"Where the mind is without fear..." R. Tagore.

The Alamo. San Antonio Tx. USA.

The drawing has nothing to do with the text below. I think I am flouting all rules of good blogging. I just cant abide by meaningful titles and related content.  I am a maverick. Populist anarchy rules.*

The Republic day of India is a grand spectacle. The largest democracy in the world celebrates the anniversary of its formation on the 26^th of January in the capital New Delhi.   India became a republic in 1950, three years after independence from Great Britain.

There is a parade along the beautiful Rajpath, lined with some of the most beautiful Government office buildings in the world.  The British architect, Edwin Lutyens had designed “New Delhi” in 1911 as the capital of British Imperial India.

The parade includes columns of the armed forces, floats with new weapon technologies, all followed by a colorful display of the diversity of people in India.  Civilian and military heroes are celebrated.   The range extends from a schoolgirl who rescued friends to soldiers dying in shootouts with Pakistani insurgents in Kashmir.

While everyone seems to enjoy this spectacle in the beginning of the year, some folks do have objections.  I for one, think that the colonial style horses and finery could be done without.   Same for the missiles and tanks.  Way too Socialist Eastern Bloc kind of muscle flexing.   The floats celebrating the culture of the Subcontinent are great. And the TV commentary could be a bit less flowery.   Much less flowery. “Let us now turn our adoring eyes upwards to the blue skies …”

* The President of India has asked citizenry not to indulge in "Populist Anarchy" this election year.

Fisher of souls

Ambazari Lake, Nagpur, India. August 18 2013.

I have  been fishing a few times. Caught a fish once.  I enjoyed the trip but not so much the flopping around  of the fish.  But then I did eat it later.  Oh well.
The one thing that stuck in my head from the instructions from my friend and boss who had taken us fishing was that don't fidget with the line once its cast.  Let the line sit and watch the float.  Patiently.  I am not very patient. I  moved the hook around if nothing happened after five minutes. Later I saw a kid amongst these fishermen catch a fish.  He did follow those rules. He cast the hook and then set the rod down by his side. Hugged his knees and squatted as he watched the float for any signs of bobbing. All of a sudden he grabbed the rod and reeled in a fish.  

Pointing fingers at everyone

Off Laxmi Road, Pune

The Indian Parliaments House of Commons ( Loksabha) will come up for elections soon.    India is the worlds largest democracy. It also has a very diverse population. 16 odd official languages. 44 odd dialects.  At least five major religions. ( Hinduism, Islam, Sikhism, Christianity and Judaism.).  In the last fifteen years at least 5 additional states have been created from the original 24 (!?).

Multiple poliical parties exist.  The top two currently are the BJP and the Congress.  The current Govt Of India is ruled by a majority of the Congress party.  The Congress parties last five years have been marked primarily by huge corruption scandals.  The BJP, that used to be in power before, is ideologically linked to Hindu fundamentalists.  India will go to the polls soon.

So....I had an interesting visit by two middle aged ladies this Sunday afternoon.   They told me they were taking a public poll.  They mentioned a electoral roll.   Asked if I was a registered voter ( I am) and then asked me to answer questions about using the internet to cast my vote.   Turns out they work for  a marketing agency.  They then asked me some perfunctory questions about my internet use and inclination to use the internet for elections.  Rather cunningly, the questions then turned course towards asking me for my facebook ID, my email, inclination to get political information via email etc.  Of course I did not give them any details.  The next set of questions asked me to list "Political issues" based on my concerns.  eg. "Corruption", "Access to education" , "Infrastructure" etc. Then a variety of questions about religious preferences etc.  I bluntly told them I was done answering any more questions about my political views or religious.  They were quite nice  about it. They said they come to our neighbourhood often. Wished me and left.   Looks like Indian politics is learning fast from the west. And with resources to spare, as India gets more affluent, such relatively sophisticated means of getting information and selling it to political parties seem to be on  the rise.