Problem of Plenty !

In a world plagued by acute shortages of  almost everything one needs - access to education; employment opportunities;  affordable housing; health care; food; petrol........... even fresh air to breathe is a little  hard to come by ;it is surprising how there are things in ample abundance. I am faced with one such problem of excesses. Blogging supposes that you will have some subject to blog about.  However there are days when you have nothing to say .  Mind is bereft of ideas . Thanks to  Indian scamsters today  I have  too many subjects to rave and rant about . Trouble is that there are so many  of them I am unable to decide which ones to take up and which  ones to leave alone.

Bollywood is not  exactly famous for any  incisive foresight or  brilliant imagination. Usually they like to lift their  music , storyline and  some times even titles from others - remember 'hari puttar". However this time round  the name  of a movie produced in 1980 titled "Choron ki Baarrat ( Grand Parade of Thieves)" may have  predicted the future with pinpoint accuracy. It is  uncanny that  the movie was  actually made by "citizen" pictures.  It  providentially   summed up my idea in one shot so I  have to acknowledge that  as a source of inspiration . Although an earlier movie with the same title was made in the sixties.

It is really a grand parade of thieves that is looting  the people . Just get these numbers. Let's just say that there are 110 crore Indians. That's 1100000000. Just the 2 G  spectrum scam is believed to be  Rs.1.76 lakh crores. That is Rs. 17600000000000. If we divide this number by the total number of Indians; every single Indian alive has been  cheated  of Rs. 16000 -  just in this scam alone! Believe me that is the number-  do the math yourself and find out how much your family lost . An average family of five has  been defrauded of Rs. 80000.  This fraud has happened  during the watch of arguably the most honest prime minister ever. One shudders to think if this is the situation under the most honest what would happen if he is  in fact less than 'most honest'!!

 Thankfully  IPL 3 was organized well so you got a bang for your buck. Even then there was a  huge falling out of thieves. Otherwise you would never have come to know who is making millions by  investing only "sweat  equity'' and who is milking billions by owning teams by proxy. Actually you still do not know the real story as the commissioner has flown the coop .Other beneficiaries   of course have  closed ranks  and shut the lid tight on the deals.  Undesired ex captains have been fired from all committees . Some names are only whispered  with trepidation and abject fear of  swift reprisals. So "pawarful" are the hidden masters of this scam. 

CWG is another Pandora's box. Skeleton after skeleton is tumbling out of it. This scam is so  masterfully convoluted that  there is no possible number that can be put to it.  There are several agencies involved and monies have been  made to pass  through multiple layers of  many  government departments and sub contractors  of  their indirect contractors. It will be impossible to trace who spent what in which account. Business Today magazine estimated that the Games cost  Rs 300 billion. That is  Rs.300000000000.  This was your money. So each Indian  paid roughly Rs. 275 for this extravaganza.  Jog back your memory and you'll remember how the organizers made every Indian hang their head in shame by their bungling and atrocious mismanagement in  the run up to these games. You will remember that items that cost 1 rupee in the open market were purchased  by them for 3.   That means on an average  2/3 rd  of our money has been siphoned off. where did all  of our money go? who has it?  Some minions are being questioned  now because of  intense public pressure but the main actor of this fraud  has been  allowed to go abroad . Mind you this is not a typical season for traveling in Europe. Summer is long gone and skiing season is far away. In fact he is still abroad  at the time of writing. I strongly suspect he was allowed to go  away freely in order to facilitate  the  total obliteration of  the money trail  in   the labyrinths  of safe tax havens . He will be back  only when you can no longer prove any thing in any court of law ; provided your chosen  government has any interest in finding your lost money for you. Which I doubt. This  is  the same guy  who has plans to "organize Olympics" with your money next ! He will do it too!

Adarsh society where politicians and generals got together and hoodwinked martyr's families out of their  homes is just the tip of the iceberg. Many  other  adarsh societies are yet to come to light . What has come out  in the open  though is the housing finance scam. Initially estimated to be Rs1000 crores. It is still unfolding and you will soon know how many more zeroes you should be adding to it.  There is no end to these scams and this list  goes on and on. Mining scams in karnatka ; dubious  public land grants to family and friend of the people in power . Lands that are all very difficult to put a dollar figure on.  Everything is  drastically under valued in the  archaic land record books . In reality it is several times that valuation. But it is public property  all the same and hence it is  public money that is being looted here. Have no doubts.

There are other kind of scams . Scams that robbed people of their faith  in  the institutions and their trust in the system . Democracy works because state power  is balanced between  it's different organs; judiciary is independent and constitutional rules are followed. If all else fails there is  a free press which informs  truthfully , educates  evenly and takes up cudgels on behalf of the people. Unfortunately scamsters have taken over this last bastion too! Journalists are regularly placing  false stories in the media on behalf of their masters. Editorials are dictated by commission agents.  Interviews are rehearsed  and  answers stage managed to give out only a sanitized version of truth. TV studios are used to broker power sharing deals  and promote the brand image of their political masters. Lobbyists decide who can or can not become a  cabinet minister.  It is hard to decide who is a lobbyist , who is an advertising agent ; who is a journalist and who is pimping his profession. Lines have blurred between them.  Imagine if  a Maneka Gandhi decided to invest in a  KFC franchise!!!!! Nothing wrong in itself but how does it sound to you? And that's  exactly how   influential and powerful media stalwarts have behaved.  They have posed  to us as journalists but acted as brokers and commission agents. My apologies to both brokers and agents ; they are honest  people and comparing  them to these crass apology of a journalist is an  unintended insult to them. Paid news is called  a commercial; biased information is called advertising; using your reach and position to influence events and public opinions  is called lobbying ; being a go- between two parties to form an alliance that will be beneficial  to all three is called brokering.  It is not journalism .  Not by a long chalk. They should not take the public for idiots. I wonder if the advance commission for  that brokerage was in the shape of an undeserved civil honour?  Remember these awards are given in your name .  Do you agree with them? These scamsters want you to believe in their paid commercials as gospel truth. Thankfully this scam has come to surface by  sheer chance.  But check how these people  then ganged up to orchestrate a complete blackout  of this expose' in  both print and electronic media; just so they can  deny you the truth and continue to befool you. Although again it  is just the tip of the iceberg  but now that you  have heard the tapes  and read the transcripts ; what has become of your faith in  the media?

One thing all these crooked scamsters share is a very thick skin. Nothing fazes them.  They  still strut about  and are parading without fear. They are without  any remorse at their attempts in making a fool out of you and have  absolutely no intention of returning a  single red cent.  Just listen to their explanations and you'll be amazed  at what a low opinion they have of people's intellect. They have no respect for  you  because they know you have a short memory and elections are far away. They are  so successful because they have banded together and you are a lone voice they can smother  easily or you are  just keeping quite. They wield the  political power; they wield the power of their media and they wield the punishing stick and they have the money - your money! You only have your voice-  so scream;   your vote-  so vote , do not sit at home; your mind-  so think! What is it that you can do to take back what clearly belongs to you? Just remember the Bollywood movie "Choron ki Baarrat ( Grand Parade of Thieves)" that inspired this blog was made by "Citizens" and you  as citizens will also be complicit if you allow this real parade of thieves  to go unchallenged by your inaction. You then must become the rain that stops this parade in its tracks and have them running for cover.  Each  one  of us is just a drop  but there are 110 crore drops ;  together that'll become a downpour on this parade if you wish it. That was your money ; that was your future ; that was your faith ; that was your innocence ; and that was your hopes they robbed. The scamsters are mocking you . The scamsters are  still laughing at you ! You have to become that rain! You must!!

One big ass mistake!

Very soon after Obama got elected  president  of the USA, his republican rivals started calling it "One Big Ass Mistake America"!  A spoof  with racist overtones on  Obama's name and the fact that  donkey (ass) happens to be the democratic party's symbol . Few months into his presidency later a lot more  Americans have started agreeing with this and all of them are not republicans. As his recent electoral reverses show ; people are  just not convinced that his throwing billions at wall street has got  them anything in return. According to a survey 58% Americans are not sure if they can make their next mortgage payment. That is a very very scary  number indeed!  On top of that he is as lost in Afghanistan as he ever was. America has shovelled another  bunch  of billions  into  the bottomless pit that is " Rent-a-Army Pakistan ". All that money has disappeared  too with no  worthwhile results to show against the  Islamic terror machine.   In fact  a large part of these funds  routinely get routed to Pakistan's favourite terrorist groups .  Obama's Secretary of State Ms. Clinton is saying so but US is unable to do anything about it . It is that helpless! America is  forced to fund a war against itself.  Obama's election slogan "Yes we can " is sounding more like " No I can't".  

During the first great war it was considered unlucky for three soldiers to light their cigarettes with the same matchstick. Since battle ground wisdom dictated that when the first soldier lit  his smoke the  enemy saw it ; when the second soldier did  it the enemy aimed his rifle at the light and when the third did - boom; enemy fired at the light.

To be fair to him , Obama is the unlucky  third man on the light. He inherited  this economic/ political  time bomb that was planted during Bill Clinton's presidency and ignited during George Bush's.  Even If we  discount his over promises as an electoral necessity  and under performance as a reality check  ; the fact remains that he is dancing in a mine field and every  bumbling step he takes, some mine or the other blows in his face.  Here is one guy who  can use  a lot of help himself -  Now ! Do not think what Obama can do for you ; think what you can do for Obama!

 That is the reason I  find it strange that so many people in the Indian sub-continent are looking towards him to find solutions for their problems. It was very comical to see the separatist Kashmiri Muslim groups collect signatures in boxes to be presented to Obama ; asking for his intervention on their behalf. I was unable to find in the media what if anything came of this large  meaningless exercise.  Most likely He was probably bringing in a bigger signature campaign of his own from  the  teeming American unemployed asking for an intervention from Manmohan Singh on  their behalf!

Obama's official hosts; the government of India on the other hand had prepared a large wish list of their own. Starting with rollback on H1B visa fee hike to declaring Pakistan a terrorist state. It was  a long list with a lot  of other stuff in between. Except for some flowery prose about his support for India's UN Security Council bid , which will take a long time  to happen if at all ; I did not come across anything specific  that Obama might have conceded.  It is nothing short of hilarious that you are asking him to charge you less money when he is in an economic downturn and can use every cent and dime. Even more  stupid is India asking him  on  their behalf to deal with that very Pakistan   which is  smartly making an ass out  of America  day in and day out and getting paid for it  in the bargain!

Pakistan was not invited to these discussions ; so they decided to hold a discussion among their army and  their civil government. All to present a wish list  to Obama of their own. Starting with '  scale back India's role in Afghanistan'; to 'do not back India for UNSC'; and' tell them to give up kashmir'; and  'we also want a civil nuclear deal ........ It was arguably the biggest wish list amongst all. They continued a constant litany of their woes  throughout  Obama's visit to India but were hampered by the fact that  nobody was  paying any attention.

A witticism on the net goes like this,'' Neither God nor Obama can produce a birth certificate but  God does not think he is Obama'.  Jokes apart , Obama is not God ! not even close. The trouble with people is that we do not wish to take ownership of our own problems . We want a peg to hang our worries . That's the reason  why we are constantly searching for a messiah who will come and deliver us.  It is like  not even wanting to spend a dollar on buying lottomax and hoping to land the jackpot.  What are the chances? Also  since God is  fresh out of stock on messiah's   we   tend to deify  anyone we can . Even just barely better than ordinary people  are given the mantle and  then  we expect them to solve things  for us. Obviously these "chosen ones"  are not able to deliver instant nirvana. We the people are  even quicker to condemn them and go on to find another shoulder to cry upon. Obama  just happens to be  the current  "soup of the day".

Although  many people have commented on how Obama  has got some of his wishes during  his Visit to India and how he gave out stingily himself . They have commented on the respective benefits to  the participating countries and who won , who lost . They questioned the usefulness  of such jaunts or the lack of it . The best  commentary was by Jaswant singh. As a former Indian minister for external affairs his understanding of how these processes work is less than none.  I agree with his take   that  these trips should not be made "destinational" ; rather it should be " directional" . Essentially   manage your expectations;do not expect big results. As long as you are  deepening mutual understanding  and finding common ground , it is worth it.

Obama  is on a help finding mission for his own problems ; Just do not expect   him  to give you solutions to your problems.  Now that would be  one big ass mistake; "mother of all mistakes".