Gender inequality

The draft bill for women's representation in state legislatures and parliament has been placed before the house. Whether it will get the legal status, remains to be seen.On previous two occasions, the same draft bill was dumped on protests by parties like SJD and RJD .Although the professed stand of these parties are in favour of reservation, they have some reservations on the proposed bill.They seek a caste based quota on this reservation .
A pertinent question need to be answered. Forget about the bill,why sufficient women are not coming forward to contest elections to state legislatures and parliament as of now?

• Are they wary of the dirty politics ?
• Is the male political bastion not giving them sufficient elbow room ?
• Does the family members object ?
• Is it due to the illiteracy level among majority of the rural women folks ?
• Are political parties having a gender bias ?

There is considerable increase in women empowerment, in many other fields .But the percentage is abysmally low.Besides ,it is all from the elite group and not from the mainstream women folk.When this is the situation one can easily surmise on the thinking of some of the political parties, having a predominant rural support base.Once this bill is passed ,it would become imperative to field 33.3 percent women candidates in each election.In other words the men folk would coerce or intimidate women to contest elections (since many of them would not opt to contest an election on their own volition) . They would be literally driven by the menfolk in their party or family . With 33.3 percent women members in a house , it goes without saying, many of them would even become ministers. One can visualise the kind of extra constitutional authorities that might come in to play.This is what is happening in panchayats now , where this reservation has already been implemented.

Imagine a house ,with one third of the members as women.It would be a colourful house.The presiding officers of the house of representatives may, have some reason to smile.They can at least hope ,the women members would not let loose pandemonium in the house and they can conduct the business peacefully.The reverse could also happen. The women folk could get influenced by the male members and the situation could get worse also.

If the idea behind this bill is women empowerment , I feel the priorities should be elsewhere, as rightly said by the Nobel laureate Amrtya Sen. We should first start with eradicating the female infanticide.Improve literacy among rural women.Give equal employment opportunities in all fields.Above all, should work towards a society with equality in economic independence of women.Once all these are achieved , I don't think there will ever be a need for a bill like this.

The new face of Cricket

Cricket today is different from what it was years ago . During the Test era (When no ODI's were there) Cricketing skills of a batsman was purely his staying power at the crease. With the advent of ODI's it turned out to be the scoring power of a batsman .Now with T20 it is is the hitting power of the batsman for every ball he faces . Olden days Cricket was all about shot selection on the merit of the ball.Now it is all about how hard a batsman can hit the ball irrespective of the merit of the ball and sky rocket the ball out of the park .Coaches like Greg Chappel used to say Cricket is not a rocket science. But now it seems it has got some thing to do with rocket science , looking at the way SIXES are hit in the IPL tournament!!!After all cricket is an one ball game . One good delivery can get the batsman out . If the one ball game dictum is true , no one can find fault with the way even established international batsman play the T20 games .There is an element of risk in swinging the bat at every ball he faces .It is a question of probability .The batsman may connect or may not connect .There is also an element of luck , with the kind of field placements in T20and the fielding lapses.The batsman deliberatley takes these risks and the success rate of even a good batsman can be erratic .

The IPL T20 tournament's,Corporate Franchise's have already brought in a sense of insecurity to great players of the game .Big names in international Cricket are in disarray.They do not know what is in store for them . Few more bad games may even jeopardize their cricketing career.This is all because cricket has been commercialized and the niceties and nuances of the game has been lost .The HIRE and FIRE policy of corporate bodies are something new to the cricket icons of the nation. Even if the team on national duty did not perform , at the most the players were booed and had to face the public and media ire for some time . Soon it will be forgotten and the next time he or the team performs well , they get a different treatment from the media and the public. This was OK for many of our cricketers . This doesn't mean they performed below par on national duty .Every time they play for the nation , they give out their best . Win or loss in cricket depends on so many factors like the opponent , pitch , form of the players ,luck and skill .Remember , there are so many variables and after all it is a game. One wins and one loses .Good sportsman spirit understands this and does not mistrust its players BUT CORPORATE FRANCHISE'S are different . This is also a business venture for them . As is their won't they want accountability and deliverance and forget this is a game.

Is this good for the game ? Apart from many senior professionals , this could kill many budding talents also . The lure of money has made it an instant success with the players .It is also popular with spectators .Only the posterity can tell the impact of T20 on cricket !

Karnataka polls

Karnataka polls are scheduled for May 10,2008 .I feel the Karnataka electorate should vote for a single party rule.The largest single party should have simple majority to form a government on its own strength.In the event of a fractured mandate ,national parties like Congress and BJP would again be at the mercy of the smaller regional parties.
Once bitten twice shy .
Both Congress and BJP have learnt bitter lessons from the aging wily politician manniana maga Deve Gowda and his two sons. An hung assembly would once again make Deve Gowda the King maker.Public at large were disillusioned with HDK's refusal to hand over the reins to BSY last time.Despite this HDK,appears to be the most popular among the prospective CM candidates . Strange and inexplicable are the ways of the learned and knowledgable Indian electorate . Probably he appeared to be honest and simple in his approach and was fairly good at cheap gimmicks.
Besides the national parties , the DMK ,and TN political parties are keenly awaiting the Karnataka poll results. A congress ruled Karnataka would be in the DMK's wishlist.It would expect the congress government in Karnataka to resolve the Hognekal dispute to the mutual satisfaction of both the states.On the other hand a BJP win or a coalition government could further hot up and escalate the issue or it might go the Cauvery way as an unresolved and perennial dispute between the two neighbouring states .
Whatever may be the outcome ,and whoever occupies the saddle ,one fondly hopes the new incumbent government would in right earnest address to the growing needs of the metro and maintain cordial relations with its neighbouring states .

Language

Language fanatics only finally turn jingoists.Languages are only meant for communication .In many Indian regional languages lot of English words are used in day to day conversations.This is because it was used for ages and is convenient . Besides it is easily understood by others than taking pains to find out a native equivalent .Even if there is a native equivalent in some Indian languages ,most people are not familiar with them . Since it is unfamiliar you may have to explain them using the English word in some cases .Some langauage enthusiasts go to the extent of belligerence while dealing with people who use foreign words in conversation. I feel this is uncalled for .

To cite a few common English words in use are Bus , Bus stand, Train , Railway Station , Shirt Pants , Button ,Tailor ,Hotel ,Lodge ,cycle ,car so on and so forth .The list is by no means exhaustive.What is wrong in using these words in day to day conversations .

I appreciate people who try to coin new words or equivalents for these words in Indian regional languages.They should first coin such words and popularise them . Until such time there is nothing wrong in using foreign words.

The problem with chauvanists is that they decry those who use English words along with regional language.These language lovers should be tolerant and continue to strive hard to develop the language without hurting others who speak the same language of theirs .After all they are all their own brethren.

The Harbhajan Slap

The two bad boys of Indian cricket have made news again for the wrong reasons . The punishment handed out to the sardar is by all means perfectly alright . Just a couple of months back the entire nation stood behind the Sardar in the needless controversy down under on the firm belief the turbanator was not guilty at that time .The entire Australian media blamed Bhaji for erratic behaviour.But back home Indians thought otherwise.

Now Bhaji has let down the entire nation by slapping a fellow Indian teammate .Whatever might have been the provocation the Sardar shouldn't have done this to a teammate.The IPL match referee has again erred by letting Sree go scot-free.It is high time he is also given some punishments .Had Sree also been punished , it would have been a precedent and sent a strong message to all the players .

Hope better sense would prevail between the two, when they resume national duty together and will not carry any animosity .