Rapes galore, rapists on prowl!

Delhi girl gangraped by minors; 12-yr-old Raped By Traffic Cop; Seeking revenge, HIV+ man rapes minors in TN Woman gang-raped in moving car ---

These are some of the headlines I happened to read in the last few days with great pain and agony.

In the last six days alone, Delhi has witnessed four rape and one attempt to rape case.

This apart from many other rape, molestation and woman abuse incidents which were reported all over India. Every one knows that this is only the tip of an iceberg. Many cases must have gone unnoticed due to obvious reasons.

If one goes by the current trend in Delhi, most of the victims are the hapless minors who belong to poor famiies. The increase in number of woman abuse cases points out the total failure of law and order and lack of will by the law enforcement agencies to crack the crime.

The law makers should understand that out of all crimes, rape is the one which is 'unperdonable' as it affects the victims' morale, pshycological and emotional balance and ofcourse, their physical being.

Even criminals discard them when they reach the prison. According to a latest report (read here) these rapists are being asked to do odd jobs such as cleaning the toilets and other sedentary works by hard-core criminals.

Rapists should be given the maximum punishment as per the law. The trial court should take not more than six months to pronouce its verdict which should not be challenged in other courts including the Supreme Court.

Also there should be an awareness among people about the implecation of the crime.

Rape victims should be protected from the social stigma and provided with help by the voluntary organisations to get over the incident. Why not government come out with a scheme to protect the rape victims keeping their identity under wrape? Why not movie stars sponser such victims and help them get good life instead of throwing money on unnecessary publicity stunt? Is anyone listening?

Actress Asin has become a scapegoat

The inter-state water dispute between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu may nip the booming career of actress Asin if one goes by the SIAA's general secretary Radha Ravi's open threat to the actoress.

Just to satisfy the press Ravi has mentioned three more names - Napoleon, Karthik and Radhika who too failed to turn up for the fast organised by the film association in support of Hogenakkal water crisis.

Film industry sources say Asin is being threatened by the Tamil film industry since she has no political godfathers.

The interesting part is that actress Radhika is the wife of SIAA's chief and actor Sarath Kumar and also the sister of Radha Ravi. Will she get the ban from the Tamil film industry? No way.

In independent India, anyone has the right to express his views on any issue. Also, no one has the right to force their view on others. If Asin did not attend the fast it is her personal wish. Why should she hauled up for exercising her fundamental right? In what way this act show that she is anti Tamils and pro Kannadigas? Just rubbish.

Also it's reliably learnt that the move is aimed at forcing the rest of the Tamil film industry to unite against Karnataka so as to force Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi to take strong action with regards to the Rs 13.3 billion Hogenakkal project.

Poor Rajinikanth had to budge to avoid the backlash from his "Karma Bhoomi". Now he will have to be careful when he visits Karnataka.

There is hardly any meaning for the words like pluralism, federalism and yes, unity in diversity here.

The Creamy Layer which Makes Us Sick

Reservation for creamy layers is gaining momentum in Tamil Nadu, the state which has implemented the reservation to its fullest possible level to appease the voters. Including the OBC, now more than 65 per cent of govt jobs and educational seats will no more be available to bright general category poor students.

Their fate is, after 10+2 they will have to take up any computer course or pursue post graduation in science, arts or commerce subjects to become a teacher in private schools/colleges or settle in some BPOs or in some odd jobs. Their sin: born to an upper caste parents. In the recent days, many have written about the issue, much has been said about it, but the end result is nothing.

Today when I passed through a narrow lane of Egmore in Chennai, I saw a Tamil tabloid displaying a headline "Enemies of Creamy Layer". The jovial part here is that the whole of English words were written in Tamil as ‘Krimy Layer" which in Tamil means ‘a layer of disease spreading organisms’.

I was wondering, indeed, these 'creamy' layers who are fighting again for reservation are indeed spreading the disease to weaken our society by grabbing the opportunity of other deserving people. They are the creamy (in Tamil version), which ails our Indian society.

Today in another news read: OBC quota demanded for judiciary also. This will add more chaos to the already chaotic judiciary. There is a limit for reservation. After more than 60 years, if we cannot bring up a particular section of the society, it should be considered that they are incapable of making to the upper strata of the society. But this is not the case; So many doctors, engineers, politicians, and other professionals want their children to be covered under SC/ST/OBC reservation norms. This is highly deplorable. This will lead to brain drain.

Sample this: Recently an education fair conducted by New Zealand witnessed unprecedented rush of young people who want to pursue studies abroad as they fear they will have to face tough completion to get a seat for engineering or medical. What a shame.

Are we a good host to our guests?

Atithi Devo Bhava! This is what India is known for; giving warm hospitality to her guests/visitors. But the scenario is not same. We cannot even encourage guests not more than a day or two in our homes due to growing socio-economical problems.

But the government is not suffering from any such problem, except with ‘Minorities’ syndrome’. That is why the UPA govt has grown insensitive towards Taslima Nasreen’s issue. It's true that a guest should behave like a guest. But everyone knows that the author has not done anything to threaten the integrity of her adopted nation. She might have hurt the sentiments of her people in her writings, but only a small group is upset about it.

That doesn’t mean that the spine-less government should go by the views of a few people and suffocate the writer. Then the yardstick should be same for MF Hussain too. The painter should not be allowed to enter into India for showing Hindu gods and goddesses in a bad light in his works. Instead of making the life of the acclaimed author miserable, the government should make the Muslim heads come for a talk to resolve the issue.

As the author has already tendered her apology, the clergy should accept it gracefully and allow the author to live freely in her favourite home Kolkata. It’s painful to read that Taslima has decided to leave India for some other country.

If that happens, we should remove the word Atithi Devo Bhava from the ancient relics and the Indian tourism department should immediately change its slogan as we are no more a hospitable host.

What a shame Sanju Baba!!

"Faced with a bigamy complaint filed by Maanyata’s first husband Meraj-ur-Rehman Sheikh, Mr and Mrs Dutt has filed an application in a city sessions court denying that they are married." - DNAWhat a shame. Sanju Baba is in trouble again.

It seems marital bliss is evading once again for this unfortunate soul. In the present case, it shows even close pals are now distancing themselves from Dutt due to Manyata's increasing intervention. First the couple openly pronounced that they were married, then came the pregnancy rumors and then came the bomb shell from Pune court annulling their marriage due to discrepancies in Manyata's affidavit.

Now, with her former husband threatening to file a case of Bigamy against Manyata, Mr and Mrs Dutt have pronounced that they are not married. Why this volt-face again and again Mr Dutt? By doing all these, you are blotting the image painstakingly built by your father and freedom fighter Sunil Dutt, who would be crying from the heaven.

Now God only can save Mr Dutt from the clutches of Manyata, whose sole motive (it seems) is to grab Dutt’s property. As per Goa’s Marriage act, wife is entitled 50 per cent of Husband’s property immediately after marrying him. That is the main reason for the couple opting to marry in Goa.

Do We Need A Quota For Quality Minds?

This refers to the news item that the honorable Supreme Court of India upheld 27 per cent reservations for the OBCs in central educational institutions while declaring that creamy layer (among OBCs) should be excluded from the quota.

One day India will be a place for minorities, no doubt. The country is fast losing her 'bright brains' to substandard ones. Everyone knows the quality of a person passing out with 90 per cent and getting into professional institution and those passed with grace marks getting into the same institution with reservation tickets. If this person becomes a doctor, engineer or scientist, what will happen to the nation? Will he/she do justice to his profession?

The negative effects of reservation have already started showing on India's growth. Go to any government organization. You would find a person (a reserved candidate) sitting on the helm and ordering his/her subordinates who are much better than him in terms of education, brilliance, and decision-making ability.

What to do? This is the ugly face of India. Several sensitive postings in government organizations are now being held by people from reserved category.

I am not against reservation or people marked as backward class. What I want is equality and fair play. Rerservation should be on the basis of economic condition of the candidate. Several brilliant students are unable to enter into IITs or IMMs due to lack of funds.

Why should we introduce a system to have separate institutions for the people of reserved category? Just like we have it in universities-- regular and correspondence stream of education, OBCs and other backward class people who have secured just pass mark should be allowed to study in this institution. They should be given extra care in terms of education so that when they pass out with professional degrees, they would be at par with the meritorious students.

Instead of announcing cheap rations, free colour Television sets, sops for farmers et al (where half of the money goes the politicians’ hands) government should introduce a transparent poverty alleviation program, Education for all and jobs on the basis of merits. Will they do it in the election year??

Should I say TATA to TATASky?

When we landed in Chennai on 9th February, 2007 from the most beautiful city of India (Chandigarh), one of our major worries was to fix up a cable connection to our TV-addicted kids. Our worry multiplied further when we realized that the local cable networks did not fodder the required Hindi and famous kids’ channels which my children wanted to watch. After analyzing the pros and cons of various private operators, we finally zeroed in on TATASky connection thinking that the brand will never disappoint us.

The instrument and connectivity came with a price tag of about Rs 4,000, which included the cost of Digicom, dish and connecting charges. The service was prompt though the monthly subscription was little on the higher side compared to the charges that we were paying at Delhi and Chandigarh for the same channels. But for children’s sake, we decided to bore the brunt. Later the house hunting episode began to go nearer to our elder son’s school in Virugambakkam.

After a few months of ordeal we could only manage a house at Mogappair in June 2007 which was about 7 km from his school. When we shifted from Amabattur to Mogappair in June 2007, the TATASky charged us a shifting fee of Rs 600. I was wondering since the connection comes via satellite, why this hefty charges being forced upon the hapless ‘non-house-owners’ in Chennai where getting a rented accommodation within one’s budget is only next to impossible task!

My children were the happiest lot as they could now watch channels of their choice. Meanwhile, the company launched a few more value-added services such as Active wizkids, games and offered education packages for children of all ages. I bought a package for Rs 300 for one year subscription and my kids finally turned their attention from the boring cartoon channels to something educative and productive. Days went off smoothly before we decided to shift again to a house nearer to our son’s school. He was traveling by auto every day from Mogappair to his school and the long journey had an impact on his health. To end his ordeal we shifted to Virugambakkam on March 3, 2008.

When contacted, the TataSky asked us to leave the dish and wire at Mogappair flat itself as the company would provide a new dish and wire for relocation cases. But the charge remained the same; Rs 600. I was mentally prepared to pay this price for the sake of my children again. But when TataSky representatives came to my new location with a dish and a spiral of cable they promptly told me that Rs 600 is only a minimum charge for relocation. If the length of the wire exceeds 20 meter (they later told me that the length exceeded 20m), I will have to pay Rs 200 more. Since our building has concealed wiring for cable connection, they put another bombshell saying that I had to pay another Rs 500 for concealed wiring. I told the representative to go back as I did not want the connection anymore. But within two days, I realized that I cannot keep the TV dark, as my children were getting bored after the study session.

I searched for the website and tried to post a written complaint at www.tatasky.com. Alas, there was no email Id of any responsible officer available to handle customer queries. All they have a ‘contact us’ section where I need to login using my customer ID number and choose options like Relocation, Multiroom, Change in details, Change package, etc. I made a written complaint on 4th of March asking the company to reconsider their policy of charging more (Remind you, Dish TV charges only Rs 300 for relocation) in relocation cases and go for a moderate tariff. After a day, I got a call from the company’s rep in Bangalore, expressing sympathy for the hardship I had to undergo and promised that my complaint would be processed faster. But after almost ten days had passed by, neither my connection has been restored nor have I got any information about the status of my complaint.

My question is simple. Why should the company charge Rs 600 as relocation charges when it offers its new connection for Rs 1,500? (Of course with a hidden charge of Rs 1,000 as activation and connection charges, which they have not advertised). Now, I have no option but to bow down to the exorbitant charges of the TATASky as I have already invested about Rs 5,000 including the special package offer. What would happen to my monthly subscription of Rs 300 as I am not using the connection since March 3? Will they redeem it? Again, the company has no answer for it.

Interestingly, the company told me that my feedback was the first one they received regarding the relocation issue!!! Can anyone believe it?

I do not know how many TATASky customers are undergoing the same ordeal. Will the company come out with a clear cut policy regarding the connection charges for people who relocate within the city limit? Also, I request the company not to outsource their customer services to some unscrupulous people to avoid exploitation.

The ultimate sufferers however, would be the customer and the image of the TATA brand, which would go for a spin. Will all these go into right ears?
Like my TV I am also still in dark!!!.

This article can also be views at:

http://kriyer.sulekha.com/blog/post/2008/03/should-i-say-tata-to-tatasky.htm