When money and power talk...

That title is an indication of what politics is all about. Summarized and characterized by just 2 very simple but very important words. When money and power talk, anyone, absolutely anyone will have to shut up. That s the pity of it all.

A very well educated person. Probably he/she might have topped the I.A.S (Indian Administrative Services) exam, but that person can do nothing but just advice the stupid minister on what should be done. Of course, even if the person is very well educated, there are always 2 ways to get work done. 1- Money (read as bribe). 2- Power (read as threats).

It was a few days back that I was reading these couple of articles in a newspaper. Something that really proves that one can do absolutely anything with these 2 weapons- Money and Power.

As people who might be reading this blog from my hometown, Chennai, would undoubtedly know that Tamil movies which have their title as a proper Tamil name would be granted a tax exemption by the state of Tamilnadu. 1st of all. What's this rule going to bring? A renaissance of sorts for the Tamil movie industry? or is it going to increase the vocabulary? or is it going make our newsreaders and actors say words such as "pazham, vazhkai" properly? or is it going to bring down the pricing of movie tickets at multiplexes? or is it going to reduce the price of petrol? All that it's going to do is just give the movies a good for nothing tax exemption, even when the movie made is hardly of even the lowest possible standard. There are certain big shots in the movie industry who get the tax exemption despite the movie not having a proper Tamil title. The reason- money and powerful positions and people. Now that's politics.

One other article is one which shows how poor the law and order situation is in Chennai at the moment, is one on eve-teasing. Rowdy elements have always been a part of Chennai, but wreaking havoc on ladies travelling in trains is the height of it. Spitting, commenting on the ladies and making sure that other passengers who try to oppose these rowdies are given a hard time and a piece of their minds makes passengers want to desert the trains forever. The railway police are very efficient in sanitizing the trains of vendors and beggars, but are not so very inclined to ensure the safety of the passengers by any means. How come these rowdy elements have a field day? Political backing and support. Politicians need these rowdies and criminals to do their dirty work and in return they get immunity from arrests. Wonder if politicians and policemen would allow these rowdy elements to even exist if they dared to touch their daughters/sisters/friends.

There have been so many girls who have died due to this menace of eve teasing. This will not end until and unless there are good cops who dare to stand up against such anti social elements, good politicians who do not need rowdies and anti social elements to help them win elections and make money for themselves. In fact, it all begins with us- the people- by voting for the right person. Lets make our city, our state and our country a better place for all of us.

P.S: With all due respect to the Chief Minister of TamilNadu (I know you will not be reading this article sir, but it would be nice if action is taken against such anti social activities).

Some things can never change...

Elections are fast approaching in India and political parties have already started doing the usual thamashas for the elections. The sort of gimmicks that they pull.. omg...

Some of these include premier ministers claiming that elections are far more important than some major sports events. Well, honestly, both are useless, except that sports events promise entertainment and do give people that, while election promises are more often than not (god, please forgive me, I know I am lying here. People who are reading this know the truth) blank promises.

It's at this point of time during a politician's career, does he/she choose to visit their constituencies, that have faced with nothing but neglect, since the day that the politician was elected. Stupid common people as we are, we tend to believe some stupid promise that a politician gives us.
"Gharibi hatao" meaning "we will remove poverty" was launched during the pre-historic age ( it seems that long), and till date, we do find people begging on the streets. "India Shining?" with electricity failing in many parts of the country? And whatever happened to promises of proper infrastructural facilities?

There was this election a couple of years back, I remember. It was a local election. There were some shameless workers of a political party, some of whom I know personally, casting votes. Casting votes- not in the way that simple common men like you and me do. They are special souls who are entitled to cast as less as 50 votes in a single election. What say now?
That was paper ballots people, it won't be long before poltical parties go technical. Maybe they'll even tamper EVMs to register only a single party's vote.

And anyways people, please do vote ( I dunno how many people read my blog, but those of you who do read this blog, please do vote.) Don't sit at home claiming that "all those standing for my constituency are not good enough". Do that and your vote is taken away by some vote monging, unscrupulous party worker for his/her own party, without you even going to the voting booth.
If you feel that your constituency has no good candidate, you can still walk up to the election officer (unless he's an inside man of some party) and tell the officer that you want to post a negative vote. By doing this, an election can be re-held in your constituency, with fresh candidates standing. So people, PLEASE DO VOTE.