Still single in the city - All Comments

re: New Year Resolutions (or is it New Year’s Resolutions?)

Anand — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 03:15:56 GMT

@Simer - I am afraid your "Rule 49-O vote-for-no-one" idea makes no sense to me. What do you hope to achieve with such an exercise?

re: New Year Resolutions (or is it New Year’s Resolutions?)

Anand — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 03:03:46 GMT

Sushmita - I can understand your position and in fact I had exactly the same views 10 years ago! But, I have realized since then that this is an untenable & ultimately irrational & dangerous view. Why? Because if everyone had such a position then we might as well be handing our country over on a platter to a dictator. Today, you can say what you want about politicians - but you cannot deny that they are accountable to us every 5 years. If we vote we can atleast ensure that there is regime change. Voting ensures accountability and its our duty to atleast pick the lesser of two evils instead of simply sitting on our hands and watching the world go by.

re: New Year Resolutions (or is it New Year’s Resolutions?)

Simer — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 19:48:50 GMT

Political Talk... Yet again :-).. Sushmita - I miss the triangular parathaas :-) :-) @ All: Ok... I guess U all forgot about the Rule '49-O' which I posted a couple of weeks ago after the 11/16. Well here it goes again "Rule 49 O of the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961 provides that If an elector, after his electoral roll number has been duly entered in the register of voters in Form-17A and has put his signature or thumb impression thereon as required under sub-rule (1) of rule 49L, decided not to record his vote, a remark to this effect shall be made against the said entry in Form 17A by the presiding officer and the signature or thumb impression of the elector shall be obtained against such remark." I would also not be able to exercise my right of vote since I'm away in NY. So all U people there 'vote for no-one'. @ Pawandeep: Buddy I can't resist to agree with you that there can be a really suitable candidate sometimes: From this assembly constituency of Rohini, this candidate from BJP has struck a hat-trick like our CM - Sheila Dikshit, with the fact that Congress is in power. So people there don't vote for BJP, but they do vote for the man who has done so much for the area. @ All again: Its sick to learn about the unfortunate rape of the MBA student, but still we have people like an ex-'sarpanch' of the village from the accused belong, who has the balls to say 'It was just a rape, no big deal' (Read HT front page Jan 8). The man should be dead meat by now. Also I don't understand one thing - when these criminals are exposed, who do the cops cover their faces when they are clicked by the press for the news... let the people see who these brave men are...

re: New Year Resolutions (or is it New Year’s Resolutions?)

Dhiraj Bhardwaj — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 09:10:56 GMT

Sushmita: To say that you dont want to vote for corrupt scamsters is somewhat understood..but dont you think there can be a deserving candidate who don't win because you & I don't go and vote. Afterall it's we the common people who can bring the change. As far as I am concerned I think voting is a more powerful tool to express than all those candle light marches combined

re: New Year Resolutions (or is it New Year’s Resolutions?)

pawandeep — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 07:32:06 GMT

Strong words from you Sushmita. I can understand, the disappointment,because of these corrupt and selfish politicians. But my advice to you, atleast get your VOTER's ID card. Because a situation may come when you find a right and deserving candidate, but you won't be able to vote because of ID card. I voted first time in this assembly election in Delhi, because I found a deserving, young candidate from Lajpat Nagar Constituency, and after his victory , I got inner satisfaction, that atleast I was also a part of this change. ...8th Jan..yes Presley was the King.

re: New Year Resolutions (or is it New Year’s Resolutions?)

sushmita — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 05:31:53 GMT

It's Elvis Presley's birth anniversary today. He was the greatest!

re: New Year Resolutions (or is it New Year’s Resolutions?)

sushmita — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 05:29:12 GMT

Anand: When I was writing my last comment, I had all intentions of adding that there may now be a barrage of protests: the old argument about how we, educated Indians, are selfish and uncaring and don’t want to do our duty. The reason why I don’t plan to get a voter’s ID card is very simple: there’s nobody really who inspires me enough to vote for him or her. We all know it’s time that we had politicians who are in the game for the sake of responsibility, NOT money and power. In my family, I’ve had generations of conscientious voters. Of late, I’ve been hearing stories of how local leaders and sidekicks of local leaders gloat about exactly how they rig the ballot boxes. It’s really sick stuff. I don’t want to be part of it because I have better things to do. The day I feel empowered enough to know that rapists and killers in the country won’t be freed simply because they have connections in ‘high places’, I will gladly perform my ‘duty’. Also, if I had an ID card, I’d have probably voted, just to ensure that my vote wasn’t misused. Everybody: talking about Satyam and Raju, it now seems (well, obviously!) that there was political backing for him to conduct the scam. Do we want to be part of the process that votes these people to power? I don’t.

re: New Year Resolutions (or is it New Year’s Resolutions?)

sushmita — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 05:29:11 GMT

re: New Year Resolutions (or is it New Year’s Resolutions?)

sushmita — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 05:27:29 GMT

Vipul: thanks for your comments, and welcome to the fold.

re: New Year Resolutions (or is it New Year’s Resolutions?)

Anand — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 04:21:11 GMT

Sushmita - I am really surprised and disappointed to hear you say that it is a "relief" that you don't have to vote. I strongly believe that every people deserve the government they get. In a democracy the government and the politicians are a reflection of the citizens of the country. If good citizens do not want to get their hands "dirty" and get into politics or atleast to go vote, then they really lose the right to criticize the govt. Why do you think our politicians are always wooing vote banks such as the poor people or farmers? It is because they know the apathy of the urban educated ones - they know we will not bother to vote. In the highly populated educated Bangalore city last year in the assembly elections, we had less than 40% turnout!! In the villages we have 60%+ turnout. The villagers are un-educated and will vote for anyone who promises them rice at Rs.2 per kilo or free tv sets or free power. Thats how people like Mayawati are in power today. If we - the educated people of India - are willing to give up our most fundamental right (to exercise our franchise) so easily, then India is indeed in big trouble.

re: New Year Resolutions (or is it New Year’s Resolutions?)

Dhiraj Bhardwaj — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 16:31:45 GMT

Very true Ashish, my heart really goes out for all those people who invested in Satyam...you know I was discussing this fraud thing with a friend and he informed me that world bank banned Satyam because while working for world bank what Satyam people were doing was they were overlapping WB's Account and showing it as loan account and also there was widespread data theft, to uncover which WB took almost a year, so you can think how smartly they were playing

re: New Year Resolutions (or is it New Year’s Resolutions?)

shipra — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 16:08:21 GMT

even i was thinking about the auditors of satyam (and this is not a youngish company we are talking about). And about NOIDA god i almost go to G.I.P. (the mall the girl was in) every week from my college, and as a matter a of fact i'd cancelled my program for monday!! Nobody's safe - with or without friends (especially in Delhi NCR).

re: New Year Resolutions (or is it New Year’s Resolutions?)

Ashish Bose — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 15:45:00 GMT

Satyam Computers...(the market crash) news today has shaken the Indian share market like never before (after Harshad Mehta scam).Think of the investors who had put thier hard earned money into this company & then in ten minutes the share value goes down by 80%! As it is sofware industry in in doldrums & this will further add to the woes.I fail to understand how such a fraud happens (over a period of 5 years!) & the auditors of Satyam are none other than Price waterhouse ( one of the best in the business).All I can say "anything is possible in this country"

re: New Year Resolutions (or is it New Year’s Resolutions?)

Dhiraj Bhardwaj — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 14:12:58 GMT

Sometime back got the news that Satyam Computers founder-chairman B Ramalinga Raju resigned owing responsibility for accounts fraud of nearly Rs 40 billions, & also that bidding process for Satyam has begun; thinking what will happen to its 50000+ employees in one of the biggest economic meltdown of all times. What an irony that a thing called money which human made for its own advantage is ruining them over & over again

re: New Year Resolutions (or is it New Year’s Resolutions?)

sushmita — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 12:41:02 GMT

It's such a relief I don't have to vote: not only won't I be in India, even if I had been, I wouldn't have been able to vote, coz I don't have a voter's ID card. Yes, Pawandeep, I saw about the MBA student rape story in both HT and Times of India. It's absolutely outrageous that such things keep happening with such unfailing regularity. That's one thing you don't ever see here in Dubai: laws are so stringent that no one dares to commit a crime. At times a lot of Indians scoff at how 'undemocratic' things are here (for reasons as inane as the fact that one cannot buy liquor off the shelf, and need a licence), but if in a democracy people are given so much freedom that they can rape and kill at will -- and then get away with it -- who needs it?