Che-from revolutionary to capitalist tool

The funniest thing that I saw in the year 2008 was a person wearing a T-shirt with the image of Che Guevera and using what looked like an i-phone or a PDA. I doubt whether he even knew who Che Guevera was let alone what the man stood for and his work. You see a lot of such people, who just want to show off and to impress. They pretend they are macho or intellectuals and use certain philosophical sounding words without even knowing their meaning and purpose. These are individuals with nothing to claim as their own except their dad's VISA power and are desperate for attention.

While dwelling on this topic, I would also like to discuss about those who use Che's name for spreading violence. Various organisations use his image and perpetrate crime and violence in the name of the revolution. If that comes against a government that has been treating its people unfairly or against rulers who are inept to govern a nation or whose intention is only greed, it must be justified. But when this violence comes against a democratically elected government that is functioning decently and that too for unreasonable demands, like the ones raging in our north-east for example, it is simply exploiting the image to give authenticity to their own anti-national activities.

I really do not care whether a person uses an i-phone simply because every person has the right to do whatever he wants with his money and time, but my request is, do not insult a great revolutionary like Che in the way I mentioned in the beginning. I also do not care whether an organisation believes in revolution, but when you spread violence, it must have its valid reasons and must not use images, names and the memories of TRUE revolutionaries to give authenticity to a struggle that has no meaning and purpose except political manipulations and destabilisation of a legitimate government.

Double Standards Abound

The whole world is obsessed with equality and human rights, advocated mainly by the west and agencies in Scandinavian countries do their own bit by writing damning reports about third world nations for the violation of human rights and the absence of freedom of expression and speech. An amnesty international report was severely critical of India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan for its apparent lack of respect of human rights. The report said that the new anti-terror laws passed in India and the retention in custody of over 70 people for more than 2 months without trial were uphauling, Serious cases of human rights considering that India is the only nation to have tough anti-terror laws whereas the Unites States have been providing 5-star accommodation to Afghanis and Iraqis in Gitmo and Abu Ghraib.

The violation of human rights in India is a serious matter and we do have our own agencies looking into the matter. More troubling are the matters in several other countries, but when the world's biggest muscle power provide mute permission to the worlds greatest human rights violation, no one can really do nothing about it. An entire population in the West Bank and Gaza are being exterminated by Israel while it is being watched by the international community. Israel is taking four times as much water as the Palestinians from a vital shared aquifer, Israelis use 240 cubic metres of water per person against 75 cubic metres for West Bank Palestinians and 125 for Gazans, and in some areas of West Bank, it is as low as 10-15cms per person according to the World bank (The Hindu, Friday May29, 2009-"Israel: 80 per cent of West Bank water for Israelis"). A wall has been built to protect Israelis from attacks across the border, but what this has only achieved is the siege of a small strip of land supporting thousands of people, who are simply going to die due to lack of basic resources.

Last Christmas saw some of the most horrifying attack on a group of helpless population by a nation that is growing fat from the cash inflow from the United States(Israel has long been the biggest beneficiary of US aid) which can simply trample upon its helpless neighbours with the ease of crushing a fly. Is not this a violation of basic human rights? May be this does not involve the violation of our freedom to speech, which I think is the only type of human rights violation that is considered by these international agencies, for they highlight cases in Burma, China, Iran etc with great emphasis.

The media also follow up, but all this is merely a cover-up of the actual violation basic rights that happen in the west. Discrimination on the basis of race still exists and immigrants are still looked down upon. Cuba still suffers from the US blockade, a remnant of the cold war era and one based only on ideological difference. Amnesty International was founded on a newspaper article that emphasised the quote "I detest yourviews, but am prepared to die for your right to express them." by Voltaire. There may be differences in our belief, religious, political or others, but you have the right to express them and also practice any belief or ideology and in the case of Cuba, communism the offending ideology. Isn’t that an internal matter and one that should be left to the island-nation's own decision?

A resolution was moved to investigate war crimes in the recent conflict that ended the LTTE reign of terror in Sri Lanka. All that happened was that a decisive government felt the moment was right to end a bloody struggle waged by an organisation that has left thousands dead, (not to mention a former Prime Minister of India) and also acted as the beginner and inspiration for the new mode of terrorism and insurgency that is threatening the entire world. The enthusiasm and interest shown must be appreciated, but what about what is happening Gitmo, Palestine, Iraq and Afghanistan? Don’t they amount to any rights violations or require any investigation into war crimes?

It's a wonderful life

I would like to recommend a movie that all of you should watch.

I just saw the movie “It's A Wonderful Life” and it is one of the best I have ever seen. It is one of those movies that will definitely put a smile on your face and also a few tears of joy. It is such a wonderful story and I would call it the best Christmas movie ever. It's about a nice guy (George Bailley) who falls into trouble after his uncle accidentally looses the money from the bank that they are running and when the auditors come that day, there is a shortage and he is about to be arrested making him wish that he wasn’t born and that’s when his guardian angel comes to try and rescues him. This angel has not yet got his wings as he has not qualified yet and if he is able to help the guy (George), the angel would get his wings. Watch the movie to see whether the angel gets his wings and whether our hero is able to save himself.

We do feel sad and we at times wish that we were not born or we would rather that things were different, but this movie shows how one life touches so many others and how important we all are to this world. The movie teaches us a lot, but I sincerely hope all of you could just watch the movie 'It's A Wonderful Life' instead of me blabbering about it. I can assure you one thing, once you see this movie, it will change the way you look at yourself and also will feel a lot happier.

Make hay while its dark and damp

An article in The Hindu dated 25 Feb,2009 read 'No Joint Ventures for Rail Projects'. Railways had initially decided to invited bidders for 33 Joint Venture projects, but recently announced that it would be completed by the railways by itself as the response by the bidders were poor. The reason such a turn of events could be-

In this time of economic crunch, organisations are looking for cross-sales(more sales or profits from existing customers or their existing field of work) and are disinclined towards going into unchartered territories.

This is for the first time that the railway is offering a JV on Electric and Diesel locomotive Factories and Coach Factories and these heavy industries require enormous investment and technical skills. This requires lot of money, which the companies do not have and it needs new human resources in terms of qualified engineers, technicians and skilled labourers which adds to the cost and a lot of technology which might be unfamiliar to the company.

It is therefore essential that the government utilise this time. The price of raw materials have come down, there is an economic crisis looming and unemployment is rising. The government must initiate employment generation programmes in the form of infrastructure development and invest in education. The benefits are

1) Once the recession is over, we will be in a better position to jump ahead in the race. In Formula-1, when the safety car is on, the race cars are required to drive slowly. During this time, most of them take a pitstop to refuel and change their tyres so that when they can resume racing, they are well positioned to leap ahead. India must adopt this strategy.

2) Low raw material price means we can complete more work than before, when the price of commodities like cement, steel and fuel were sky-rocketing.

3) Investment in education, especially higher education means that more individuals will now go for specialising their skills. More graduates will prefer going into the teaching, pure science, research and development field as it is much more secure. Till now, these were neglected due to the slow rise in pay and promotion and the hardwork involved. Increased investment in education will result in highly qualified workforce for the coming projects, a highly experienced teaching force and more thrust to science and technology.

There are companies that are making use of this downturn. The developers of the Mundra Port and Special Economic Zone had asked for permission from the Board of Approval (BoA) in the Union Commerce Ministry to almost double the power generation capacity at the sector-specific SEZ at Kutch in Gujarat (The Hindu, May29-2009 ‘BoA to decide on Mundra, DLF plans’. The developer had given justification for raising the generation capacity stating that economic slowdown had resulted in a reduction in the price of power plants and the lower capital expenditure. This decision is based on the sound reasoning that once the recession is behind us, there will be a spurt of developmental activity and if they double their capacity, they will be ready to make use of the opportunity much before anyone else can even think come to a decision about their future course of action.

A little bit of foresight will enable us to overcome the economic downturn, if not benefit from it. We often hear the saying 'Make hay while the sun shines', I say 'Make mushrooms while its dark and damp'!

A True Champion

Even in the jaws of defeat, one man showed incredible character and unparalleled talent, that’s what made me a fan of Roger Federer. Until that night in July, Federer was a Tennis hero, someone who had decimated his opponents, generated comments that put him among the greatest to have ever played the game and his defeats were referred to as mere proofs that he was from this planet and human, but to me, he was just another great player, which in itself is a very short list. But the Wimbledon Final of 2008 was the greatest tennis match I ever saw and whatever happens, nothing will come close to it.

Federer was decimated by Rafael Nadal in the French Open just a few weeks ago, the only slam Federer was yet to win. But Wimbledon was a different story, it was his SLAM. He had equaled Bjorn Borgs record of 5 straight Wimbledon titles, and had not been threatened by anyone during these 5 years, apart from a small scare perhaps by Andy Roddick or Lleyton Hewitt. Federer had done it all and was going for a record-setting 6th Wimbledon title. It was a dream final, but what happened was beyond the expectations of anyone. Tennis was just a sport that I paid attention to, but rarely had I seen a live match until then.

Nadal won the first two sets and looked like he might romp to victory and a major landmark in his career as his first slam outside of the Philippe Chatrier court. In the 3rd set, serving against Nadal who was on Championship Point, I saw the greatest comebacks in history and a true miracle. A string of Aces to win the game, Federer clawed back into the game and won the 3rd and 4th set.

Although Nadal won the match and the Championship, it was in defeat that I saw Federer rise up above everything humanly possible and something beyond belief. That was when I became a fan of Roger Federer, a true champion. On this occasion, when he has overcome that one thing that can be the only stumbling block from calling him the greatest ever, he has won the French Open. Some might say that he has not won the "Grand Slam" and that his record against Nadal is not great, but I just do not care, as Bjorn Borg has won only the French Open and Wimbledon and he is called a great.

Is Federer human or something beyond? Well, he is human, but once on that court, he is god and it is a world that he rules over with grace, skill and at times, the most unbelievable of miracles.