On A Loose End

It was broad daylight. Now on the pavement, I was calling out to my friend's son in the crowd. I couldn't see him anywhere. Neither could my son, who was standing next to me, throw any light on it. If losing your son or daughter is not enough, losing someone else's is a nightmare. With my son's hand in mine I started moving through the crowd calling out to the other boy. Then I saw him, through the moving crowd across the road about eighty meters from where I was. Two men were walking along with him one of them pulling, almost dragging him along. "Stay right here," I shouted at my son and ran towards the men with my friend's boy. By the time I reached the spot the two guys had gotten into the car and the car had started moving. I chased the car as hard as I could, weaving my way through the traffic. The car was much faster. It took a left up ahead. I knew the area and stepped into a by-lane with the intention of cutting off the car. I came out on the main ...

Opportunity knocks, but once. Opportunities are not lost, but are taken away by others. These are some phrases we grew up with. I remember them, so do many others, then why have the Indian politicians forgotten them. After having faced the brutal terror attack on Mumbai and with the irrefutable proof that Pakistan was behind the attacks, the Indian governing class and the bureaucracy have taken actions straight out of a rule book or maybe a "How to handle the aftermath of a terror attack" article. Or, maybe the Britishers left some guide book with the Indian leaders when they left the country. Someone needs to tell these politicians that all their books are dated and they need to get some innovation and fresh ideas to handle the issue. They have made the right noises to get the world opinion to side with the country, they have also got some of the world leaders to render advice to Pakistan, one which Pak does not care two hoots about and there has been some rhetoric on the In...

After the attack on Mumbai, like it always is, the public outcry was loud and pretty clear. People started shouting Enough is Enough. Campaigns, petitions and blogs were started on public's lack of trust in the office bearers across barriers and departments. The noise is steadily and surely dying down. The media house which put the words "Enough is Enough" in the mouths of the public is now vehemently exhorting people to go shopping to India's biggest shopping festival. One small ray of hope which came out of the Mayhem, and which in my opinion is the key to wresting back the power from the politicians and the political parties was the viral-e-mail about section 49(O) of the THE CONDUCT OF ELECTIONS RULES, 1961 ( http://lawmin.nic.in/ld/subord/cer1.htm ) The e-mail said that if the number of voters opting for not voting in accordance with rule 49(O) was bigger than votes secured by any of the candidates, it would result in a re-poll. Alas, this very bit of informatio...