Did Democracy really Win??

I have been closely monitoring (or was rather forced to watch by the Media, Facebook friends) the whole Anna Hazare episode that rocked the government and (thankfully) raised a sense of awareness in the masses about the cancer of corruption in our society. But I have a little counter view to this whole incident and would like to share that here. Sometimes a sense of unbridled virtue can also subvert democracy. The agitation by civil society activists over the Jan Lokpal Bill is a reminder of this uncomfortable truth. There is a great deal of justified consternation over corruption. The obduracy of the political leadership is testing the patience of citizens. But the movement behind the Jan Lokpal Bill has crossed the lines of reasonableness and democratic process. It is premised on an institutional imagination that is at best naïve; at worst subversive of representative democracy. Fast until death (Aamaran Anshan) is a purely personal and moral decision for an individual to recourse to a political , social or even personal issue that is grave enough to be highlighted and protested upon. But in a constitutionally established and functional democracy, its an inherent acceptance of the system failure to resort to such coercive moral powers as the fast is. So, the question comes to mind...

Did democracy really win???

Satyagraha was always considered as a sword with twin edges by the great person who used it as his main weapon, the Mahatma. He always cautioned the civil society against using this as a mean of black-mailing the established democracy. What Anna did was certainly for a noble cause (and no doubts on that), and thats the reason he was able to garner support of the masses. But the means used were not what are needed for a healthy democracy. If it was an autocratic rule and anarchy then its understandable to follow these means. But I still strongly believe that the nation should show faith into undoubtedly the biggest weapon in their hands....the FRANCHISE. If the public that rose to the occassion in showing solidarity to this cause, can also come out in equal or more strength on the day we decide who will rule us, the picture would certainly glimmer with hope. On the other hand corruption will not stop there, because the root cause is certainly not at the politicians level. Each of us contribute to it in a manner which takes ominous proportions overall. The day we stop this pipeline, our life will certainly be miserable...but then a corruption free nation will come at a price.

Rare है इन दिनों

कोयल की आवाज़, चाय में ताज
सर्दियों का मेला, सब्जी में करेला
कारों में ambassador, बजाज का स्कूटर
Rare है इन दिनों ....
रोड पे टोंगा, इलाइची और लौंगा
atlas का map, ऑरकुट पे स्क्रैप
मधुबाला की अदा, प्यार रहे सदा
Rare है इन दिनों ....
नेता में इमान, तीर और कमान
जंगल में शेर, बेरी के बेर
पैरों में पायल, सादगी का कायल
Rare है इन दिनों ....
दूरदर्शन के समाचार, दादी माँ का बनाया अचार
शादी में पंगत , साधु की संगत
मुर्गे की बांग , सिन्दूर भरी मांग
Rare है इन दिनों ....
लता की आवाज़, दुल्हन में लाज़
होली की पिचकारी , गोदरेज की अलमारी
संयुक्त परिवार, सात्विक विचार
Rare है इन दिनों ....

Recipe: Jowar ki masala Pudi

Here we are going to provide recipe for Jowar (millet) ki pudi (ज्वार की पुडी )

Ingredients [ सामग्री ]
1 cup jowar flour (white millet flour)
½ cup spring onions, finely chopped [प्याज बारीक कटा हुआ ]

1 green chilli, finely chopped [ हरी मिर्च कटी हुई ]
1 tablespoon oil

Coriander leaves chopped finely [ हरा धनिया पत्ती, कटी हुई ]

Gram floor 2 table spoon [ बेसन २ बड़ा चम्मच ]

Ajwain seeds [अज्वैन ]
salt to taste

2 cups of oil for deep frying

Method

• Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and knead into a soft dough, using warm water as required। [ सारी सामग्री मिलाकर आटे को गूँथ लें ]
• Cover and keep aside for 10 minutes. [ उसको ढांक के १० मिनट के लिए रख दें ]
• Divide the dough into 4-5 equal portions. [ उस आटे के ४-५ भाग कर लें ]
• Pat each portion on a dry surface using your palm into a circle of 125 mm. (5") diameter.
• Deep fry in a pan over a medium flame, till both sides are lightly browned.
• Serve hot with baingan ka bharta.

Racist attacks on Indian students...how racist?

The recent "racist(?)" attacks on a bunch of students in Australlia has created much of a roar in the public and media for last few days. Really need to understand what could have really lead someone to make such an attack, and is it just by chance that these incidents have occurred so closely in time, or there is something really burning in the minds of Aussies. The Indian community has raised concerns about these attacks for quite some time now. But are we as Indians considering that these type of attacks could become the order of the day with the Indians progressing at the pace we have been? We need to be better prepared for such instances now, as gone are the days when Indians were considered a deprived class and were more sympathized than be jealous of.
Indians have started emerging as one of the new super powers in the world diaspora and the not so ready western world is shocked at this new, powerful India.
With the Indians emerging as strong in every field now, its a challenge for us to be in the same terms with these western countries than before as not everyone will feel very pleased with the progress in economic and social life that we have achieved.
Even taking the example of the games like cricket, where the Indians were the first to initiate a collapse of the Aussie reign in the world of cricket. The resulting war of words and actions between Andrew Symonds and Harbhajan Singh could have been a hint of what the society there is brumming with. The kind of media attention this incident saw and the resulting division in the Aussie society reflected the soch of the civic society there.
Its imperative that the Indians around the world now realize their emergence and be more prepared for any such retaliatory actions. Its important that we maintain the same social bonding that we have created whereever the Indians reside around the world.

Just another Independence day

We just finished celebrating(?) our 61st independence day... But is celebrating and commemorating independence the only task we have at our hand? We saw images of the tricolor being burnt or another flag being hoisted up and above the tricolor. Are not these images creating a brawl inside us?
We definitely cannot ignore the extreme feelings of the valley, and the vehement protest against the Indian government being voiced more prominently now. If not completely, atleast partially this has reminded us of the Kashmir of 1980's. The whole issue of faith and