that it is a leading super power. Indians do not need to leave their own country to earn some dollars or euros or yens. Indians must be proud to be in their nation contributing to mother India. Indian businesses should behave in a matured way. Quick money schemes cannot make anyone independent. Political corruption should be checked and talented people should be given chances to showcase their talent. This is how we can achieve what we dream of. It’s time to get up and act. Let us join Young India Association and make a difference.

A recent report warns that even in a fast-growing economy like India, government’s failure to invest in agriculture has left nearly half the country's children malnourished. And the harsh fact is that 30 % of the one billion plus population going hungry. As per the estimates of an organization - ActionAid, hunger is costing the world's poorest nations £290bn a year – more than 10 times the estimated amount needed to meet the goal of halving global hunger by 2015.

The report also reveals that India has worse rates of malnutrition than sub-Saharan Africa: 43.5% of children under five are underweight and India ranks below Sudan and Zimbabwe in the Global Hunger Index. Even without last year's disastrous monsoon and the ensuing drought and crop failures, hunger was on the increase.

The government as usual makes false promises and introduces different kind of food security bills to provide cheap food for the poor, but due to corruption and inefficiency, hardly any progress is seen. The reality is that a country desperate to take its place at the world's top table is unwilling to commit to feeding its own population.

Last month the country's Supreme Court advised the government to distribute 17.8m tonnes of grain that was rotting in warehouses. Prime minister, Manmohan Singh, protested, saying the court had crossed the line into policy-making and warning that distributing free food to the estimated 37% of the population living below the poverty line destroyed any incentives for farmers to produce. The court stood firm. It was an order, not a suggestion, the judges said. This clearly shows that the real cause of hunger isn't lack of food; it is lack of political will.

India may be thriving economically but it is still dogged by poverty and hunger. A recent Oxford University report found 410 million people were living in poverty in just eight Indian states – more than in the 26 countries of sub-Saharan Africa. Last year's Global Hunger Index placed India in the "alarming" category, ranked 65 out of 84 countries, below even North Korea.

Across the country, hundreds of millions are malnourished. A study released in May warned that 66% of children under the age of six in Delhi's slums were malnourished. The report noted that the most vulnerable sections of society were not covered under government schemes which were supposed to support them. Think about it.

India is a great country; a country of nearly 1.2 billion people with over 30% living under the poverty line, as demarked by Indian government. Around 400 million of these poor depend upon government food handouts that fall short of meeting demands. Yet we see that there is over a billion tons of grain rotting away in government warehouses, an amount that is sufficient to feed over 600,000 people for 10 years.
Our government claims that this grain can’t be distributed free among poors as it is not feasible and would add to the expenses of the government. Though feeding the poor is seen as an expense, the consequences of not feeding them are much greater. As per the calculations of an antipoverty group ActionAid the poorest nations lose more than ₤290 billion due to hunger. Halving global hunger by 2015 is estimated to cost just a tenth of that money.

It is a shameful fact that hundreds of millions of Indians are malnourished. The Indian Supreme court ordered the government to release surplus grain to the poor. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh criticized this move as detrimental to the livelihoods of farmers, despite the fact that any grain given to the poor needs to have been purchased from farmers in the first place. This is just an example of apathy towards our people who are also the part of our country. Our country needs more grain storage facilities, so why aren’t they being built? No body is even bothered about thinking of doing so. There is a need to change the system, Come to the front and join Young India Association.