Ads really do brainwash you. As an adult who enjoys their animation once in a while, its shocking to see the kind of advertising that our children are bombarded with each day. Each one is about consuming a product, and each one appeals to their sense of joy when consuming it. 

Children are naive, and the FMCG companies make full use of this characteristic of the human growth cycle. Children today are exposed to food items laden with high sugar, artificial flavours, and plenty of additives, but they are packaged in such a wonderful way that one would believe that it is the best thing a parent could give their child. 

Such is the power of advertising that now children are refusing to eat the traditional food items that so many millions of Indians each every day. I have heard stories of children simply refusing to budge from in front of a McDonald's till they are taken inside and fed. Similarly parents are now being targeted by these ads with 'solutions' to their children's fussy eating habits. She does not eat her poha or upma or other breakfast options? Replace it with a bowlful of sugar laden cereal and watch her lap it up.She's hungry after school? Whip her a quick instant noodles in only a few minutes, and watch them thank you again and again. Never mind the fact that instant noodles are cooked in palm oil and are loaded with preservatives and artificial flavouring. Ads today tell children what they should eat, and tell parents how their children can eat them better.

This evening when i switched the television on, there was an ad for a juice brand that once again, was positioning itself as a solution to a child's fussy eating. The kid was refusing to eat his papaya, and when replaced with the juice, lo and behold, the kid asks for a second helping of the juice, much to the pleasure of the mother. 

Its a very sad state of affairs. Parents are increasingly not finding the time to look after their children, and have replaced their presence with the television, and their learning with money. Now children have a lot more money to spend on food, clothing, electronics, and a host of consumer goods that I couldn't dream of owning as a child. Urban kids are growing fatter and fatter with a bigger and bigger sense of entitlement. 

#NCPee

I'm sitting here in Mumbai as the country is eagerly waiting for the rains to arrive soon. Large sections of the western part of the country are in draught like situations, and the politicians have gobbled up thousands of crores of rupees that were supposed to be for preventing and helping in precisely such a situation. 

Ajit Pawar is an illustrious Maharashtrian politician who came into power riding on the broad shoulders of his uncle, the great, the one, Mr. Sharad Pawar. Ajit Pawar is a prime accused in the 70,000 crore Maharashtra irrigation scam but he has come out of it, thanks to deft political work done by him and his uncle. The Maharashtra Government in fact, was quick to get a white paper out on the scam and he was given a clean chit. Yes, in Indian politics, thats just how easy it can be. 

So this same Ajit Pawar told a farmer that if there is no water in the dam, should he pee in it? The crowd he said it in followed it up with amused guffaws but the media soon picked this story up, perhaps mainly because it caught fire in the social media. 

Amid the calls for his punishment/resignation/whatever, dalliances are being made to bury this crass statement of his, with apologies from Sharad Pawar, Ajit Pawar himself and many others. As for calls for his resignation, the other great beneficiary of Sharad Pawar's political stature, his daughter Supriya Sule, has said that the media should back off because it is an internal matter of the party. Sharad Pawar has also said that he has apologized and it should be the end of the matter. In fact, Sharad took it upon himself to scold Ajit.  

Ajit well, as we found out yesterday, was filled with remorse and to punish himself, sat down on a one day farce, I mean fast. Meanwhile, the farmers and the general public in Maharashtra is seething, and rightfully so.   Twitter has certainly noticed and appreciated this noble and repentant move by Shri Ajit Pawar. 

I do hope the Maharashtra voters can see the folly of voting in such a corrupt and morally bankrupt party so frequently. I sincerely hope they are paying attention, and throw this Pawar family out of business for good. As for the billions in movable and immovable assets they are sitting on, I do hope at least some of it is salvaged.   

Twitter made me do it!

Its been many months since i've written anything in my beloved blog. Yes, I moved into a new profile with a lot of work and very little free time, yes the shenanigans in my personal life keep me busy and with all that is going on in my life, when I come home at the end of the day, I am too deflated to write anything.

There is something else I did in the meantime. I joined Twitter. It brought a lot of changes into my interactions with my external stakeholders. My interactions and inputs became more frequent and my responses, well, became limited to 140 characters.

I'm not happy about it, yes, but I am enjoying the political sniping I get to do there. I went on Twitter following the many politicians and journalists who are active there, and definitely wanted an opportunity to put in my own views to them, and express displeasure at the atrocious and unaccountable way the country is being run by the UPA. Being on Twitter does give me the views and opinions of a whole lot of people, including an entire gamut of pro-Congress tweeters and reading their views and opinions really makes me wonder if we are talking of the same India!

The cauldron of national politics is certainly boiling, and it is becoming increasingly clear that Rahul Gandhi may not be the person to stand up as the Family's choice for Prime Minister. He has said he is neither marrying nor is interested in the post of the Prime Minister. Sonia Gandhi's health is failing, and keeping aside the opacity, secrecy and unaccountability of their actions, she runs the Congress like a warden of a boarding school. Of course, some students do get away and commit scams worth thousands of crores without her knowing, but then, who am I to doubt the integrity of the woman who gave up the post of the Prime Minister for the good of the country! ;-)

theatre of the absurd

There’s a lot of Community going around these days. Since we have one of the most secular parties leading this country, led by one of the most secular and open families, it is only obvious that they have managed to sprout this great sense of pride among all and sundry in their own communities.

When Pranab Mukherjee was made the President of India in case he had to contribute if by any chance the 2013 elections resulted in a hung Parliament, the Finance Ministry was expectantly given to a man who had been in it before, Mr. P. Chidambaram, who stamped his comeback into the Ministry of Finance with good news from the Supreme Court who quashed the case against him in the 2G case.

Now the ever-important Ministry of Home Affairs, earlier handled by some of the most notable Gandhi faithfuls, Shivraj Patil, was open. Sonia Gandhi chose another great Gandhi faithful, Sushil Kumar Shinde for the post. There are many things that should disgust any voting Indian who bothered watching his statements on being elected.

Shinde thanks the Queen Mother of making him the Home Minister because he is a Dalit. He says that the Gandhi family has done a lot for the Dalits in this country (which does not explain why 65 years hence there have been no noticeable improvements in the lives of Dalits). His performance as the Power Minister was pathetic according to whichever opinion piece you pick up and read today.

Let me just add an interjection here - the ‘downtrodden’ communities of this country must ask their leader tougher questions and open their eyes to the fact that they have been used and abused for throughout this country’s independence by unscrupulous politicians. The quotas have been abused by all and sundry and this Government seems hell bent on creating even further rift among communities by staunchly setting up the Muslims and the Dalits against the rest. The OBC’s, well, seem to have won their own battle by getting their own reservations in the system.

Coming back to Mr. Shinde, we know he has been a great server of the Gandhi family, and the Hindu reports that only two days ago, he waxed eloquent about how the CON party has never had a leader so great as Sonia Gandhi. Such disgusting flattery by the Union Home Minister of the world’s largest kleptocracy makes you wonder of the pride in the hearts of these men. More than that, the depth and brazenness of subservience that CONgressis demonstrate is sickening.

In an interview with Prabhu Chawla in a Hindi news channel, Sushilkumar Shinde proudly declared –

“I am Sonia’s Soldier”.  

“Our leader is so intelligent, talented and understanding; knows fully well what work has to be given to whom.” Unabashedly admitting to being a Gandhi sycophant, Shinde says he looks forward to serving under Rahul—someone he has seen in Rajiv Gandhi’s place even before the young Gandhi joined politics.

Of course, when one is elected to such a high office in a feudal-democratic set-up not for their ability but because of their loyalty, there are bound to be instances where they will not have any idea what is going on. Shinde’s already had a few on his resume.

And this is the person who is the Leader of the Lok Sabha apparently after the departure of Pranab da as he waits for further instructions.

But I am getting sidetracked. My point was to not talk about Sushil Kumar Shinde’s ability as a Home Minister, which besides is fairly obvious that he became for his loyalty to Sonia Gandhi, but I really wanted to talk more about the brazenness and ridiculousness with which the Government of India politicians have been making asinine statements and making the castes and communities the centrepiece of most their recent statements.

The Coal scam is yet another scam in the long list of CON achievements during their two tenures. Shriprakash Jaiswal, the present coal minister in Sonia’s team of merry men (and women), says that he is being targeted because of his community.

In his statement, Jaiswal states the very obvious modus operandi of the current government set-up, which I really hope that most Indians will be able to see through and remember when the elections come. The poor victim of caste discrimination said –

“The UPA government will not be affected by the allegations as it is headed by an honest prime minister (Manmohan Singh) who is also a renowned economist,” said Jaiswal.

Does it even make sense? Its really impressive to see the cronies in the government so confident of their abilities and power that they believe that any unintelligent comment should be enough to quell any queries from the general public and the media.  

Beni Prasad Verma, another Gandhi loyalist, said that it’s a good thing that prices are going up in the country, because that means the Indian farmer is getting more. If the citizens of this country spare some time from their television and try to find out about the economics of agriculture in our country, they will realize that it seems to be a punishment to be a farmer in this country now. Beni Prasad Verma has been a politician for a long time, and this comment shows that there are many politicians out there who, despite spending so much time as a politician, in power and in the opposition, still have no idea of the basic issues that afflict this country.

Another great Sonia spokesperson, Kapil Sibal, blames the private sector of this country for the policy paralysis we have been seeing in this crony government for the past many years. 

As for good ol Rahul, he must be so thankful for surrounding him with so many well wishers and protectors. He doesn't even have to speak a word to the media or to the people of this country and yet here is a mass of politicians praying for him to lead them. 

So all in all we are definitely seeing a great theatre of the absurd being played out all across the country. Citizens are insecure and unhappy, governance at all levels is breaking down, national security seems to be in tatters, and we seem very close to stagflation even if all the Queen’s horses say we aren’t. At such a time what can I do other than pour all my anger and bitterness in my blog? I know I will vote in the upcoming elections, and it surely won’t be the CON party, because if Rahul Gandhi becomes the Prime Minister, I know the people of this country deserve it.

sickular hypocrisy