Since a year there has been lot of news about India catching up to speed with passport issue. From the earlier 45-60 days for a fresh passport, they said most offices had upgraded themselves to computer-assisted passport offices and so, the lag had come down to 14 days. Now if you read the fine print, or no print in this case, it is clear that there are at most a few Indian cities that follow this so-called fast process. On top of that, Indian passport office website carries tatkaal option, albeit available at select offices. Having seen Thane under that select list made me happy some time March end. Under that scheme, a reissue of a passport would be done in 3 days! I couldn't believe my eyes. It was too good to be true.
In any case, I read up all that there was to be to read about such reissue process and also what need be done for tatkaal process. I even wrote to the Thane passport office and heard back from them asking me to apply online. The website also says that applying online for the passport will give you a date and time of appointment due to which you'll be saved of the time to wait in long queues waiting for token. So what I did is apply online, take a print out of application, get all documents ready, old passport, its copies and the tatkaal documents: Annexure I [standard affidavit that cost me 400 bucks thanks to notarized crooks here :) ] and more than the 3 required proofs, 1000 bucks for fees and 1500 more for tatkaal. I thought its still worth it if I don't have to wait for 45-60 days.
I expected to come back home for lunch on the said day having been given an *appointment* at 1000hrs at Thane passport office, which was also printed on my online application. To my utter shock, I was told in their enquiry counter to stand in a queue, take a token and wait for the number to submit my application. There were tons of people doing just that, some with online application, some with manual application and yet some more who were buying the application forms there and filling it. All were in the same freaking queue! So much for "apply online, avoid queues" crap by our govt offices. Much past noon, I hit the scrutiny counter. The moron who was to scrutinize my application told me that I can't get a tatkaal reissue. On asking why not if I had the affidavit and more than all the required proofs as per the website FAQ, he told me "passport valid tar pahije" (your passport should be valid)! If my passport had been valid (not expired), why would I apply for reissue??? Is that so difficult to understand? Moreover, he asked me if I wanted the affidavit back. When I told him its no use elsewhere, he gave me the affidavit back saying "you can use it somewhere else". Where can you use an affidavit that says "Standard affidavit for passport"? :) I suppose thats what you get in hiring people under reservation schemes.
I returned home thinking how I wasted 500 bucks for paperwork for tatkaal, but then calmed down thinking I saved 1500 bucks. Now I wait in eternity for police to call for verification, pay their "fees" and someday get my passport. I realized if its too good to be true, perhaps it is.
Showing posts with label govt. Show all posts
Showing posts with label govt. Show all posts
The lost horizon of the emperors (by R. Vaidyanathan)
A must read article for everyone is here as published by Indian Express on 21st June 2009. The copyright is as mentioned in the link.
At every seminar on financial matters these days, there’s one question that lingers — even during the coffee breaks: will the economy recover, and when? And, it isn’t about the Indian economy but that of the US. I reiterate it will take at least 40 quarters — that’s a decade — for America to recover. I tell this, and am shunned — like a swine flu patient.I still maintain the US is going the banana republic way what with a national debt of more than $10 trillion, which is more than 80 per cent of its national income. Not only that the budget deficit is skyrocketing; it’s expected to reach more than 10 per cent soon. Last year, the US financial regulatory agencies came up with plans of financial support worth $6.8 trillion — comprising temporary loans and liability and asset guarantees. And by the third end of the first quarter of 2009, the financial support programmes reached $13.9 trillion.The federal deficit as percentage of GDP is now expected to reach more than 10 per cent. There will be furious printing of more treasury bills and notes. The expected inflation is going to rip apart the society and the largest selling item in the last quarter was handguns and rifles. Already intriguing reports have come about attempt to smuggle more than $134 billion in treasury bonds by two Japanese citizens through the Italian border into Switzerland. It could be a ploy by CIA or really a daredevil act by some foreign government to destabilise the global financial system. I am waiting for the creditrating agencies like S&P to downgrade the US economy like other developing countries and prove their independence from the sole superpower. High hopes. Angus Maddison in his pioneering work for OECD on the global GDP share for the last 2,000 years has brought out an interesting fact pertaining to India and China. As early as the 1820s, China (33%) along with India (16%) and other Asian countries had a share of more than 55 per cent in the global GDP. By the late 20th century, it has declined to 29 per cent. The China percentage slid to 12, India’s to 5.In the next 20 years, India should plan to have a share of at least 30 per cent of the global GDP. These imply that India should be racing ahead. If India grows at 8 to 9 per cent in the coming decade, then it can become the world’s third or fourth superpower.But it also implies that, parallely, the West should decline in terms of their importance in the share of global GDP and world affairs.Since the total is 100 per cent, any increased share for India and China would automatically reduce that of the other two.Unlike the Great Depression of the 1920s, the current crisis for the West is not just an economic crisis. It has a dimension of demography and conflict (ongoing war with radical Islam) to it. Demographic, because Europe is slowly fading away from the global map. It used to have more than 20 per cent of the global population during the First World War, and now has less than 11 per cent. What’s more, it’s expected to shrink to three per cent in as many decades.The reproductive rate in many European countries is less than 1.5, whereas the stable one is 2.1. In the case of US, the crisis is more severe due to its declining savings rate and a long-term tendency to nationalise families and privatise government.Social security and Medicare system in US is classic case of nationalising families.Such a declining Empire is dangerous to deal with. To start with, it does not want to accept the fact that it is a declining Empire.Plus, it wants to retain its sole power status when it realises that its writ does not any more hold good. It tries to bully India.Whenever a US official visits India, the beards in J&K become more active. Remember Robin Raphael of the nineties vintage who propped up the Hurriyat Conference? India recalls with anger the role Robin Raphael played during the Presidency of Bill Clinton in encouraging the formation of Hurriyat Conference, the umbrella organisation of moderate terrorists and terrorised moderates. Her only name to fame was she studied together with Clinton. When Hillary comes to India, the level of violence in J&K will increase. I wish someone in foreign office in India plots the correlation between visits of US officials and mob frenzy in the downtown Srinagar.The declining empire realises that its elbowroom is becoming lesser and lesser with the Pakistan army that owns and controls a country. Islamabad always has a peculiar way of coming to discussion on any issue.They keep a gun on their own head and argue with others. That is, they always threaten others with catastrophe if money is not given to them. This is the most sophisticated begging anywhere you can see in international relations. Bribing them won’t stop the plotters against the “US Satan”.The next thing the declining empire does is to cringe and appease. The speech by Obama in Cairo is of that variety. He ascribed every human scientific endeavor to Islamic civilisation. Forget the Hindus who invented zero, forget Ptolemy and forget Copernicus. Just rewrite history. The third thing a declining power does is to pressure others to sacrifice on its behalf to buy peace with bullies. It cannot deal with radical Islam and if the ISI (that is what is critical — not the ten per cent Zardari) needs to be appeased with a piece of J&K, then the US will try to arm-twist India.Herein comes our ability to understand declining powers.We must internalise that US is a declining power and our bureaucrats must chant it hundred eight times on a daily basis. We should also remember that USA is very uncomfortable in dealing with democracies.It’s natural ally is always a dictatorship since they can be “use and throw” friendships.Dealing with democracies is messy since they talk about a domestic constituency and behave similar to USA. A mirror image of itself is unacceptable to “sole super power”. As India continues to grow at more than 8 per cent — and simply due to the power of compounding emerges as a major power — the desperation of the declining power will be more since our terrorist neighbour who has a the largest begging bowl and highest per-capita AK-47s will blackmail the declining power to appease him to keep peace.What is in Indian interest is the continuation of civil war in Pakistan for, say, another ten to twenty years — ambient conflict — sort of auto-cannibalism which will be a dynamic disequilibria — situation.Other option is to have at least three or so states created out of that entity. The concept of stable Pakistan is passé and a mirage and that should be unequivocally communicated to the declining empire.Remember the last century. The declining British Empire — now it is the sick child of Europe but still with a grand illusion of influencing Indian sub-continent — created havoc by partitioning the land. The current declining empire may be tempted to do something rash to protect itself. And therein lays the challenge for our political leadership and mandarins. Dealing with a declining empire is more difficult than dealing with a stable empire.
Kasab sahaab
In response to Rajiv's first point about UPA's five year term...
Come on, don't be so harsh on Kasab/ Qasab please. He's a kid, claiming to be 17 yrs old, pressurized to give those earlier statements about being trained in Pak. Sometimes he understands English completely, sometimes he doesn't; how can you blame him then?
In fact, you can understand how serious Congress/ UPA is in providing security, they want to try it out on him first before they extend the trial package to Indians too. Around Kasab's jail, roads are being closed and remade elsewhere for his security. Remember this, Indians around there are just Mumbaites who lost their lives in terrorist attacks many times, so they won't be inconvenienced by mere roads being closed... they still have their lives, right? What does the judge know who heard a petition filed by locals there and asked the police to go to jungle for Kasab's case if they can't provide security!
Kasab has clearly said that newspapers, perfume, walks, etc, are basic necessities for keeping him from going insane. His sanity needs to be intact to do ultra-intelligent work like shooting innocents in Mumbai/ India, as and when need be. In fact, the hearing should be postponed, indefinitely, not only until the new lawyer reads 11000 pages of the chargesheet with a 3 month vacation. Anyway, Pak has given a deadline of May 5th to close all investigations about 26/11 to their various departments. Why even waste everybody's time, let poor Kasab go back to wherever he wants to, even give him money that is being spent by India for security of Kasab, lawyers, witnesses and infrastructure changes.... better now, than after 20 yrs of the case running, when anyway he will be free.
Come on, don't be so harsh on Kasab/ Qasab please. He's a kid, claiming to be 17 yrs old, pressurized to give those earlier statements about being trained in Pak. Sometimes he understands English completely, sometimes he doesn't; how can you blame him then?
In fact, you can understand how serious Congress/ UPA is in providing security, they want to try it out on him first before they extend the trial package to Indians too. Around Kasab's jail, roads are being closed and remade elsewhere for his security. Remember this, Indians around there are just Mumbaites who lost their lives in terrorist attacks many times, so they won't be inconvenienced by mere roads being closed... they still have their lives, right? What does the judge know who heard a petition filed by locals there and asked the police to go to jungle for Kasab's case if they can't provide security!
Kasab has clearly said that newspapers, perfume, walks, etc, are basic necessities for keeping him from going insane. His sanity needs to be intact to do ultra-intelligent work like shooting innocents in Mumbai/ India, as and when need be. In fact, the hearing should be postponed, indefinitely, not only until the new lawyer reads 11000 pages of the chargesheet with a 3 month vacation. Anyway, Pak has given a deadline of May 5th to close all investigations about 26/11 to their various departments. Why even waste everybody's time, let poor Kasab go back to wherever he wants to, even give him money that is being spent by India for security of Kasab, lawyers, witnesses and infrastructure changes.... better now, than after 20 yrs of the case running, when anyway he will be free.
Hindutva
I've finally got sucked in to writing on a controversial topic, especially during elections: Hindutva. For people who do not know, the word Hindu itself has come from a meaningless non-existing link of religion, and has come to stay to become a religion. Thats a word that will not go away, of course. The word Hindu, from the simplest trace among many similar, comes from Persians refering to us as Sindhus, those staying beyond the Sindhu river and their pronounciation of the phoneme si as hi and dhu as du. That continued to be related to the religion followed here, Sanathana Dharma (the eternal set of righteous rules, so to say) and became earmarked as Hindu, forever.
So what is sanAthana dharma? Among gazillion things, including atheism, through polytheism, to monotheism, without contradicting (surprising to people who take everything on face value), its a religion that classifies categories of people based on their work and since one usually follows work that runs in the family (a doctor's child mostly looks to be a doctor, a marwadi runs his father's business, and so on), its by birth too. A person that subscribes to this *thing* is termed a Hindu, one that voices it (me, with my trumpet!) is a Hinduvadi and this *thing* subscribed to, this *concept*, is Hindutva. With that logic, everyone can be categorized as a Hindu. Hence vasudhaiva kuTumbakam, the world is one family.
Back to political link, its all a contradictory governance, where on the one hand, brahmins are being made a singular minority in a country among a singular minority that is already made of Hindus, due to political nonsense and on the other, we voice that there shouldn't be SC, ST, OBC, untouchability and what not. For the record, there is nothing called untouchability in the Vedas, there are four classes of people, based on their birth-and-work. If its not clear, go back to basics, read them *yourself*, don't voice something that comes from polito-religious freaks who have never studied even basics, and if they have, they deliberately hide it from you in their vote-bank interest. I'll add it here for an easy look up, from the pancama veda that Mahabharata (and no, Mahabharata is not a mythological story, it is Itihaas, meaning history, and a much better recorded one, than our fake schoolbook history) is:
janmanA jAyate shUdrAh samskArAt bhavet dvijAh
veda-pAthAt bhavet vipro brahma jAnAtiti brAhmaNAh
I'm not going to write a commentary on it, but suffice it to say that everybody is a shUdrah by birth, only with values does one become a twice-born (the other three *classes* NOT *castes*), which is similar to a logic that modern education makes a person superior (yes, socially it is so; if not, why be in a society?), studying, reciting and understanding Vedas makes a person a pandit and knowing brahma (for simplicity, I'll translate this as: infinity), does one become a brAhmaNa.
Having said all that, I'll repeat, everybody is a Hindu. Finally, if that is really how great an advanced secular society we want to be, not calling ourselves Hindus, why not do two very simple things:
Vande Mataram! Jai Hind!
So what is sanAthana dharma? Among gazillion things, including atheism, through polytheism, to monotheism, without contradicting (surprising to people who take everything on face value), its a religion that classifies categories of people based on their work and since one usually follows work that runs in the family (a doctor's child mostly looks to be a doctor, a marwadi runs his father's business, and so on), its by birth too. A person that subscribes to this *thing* is termed a Hindu, one that voices it (me, with my trumpet!) is a Hinduvadi and this *thing* subscribed to, this *concept*, is Hindutva. With that logic, everyone can be categorized as a Hindu. Hence vasudhaiva kuTumbakam, the world is one family.
Back to political link, its all a contradictory governance, where on the one hand, brahmins are being made a singular minority in a country among a singular minority that is already made of Hindus, due to political nonsense and on the other, we voice that there shouldn't be SC, ST, OBC, untouchability and what not. For the record, there is nothing called untouchability in the Vedas, there are four classes of people, based on their birth-and-work. If its not clear, go back to basics, read them *yourself*, don't voice something that comes from polito-religious freaks who have never studied even basics, and if they have, they deliberately hide it from you in their vote-bank interest. I'll add it here for an easy look up, from the pancama veda that Mahabharata (and no, Mahabharata is not a mythological story, it is Itihaas, meaning history, and a much better recorded one, than our fake schoolbook history) is:
janmanA jAyate shUdrAh samskArAt bhavet dvijAh
veda-pAthAt bhavet vipro brahma jAnAtiti brAhmaNAh
I'm not going to write a commentary on it, but suffice it to say that everybody is a shUdrah by birth, only with values does one become a twice-born (the other three *classes* NOT *castes*), which is similar to a logic that modern education makes a person superior (yes, socially it is so; if not, why be in a society?), studying, reciting and understanding Vedas makes a person a pandit and knowing brahma (for simplicity, I'll translate this as: infinity), does one become a brAhmaNa.
Having said all that, I'll repeat, everybody is a Hindu. Finally, if that is really how great an advanced secular society we want to be, not calling ourselves Hindus, why not do two very simple things:
- Remove caste from all government forms and other documents.
- Then, remove religion from all government forms and other documents.
Vande Mataram! Jai Hind!
26AS Income Tax India
I was totally flabbergasted when an e-mail from IT India popped up in my inbox at 0140 hrs!!! My first reaction was that they are tracking down people who haven't paid their returns. I haven't this year, yet. My excuse, covering up laziness, is that I didn't have any regular income to do that. Then, I thought maybe its about my long overdue IT refund. It was neither. I read the mail and read again, after I opened the attachments about my TDS account, my 26AS form [Annual (Tax) Statement]. This is what it was, in their own words: The Income Tax Department (ITD) has started transmitting the Annual Tax Statement of taxpayers as a part of its citizen centric exercise.
Interesting, very interesting. However a good move that is, it still reminds me of my job at L&T where I used to make hectic company tours, mostly back to back. That was almost 13 yrs back when my salary was menial -- well, old economy job as it was-- and it wasn't a good idea to put all my money in company tours with travel advance shelved for further tours, till earlier statements were cleared. My co. used to keep my statements pending when money was due to me, and clear it off faster when it was the other way around. There was a simple Chanakya Neeti solution for me: an overdrawn IOU (I Owe yoU) advance.
All this detour just to say that everyone wants you when you owe them money, no one is going to come and give your dues to you. The age old principles applies to India IT as well. They are not going to mail me for IT refund for AY2007-2008, but they have an account of my TDS ready and mailed for AY2008-2009. Perfect.
In any case, we must all pay our TDS, advance tax, IT returns, however bad our govt utilizes that money (maintains); aren't we "responsible citizens" after all? :)
Vande Mataram, Jai Hind!
Interesting, very interesting. However a good move that is, it still reminds me of my job at L&T where I used to make hectic company tours, mostly back to back. That was almost 13 yrs back when my salary was menial -- well, old economy job as it was-- and it wasn't a good idea to put all my money in company tours with travel advance shelved for further tours, till earlier statements were cleared. My co. used to keep my statements pending when money was due to me, and clear it off faster when it was the other way around. There was a simple Chanakya Neeti solution for me: an overdrawn IOU (I Owe yoU) advance.
All this detour just to say that everyone wants you when you owe them money, no one is going to come and give your dues to you. The age old principles applies to India IT as well. They are not going to mail me for IT refund for AY2007-2008, but they have an account of my TDS ready and mailed for AY2008-2009. Perfect.
In any case, we must all pay our TDS, advance tax, IT returns, however bad our govt utilizes that money (maintains); aren't we "responsible citizens" after all? :)
Vande Mataram, Jai Hind!
Gulaal
It seems that each generation passes on its cumulative frustration to the next one, which bursts out as some form of an angry expression. While movies like Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi, Rang De Basanti and A Wednesday expressed it on the silver screen, Mumbai Meri Jaan and Black Friday tried to subsume the anger towards the end, in the latter by a quote from the Mahatma: An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind!
The built up rage on many fronts continues in Anurag Kashyap's latest: Gulaal. The movie came as a shock to me since I saw it without knowing what it is about! I like to be woken up to the world so, every once in a while out of my hibernation. Only from his blog now, I came to know that Anurag considers this one to be his most angry movie, the one that got made during his bad times with our great censor board. On a related note, I never understood why the censors understand only Hindi abuse and not the English ones to be so biased in our own movie certification!
The movie gives us a raw package of the state of affairs in Indian politics: anarchy, extremism and what not under the banner of democracy. There are two words that flash regularly in the movie: "hello there", "hell_ _here". Sarcasm is at its top in the song Ranaji, albeit delivered in a Rajasthani style, dealing with International mess we cope with, under the headings of anti-terrorism, governance, globalization, etc. While Yaara Maula tells us how we reached thus far, Sheher is a song that talks of what happens when the city sleeps and its really scary; if not, it should scare us, because the city always sleeps! ...
... I think I'll stop here, else I'll lose my sleep tonight. We, as a populace, give up thinking about the system for the same reason; I'm just one of us. Or as A Wednesday announced: Just another stupid common man!
http://www.navrasas.com/gulaal-song-lyrics/ has all the songs with lyrics, that you will hum along once the song cuts deeper into you. However, I'll leave you with the lyrics of Sarfaroshi ki tamanna thats modified for a scene in Gulaal:
sarfaroshi ki tamannaa ab hamaare dil mein hai.
dekhnaa hai zor kitnaa baazuve kaatil mein hai
waqt aane pe bataadenge tujhe ae aasmaan
hum abhi se kyaa bataaye kyaa hamaare dil mein hai
o re bismil kaash aate aaj tum hindustaan
dekhte ki mulk saara kyaa tashan kyaa chill mein hai
aaj kaa laundaa yeh kehtaa hum to bismil thak gaye
apni aazaadi to bhaiyaa laundiyaa ke til mein hai.
aaj ke jalson mein bismil ek gungaa gaa raha.
aur behron kaa wo relaa naachtaa mehfil mein hai
haath ki khaadi banaane kaa zamaana lag gayaa
aaj to chaddi bhi silti englison ki mill mein hai
dekhna hai zor kitnaa baazuve kaatil mein hai
waqt aane pe bataadenge tujhe ae aasmaan
hum abhi se kyaa bataaye kyaa hamaare dil mein hai
sarfaroshi ki tamannaa ab hamaare dil mein hai.
Vande Mataram! Jai Hind!
The built up rage on many fronts continues in Anurag Kashyap's latest: Gulaal. The movie came as a shock to me since I saw it without knowing what it is about! I like to be woken up to the world so, every once in a while out of my hibernation. Only from his blog now, I came to know that Anurag considers this one to be his most angry movie, the one that got made during his bad times with our great censor board. On a related note, I never understood why the censors understand only Hindi abuse and not the English ones to be so biased in our own movie certification!
The movie gives us a raw package of the state of affairs in Indian politics: anarchy, extremism and what not under the banner of democracy. There are two words that flash regularly in the movie: "hello there", "hell_ _here". Sarcasm is at its top in the song Ranaji, albeit delivered in a Rajasthani style, dealing with International mess we cope with, under the headings of anti-terrorism, governance, globalization, etc. While Yaara Maula tells us how we reached thus far, Sheher is a song that talks of what happens when the city sleeps and its really scary; if not, it should scare us, because the city always sleeps! ...
... I think I'll stop here, else I'll lose my sleep tonight. We, as a populace, give up thinking about the system for the same reason; I'm just one of us. Or as A Wednesday announced: Just another stupid common man!
http://www.navrasas.com/gulaal-song-lyrics/ has all the songs with lyrics, that you will hum along once the song cuts deeper into you. However, I'll leave you with the lyrics of Sarfaroshi ki tamanna thats modified for a scene in Gulaal:
sarfaroshi ki tamannaa ab hamaare dil mein hai.
dekhnaa hai zor kitnaa baazuve kaatil mein hai
waqt aane pe bataadenge tujhe ae aasmaan
hum abhi se kyaa bataaye kyaa hamaare dil mein hai
o re bismil kaash aate aaj tum hindustaan
dekhte ki mulk saara kyaa tashan kyaa chill mein hai
aaj kaa laundaa yeh kehtaa hum to bismil thak gaye
apni aazaadi to bhaiyaa laundiyaa ke til mein hai.
aaj ke jalson mein bismil ek gungaa gaa raha.
aur behron kaa wo relaa naachtaa mehfil mein hai
haath ki khaadi banaane kaa zamaana lag gayaa
aaj to chaddi bhi silti englison ki mill mein hai
dekhna hai zor kitnaa baazuve kaatil mein hai
waqt aane pe bataadenge tujhe ae aasmaan
hum abhi se kyaa bataaye kyaa hamaare dil mein hai
sarfaroshi ki tamannaa ab hamaare dil mein hai.
Vande Mataram! Jai Hind!
Mindless ramble of politics and philosophy!
Plato, they say, spent a little time on the bank of Ganges during his unrecorded 12 years of leaving Athens and living elsewhere. For that matter, most of the world's greatest philosophers and spiritually inclined people have learnt much from India, if not actually lived here. But thats all the credit we can claim: spirituality. How do weigh in the worldly system? How close are we to our own dharma, or a similar system that is echoed by Greeks too, which a simple overview of Socrates' voice in Plato's Republic confirms.
I wonder what kind of times would now have been if a state were to be continued on the grounds of Plato's ideal state or our own varNAshrama dharma had existed now. The reverse is equally mind-boggling: what if Socrates were to live in today's India? Perhaps, he would have taken the hemlock before the verdict! A philosophic life has always seen problems everywhere. Plato was seemingly sold as a slave for teaching, to an aristocratic-king, the ideal of a philosopher-king, later to be rescued by his friends! Aristotle ran away from Athens being scared of meeting an end like Socrates declaring that the Athenians sin twice against the philosophers. Only a rare Socrates exists in eras who would rather die than lie! Socrates refused to even flee Athens, because after the Apology and accepting death, it would be lying if he took flight. The truth about philosophy is that it is about truth.
Its important to notice that all philosophical systems, that are eligible to be called as systems, have come to a common conclusion, be from independent analysis of their own people, or being guided by mysticism, or by influence of the Indian system. Its also interesting how all of them tie very closely to their own social order and political system, all based on truth, morality,ethics, virtue, justice, being guided by *right* education and only the ones that survive in the intellectual and moral run, were to be the leaders. While that meant a philosopher-king in the Greek system of The Republic, it meant a kshatriya king guided by a brahmin, in the Rama Rajya system, here in India. It means the same thing, doesn't it? Socrates, says in the dialogue that a state may not become an ideal state, but if it comes close, they've succeeded. In that, Socrates seems to have said that if you go away from that ideal state, you've failed and possibly, doomed!
Lets try to approach it another way. Justice, in the end, is put by Socrates simply as each person doing is own work, so that the state does its own work. Clearly, one doing someone else's job means injustice, obviously leading to an unjust state! What else was our varNAshrama system, but each person doing his own work, guided by right education and filtering mechanism? And what else is the existing injustice due to? Many of us would say the solution is education. To me, its quite clear that the failure of the state to educate all and to identify the right person for the right job is what needs to be fixed. Thats what the varNAshrama system was, and thats what Plato's ideal state is, and thats what can save us all. The physically strong ruling the weak is a barbaric system, while the intellectually weak ruling the strong is worse than that. Thats what our reservation system has brought us. Funnily enough, the Indian politics has brought us a dichotomy of "no superior caste" but "reservation for the backward caste". Its sadistically funny actually that while we don't base reservations on economically-backward grounds, but socially-backward, with worser-yet less threshold marks, we are leading to an utterly ridiculous and intellectually-backward India. Socrates' definition of a state leader is a poor person who can have nothing more than his needs-- bare necessities-- met. In India, there's a well-known myth that Lakshmi (the goddess of wealth) doesn't stay in a brahmin's house where Saraswati (the goddess of learning) stays. Some may say I'm a caste-ist and I'd agree since, to me, the Indian caste system was based on birth-and-ability as I voiced earlier in my blogs. This is hardly different from the Greek Republic and there's no doubt that Greeks were once one of the best races, as much as Indians were. But its also a shame that such systems have fallen to the crime of time and a handful of dimwits have somehow always managed to harm the entire system that was formed in the larger interest!
Animals live better in the forest than we people do in today's society. While the animals hunt only when hungry, we humans hunt for greed; we accumulate, we stock. And thats how we intend to secure our place in the society, progress and grow to rule others. Such has become of us so-called God's greatest creation, or Darwin's most evolved (read selfish) beings! Socrates' or anyone's virtue has no meaning in today's world. Where people cannot do right things without bribe and do the wrong ones with bribe, where you pay taxes to fill individual pockets, where what goes-around-doesn't-come-around, where truth leads to no good end socially and yet those that want to remain virtuous are dragged into falsity, is all leading to an overkill; the unseen harm is worse than what we see. While the philosopher chalks out a perfect tomorrow for us, we sacrifice the philosopher to meet our bogus today!
I wonder what kind of times would now have been if a state were to be continued on the grounds of Plato's ideal state or our own varNAshrama dharma had existed now. The reverse is equally mind-boggling: what if Socrates were to live in today's India? Perhaps, he would have taken the hemlock before the verdict! A philosophic life has always seen problems everywhere. Plato was seemingly sold as a slave for teaching, to an aristocratic-king, the ideal of a philosopher-king, later to be rescued by his friends! Aristotle ran away from Athens being scared of meeting an end like Socrates declaring that the Athenians sin twice against the philosophers. Only a rare Socrates exists in eras who would rather die than lie! Socrates refused to even flee Athens, because after the Apology and accepting death, it would be lying if he took flight. The truth about philosophy is that it is about truth.
Its important to notice that all philosophical systems, that are eligible to be called as systems, have come to a common conclusion, be from independent analysis of their own people, or being guided by mysticism, or by influence of the Indian system. Its also interesting how all of them tie very closely to their own social order and political system, all based on truth, morality,ethics, virtue, justice, being guided by *right* education and only the ones that survive in the intellectual and moral run, were to be the leaders. While that meant a philosopher-king in the Greek system of The Republic, it meant a kshatriya king guided by a brahmin, in the Rama Rajya system, here in India. It means the same thing, doesn't it? Socrates, says in the dialogue that a state may not become an ideal state, but if it comes close, they've succeeded. In that, Socrates seems to have said that if you go away from that ideal state, you've failed and possibly, doomed!
Lets try to approach it another way. Justice, in the end, is put by Socrates simply as each person doing is own work, so that the state does its own work. Clearly, one doing someone else's job means injustice, obviously leading to an unjust state! What else was our varNAshrama system, but each person doing his own work, guided by right education and filtering mechanism? And what else is the existing injustice due to? Many of us would say the solution is education. To me, its quite clear that the failure of the state to educate all and to identify the right person for the right job is what needs to be fixed. Thats what the varNAshrama system was, and thats what Plato's ideal state is, and thats what can save us all. The physically strong ruling the weak is a barbaric system, while the intellectually weak ruling the strong is worse than that. Thats what our reservation system has brought us. Funnily enough, the Indian politics has brought us a dichotomy of "no superior caste" but "reservation for the backward caste". Its sadistically funny actually that while we don't base reservations on economically-backward grounds, but socially-backward, with worser-yet less threshold marks, we are leading to an utterly ridiculous and intellectually-backward India. Socrates' definition of a state leader is a poor person who can have nothing more than his needs-- bare necessities-- met. In India, there's a well-known myth that Lakshmi (the goddess of wealth) doesn't stay in a brahmin's house where Saraswati (the goddess of learning) stays. Some may say I'm a caste-ist and I'd agree since, to me, the Indian caste system was based on birth-and-ability as I voiced earlier in my blogs. This is hardly different from the Greek Republic and there's no doubt that Greeks were once one of the best races, as much as Indians were. But its also a shame that such systems have fallen to the crime of time and a handful of dimwits have somehow always managed to harm the entire system that was formed in the larger interest!
Animals live better in the forest than we people do in today's society. While the animals hunt only when hungry, we humans hunt for greed; we accumulate, we stock. And thats how we intend to secure our place in the society, progress and grow to rule others. Such has become of us so-called God's greatest creation, or Darwin's most evolved (read selfish) beings! Socrates' or anyone's virtue has no meaning in today's world. Where people cannot do right things without bribe and do the wrong ones with bribe, where you pay taxes to fill individual pockets, where what goes-around-doesn't-come-around, where truth leads to no good end socially and yet those that want to remain virtuous are dragged into falsity, is all leading to an overkill; the unseen harm is worse than what we see. While the philosopher chalks out a perfect tomorrow for us, we sacrifice the philosopher to meet our bogus today!
123 politics!
The nuclear interest of two countries were made a joke by the same countries, first at US and now at India. Indian scientists with what 123 is all about, but the Left is too dull to understand anything, far be the 123! Funnily, the BJP is using the opportunity to make a political statement over this by making the 123 a 1-2-3:
1: PM goes back on his commitment and loses his credibility.
2: The Left goes back on its words and loses its credibility.
3: Early elections.
I'm sure that all, including the BJP, know that 3 is hardly a possibility thats why the first two statements by BJP! :)
1: PM goes back on his commitment and loses his credibility.
2: The Left goes back on its words and loses its credibility.
3: Early elections.
I'm sure that all, including the BJP, know that 3 is hardly a possibility thats why the first two statements by BJP! :)
Intimidating
Other suitable title for this blog may have well been *humbling* or worse yet, *humiliating*.
Why even the vast universe, a short visit to any govt. office will make one feel intimidated; zero value of human existence, so to say! That a person has no money to feed himself or his dependents is of no concern to the govt. dept. employee; bribe is all that he cares for! Govt. is nothing but that employee you face at their offices. Corruption, in all its forms, exists everywhere here! You name it, they've got it. If you know someone in an influential position, its just a faster way to get your work done, but not without a *fee*, of course!
I wonder if tatkaal schemes are official ways of corruption or bribery is an unofficial tatkaal scheme; none can prove the other wrong!
Just to mention what brings me to a govt office today too, where I sit and scribble these lines on a piece of paper, while waiting endlessly, is a want of certificate that I belong to a particular family. Such a certificate interests one govt dept and is issued by another. what I actually belong to is of no concern to anyone. I'm sure if we assess properly and pay the right person, they wouldn't bother giving a certificate that you belong to a family of dogs, or on the other extreme, as to those of gods!
On a related not, helping our own people get business, or forwarding their resumes to get jobs and be rewarded in return, IMHO, are also systems of bribery! In short, we all are driven corrupt, if not already so!
You may wonder, whether I like such India? The answer is I love it, despite the circumstances, since India's greatness is beyond all this; how much more itself is beyond anyone's capability to measure!
Why even the vast universe, a short visit to any govt. office will make one feel intimidated; zero value of human existence, so to say! That a person has no money to feed himself or his dependents is of no concern to the govt. dept. employee; bribe is all that he cares for! Govt. is nothing but that employee you face at their offices. Corruption, in all its forms, exists everywhere here! You name it, they've got it. If you know someone in an influential position, its just a faster way to get your work done, but not without a *fee*, of course!
I wonder if tatkaal schemes are official ways of corruption or bribery is an unofficial tatkaal scheme; none can prove the other wrong!
Just to mention what brings me to a govt office today too, where I sit and scribble these lines on a piece of paper, while waiting endlessly, is a want of certificate that I belong to a particular family. Such a certificate interests one govt dept and is issued by another. what I actually belong to is of no concern to anyone. I'm sure if we assess properly and pay the right person, they wouldn't bother giving a certificate that you belong to a family of dogs, or on the other extreme, as to those of gods!
On a related not, helping our own people get business, or forwarding their resumes to get jobs and be rewarded in return, IMHO, are also systems of bribery! In short, we all are driven corrupt, if not already so!
You may wonder, whether I like such India? The answer is I love it, despite the circumstances, since India's greatness is beyond all this; how much more itself is beyond anyone's capability to measure!
Godforsaken place
One, the institution called the govt and another, the place, inclusive of people where I stay. The catch-22 situation of wanting to get away from the people needs their assistance! Having taken their assistance, the frustration of wanting to get away from them increases!
Next, the govt dealings to get some small work moving so that the above gets done has become a project. Things that two generations before me were unaware of and that didn't bother them has come as a big hindrance to me! And that too, even after my not having any associations with this place and its people. I don't even know the family tree beyond my father in detail enough to assert that things have been messed up in govt records.
Finally, I may need to subscribe to a devil-may-care attitude and get done with, so that I let whoever needs things to take care of all that.
Next, the govt dealings to get some small work moving so that the above gets done has become a project. Things that two generations before me were unaware of and that didn't bother them has come as a big hindrance to me! And that too, even after my not having any associations with this place and its people. I don't even know the family tree beyond my father in detail enough to assert that things have been messed up in govt records.
Finally, I may need to subscribe to a devil-may-care attitude and get done with, so that I let whoever needs things to take care of all that.
We're rich!
Oh, yes we Indians are rich! What can you do with Rs.21,068 crore (US$4.8 billion) per year? Check out the results of Corruption survey!
Sadly, the education system makes the most money. But this is something that everyone knows: how screwed up the dirty competitive education system in India is getting. Bangalore city itself has a many number of engineering colleges, beating most states in India! One is surprised as to how a residential building kind of a structure with a handful of flats on a corner of a busy road qualifies to be an approved engineering college. Anyways, thats besides the point, since most of the corruption is within the 12th class! Consider the drastic effects that this will have. Anyone who has been through paying bribe in school, be it forced, will find the *need* to recover this through similar means in the following years of his/her career. It would surely have a rolling effect. This reminds me of a song: Insaaf ki dagar pe bacchon dikhaao chalke.. yeh desh hai tumhaaraa, netaa tumhi ho kalke. Thats how we have corrupt politicians already, I guess.
I used to wonder 7-8 years back when I listened to Rajiv Dikshit with fervour: what can't we do as a nation if we save the corruption monies? Now, its beyond my thinking. Lok Ayukta started some great work in KA with all sorts of raids. Funnily enough, their work is not reaching sufficient ends. The raids end up in filing reports and thats what they remain worth; no one takes action!!!
Given all this, we Indians are moving towards moral-suicide.
Sadly, the education system makes the most money. But this is something that everyone knows: how screwed up the dirty competitive education system in India is getting. Bangalore city itself has a many number of engineering colleges, beating most states in India! One is surprised as to how a residential building kind of a structure with a handful of flats on a corner of a busy road qualifies to be an approved engineering college. Anyways, thats besides the point, since most of the corruption is within the 12th class! Consider the drastic effects that this will have. Anyone who has been through paying bribe in school, be it forced, will find the *need* to recover this through similar means in the following years of his/her career. It would surely have a rolling effect. This reminds me of a song: Insaaf ki dagar pe bacchon dikhaao chalke.. yeh desh hai tumhaaraa, netaa tumhi ho kalke. Thats how we have corrupt politicians already, I guess.
I used to wonder 7-8 years back when I listened to Rajiv Dikshit with fervour: what can't we do as a nation if we save the corruption monies? Now, its beyond my thinking. Lok Ayukta started some great work in KA with all sorts of raids. Funnily enough, their work is not reaching sufficient ends. The raids end up in filing reports and thats what they remain worth; no one takes action!!!
Given all this, we Indians are moving towards moral-suicide.
Nobody's above the law?
Nobody's above the law! Ha! How convenient a statement to make when *wanting* to frame someone. At other times, there are *wants* that contradict the above statement.
How? Madam Jaya has gone bonkers, thats how. Well, I never for once doubted her insanity anyway. Still, to clarify what I said, check how the TN dictatorship govt had the seer's case go.
Recap...
--at Diwali midnight, Jaya gets the Kanchi acharya jailed, saying nobody's above the law.
--makes sure that he doesn't get bail in TN high court, dittoing above saying.
--slaps some more dirty rotten cases against him to complicate matters.
--then has some 25 odd people arrested to involve the case so much as to project that the case is going to take endlessly long time.
Still...
--TN court sanctioned bail in assault case (one of the zillion odd cases that the acharya was being framed in)
--During the apex court hearing, seer's advocate made a point that the acharya won't go to the mutt (even if he's needed, the junior acharya could conduct the poojas since thankfully he hadn't been arrested yet... no pun intended by him!) till the charge-sheet is filed (ages still, I guess) against prosecution's charging that the seer would tamper evidence if given bail and allowed to return to the mutt! Supreme court okays bail in murder case and also warns the police about the *manner* of their investigation.
What happened then...
--Acharya didn't go to Kanchi mutt; he went to Kalavai instead.
--Jaya got the junior acharya arrested!
--she also claimed that they do not want to take over the mutt against political party charges.
What's happening now...
--The mutt's cheques are not getting cleared because the accounts have been sealed! (not taking over the mutt?)
--Jaya *wants* the apex court to ask the seer to shift out of the four southern states of India. What she said is: His presence will dampen their (witnesses) spirits". (Well, the fact is that while the acharya was in Vellore prison, the most violent of the jailed also had gone sober by his mere "presence").
--Jaya also *wants* the supreme court to delete the parts from the bail order that criticize the investigation!
Now, does Jaya think the Supreme Court is her TN court or her maikaa? And they all used to say: nobody's above the law!!! Well, am I missing a point here: who's the jagatguru???
How? Madam Jaya has gone bonkers, thats how. Well, I never for once doubted her insanity anyway. Still, to clarify what I said, check how the TN dictatorship govt had the seer's case go.
Recap...
--at Diwali midnight, Jaya gets the Kanchi acharya jailed, saying nobody's above the law.
--makes sure that he doesn't get bail in TN high court, dittoing above saying.
--slaps some more dirty rotten cases against him to complicate matters.
--then has some 25 odd people arrested to involve the case so much as to project that the case is going to take endlessly long time.
Still...
--TN court sanctioned bail in assault case (one of the zillion odd cases that the acharya was being framed in)
--During the apex court hearing, seer's advocate made a point that the acharya won't go to the mutt (even if he's needed, the junior acharya could conduct the poojas since thankfully he hadn't been arrested yet... no pun intended by him!) till the charge-sheet is filed (ages still, I guess) against prosecution's charging that the seer would tamper evidence if given bail and allowed to return to the mutt! Supreme court okays bail in murder case and also warns the police about the *manner* of their investigation.
What happened then...
--Acharya didn't go to Kanchi mutt; he went to Kalavai instead.
--Jaya got the junior acharya arrested!
--she also claimed that they do not want to take over the mutt against political party charges.
What's happening now...
--The mutt's cheques are not getting cleared because the accounts have been sealed! (not taking over the mutt?)
--Jaya *wants* the apex court to ask the seer to shift out of the four southern states of India. What she said is: His presence will dampen their (witnesses) spirits". (Well, the fact is that while the acharya was in Vellore prison, the most violent of the jailed also had gone sober by his mere "presence").
--Jaya also *wants* the supreme court to delete the parts from the bail order that criticize the investigation!
Now, does Jaya think the Supreme Court is her TN court or her maikaa? And they all used to say: nobody's above the law!!! Well, am I missing a point here: who's the jagatguru???
Kanchi: questions
I'm tempted to blog this after reading so much of media junk and replies on Shenoy's article on rediff (http://www.rediff.com/news/2004/nov/17flip.htm)
--Madhava's view on Shankaracharya or Dvaitin's of an Advaitin?
If Shenoy hadn't said it, people would've said he's a Madhava. Now that he said it, people think he said it as an alibi that his is an unbiased viewpoint! So he loses both ways. What kind of logic is that? All he said was that despite his not following the Advaita way, he had the comments on the Advaita leader's arrest. He probably mentioned that to say that there are some things that he agrees to, some he doesn't, in the same person/issue. With that, he's my kind of person.
--Manner of arrest?
Absolutely shameful.
--Common man?
His Holiness is not a common man, if kings weren't, politician's aren't and to this day the way people treat their own managers! He is very much a VVIP considering the millions that follow the faith, the mutt and the acharya himself. Moreover, he's an *accused*, not a *criminal*.
--Comparison to Laloo, etc?
People thinking that we ask that he should be let free because Laloos (to mean: and the like) are, is wrong! Its exactly the opposite. If Laloos were (are???) treated as kings till proven guilty, atleast give the acharya the rights.
--Case of murder against case of others?
Its ridiculous to say that since the crimes were different, the way they're handled is different. Sentences need be different based on heinousness, but not the treatment prior to the verdict!
--Tulsi's interview?
Good to see his neutral views. But what was he thinking of when he's praising Jayalalitha? (http://specials.rediff.com/news/2004/dec/01inter.htm) He's literally glorifying her! Look at her past, mister; also look the inhuman things that your officer Prem Kumar has done and even *convicted* in one! (http://www.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=39174&
headline=He%7Ehad%7Estripped,%7Emolested%7Enuns;%7E
now%7Ehe%7Eheads%7Eseer%92s%7Ecase). I hate the law in this country if even after conviction, a person like Prem Kumar is part of the team investigating against the acharya!
--Is my opinion biased?
Yes, because, opinion is defined as a personal belief or judgment that is not founded on proof or certainty... and only God can take an unbiased viewpoint! If you need all articles, go to www.kanchi-sathya.org. They're doing a good job by posting all the legal documents that have been filed in the HC, not the assumptions made by media!
--Madhava's view on Shankaracharya or Dvaitin's of an Advaitin?
If Shenoy hadn't said it, people would've said he's a Madhava. Now that he said it, people think he said it as an alibi that his is an unbiased viewpoint! So he loses both ways. What kind of logic is that? All he said was that despite his not following the Advaita way, he had the comments on the Advaita leader's arrest. He probably mentioned that to say that there are some things that he agrees to, some he doesn't, in the same person/issue. With that, he's my kind of person.
--Manner of arrest?
Absolutely shameful.
--Common man?
His Holiness is not a common man, if kings weren't, politician's aren't and to this day the way people treat their own managers! He is very much a VVIP considering the millions that follow the faith, the mutt and the acharya himself. Moreover, he's an *accused*, not a *criminal*.
--Comparison to Laloo, etc?
People thinking that we ask that he should be let free because Laloos (to mean: and the like) are, is wrong! Its exactly the opposite. If Laloos were (are???) treated as kings till proven guilty, atleast give the acharya the rights.
--Case of murder against case of others?
Its ridiculous to say that since the crimes were different, the way they're handled is different. Sentences need be different based on heinousness, but not the treatment prior to the verdict!
--Tulsi's interview?
Good to see his neutral views. But what was he thinking of when he's praising Jayalalitha? (http://specials.rediff.com/news/2004/dec/01inter.htm) He's literally glorifying her! Look at her past, mister; also look the inhuman things that your officer Prem Kumar has done and even *convicted* in one! (http://www.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=39174&
headline=He%7Ehad%7Estripped,%7Emolested%7Enuns;%7E
now%7Ehe%7Eheads%7Eseer%92s%7Ecase). I hate the law in this country if even after conviction, a person like Prem Kumar is part of the team investigating against the acharya!
--Is my opinion biased?
Yes, because, opinion is defined as a personal belief or judgment that is not founded on proof or certainty... and only God can take an unbiased viewpoint! If you need all articles, go to www.kanchi-sathya.org. They're doing a good job by posting all the legal documents that have been filed in the HC, not the assumptions made by media!
Most absurd Diwali!
The shocking news of Kanchi Shankaracharya's arrest spoiled the Diwali completely!
This event marks the Indian politicians reaching the pinnacle of success in ruining the country. They've been irresponsible over the years, making money, taking the country to the dogs. Whatever good some of the still-alive ministers tried to do in favour of the people, were never re-elected by massive booth captures and the like. Its a country of Lalus, Jayas and Mir Zafars... very rightly has Shri Rajiv Dixit questioned: when one Mir Zafar gave India 500 years of slavery, how much misery does India need to go through with her being run entirely by Mir Zafars?!!!
Many a ministers have to their account a few crimes to say the least. Still, they're on the stage of the country, taking decisions for us. No one bothers to open their books for verification, leave alone arresting them, even after having ample proof to hang those anti-nationalists. But based on some investigation-pending statements made by peace-unfriendly goondas, our responsible police have gone ahead to arrest one of the topmost religious leaders in the country! That too with such hideously planned act: arresting at an odd hour, on an odd day, so that the Swami gets delayed help, if any. They didn't bother to ask the pontiff to co-operate till the investigation is over; instead they just put him behind bars! This is the same pontiff who helped negotiating the Ayodha issue when we all felt that the country's about to go through another mishap on the Ram mandir account. Nevertheless, none thought of the impact this is to have on the sentiments of Hindus, the so-called majority of a secular nation.
Such are the great people we've elected, stood by and are tolerating. These are one of those rare moments that I feel ashamed of being an Indian. How wrong was I when I felt good of Gurcharan Das' The Elephant Paradigm! Yes, we do have a long way to go; but, now I ponder, is the path right? The country sleeps on...
(Reminds me of a song: rAmachandra keh gaye siyA se *aisA* kaliyug AyegA!)
This event marks the Indian politicians reaching the pinnacle of success in ruining the country. They've been irresponsible over the years, making money, taking the country to the dogs. Whatever good some of the still-alive ministers tried to do in favour of the people, were never re-elected by massive booth captures and the like. Its a country of Lalus, Jayas and Mir Zafars... very rightly has Shri Rajiv Dixit questioned: when one Mir Zafar gave India 500 years of slavery, how much misery does India need to go through with her being run entirely by Mir Zafars?!!!
Many a ministers have to their account a few crimes to say the least. Still, they're on the stage of the country, taking decisions for us. No one bothers to open their books for verification, leave alone arresting them, even after having ample proof to hang those anti-nationalists. But based on some investigation-pending statements made by peace-unfriendly goondas, our responsible police have gone ahead to arrest one of the topmost religious leaders in the country! That too with such hideously planned act: arresting at an odd hour, on an odd day, so that the Swami gets delayed help, if any. They didn't bother to ask the pontiff to co-operate till the investigation is over; instead they just put him behind bars! This is the same pontiff who helped negotiating the Ayodha issue when we all felt that the country's about to go through another mishap on the Ram mandir account. Nevertheless, none thought of the impact this is to have on the sentiments of Hindus, the so-called majority of a secular nation.
Such are the great people we've elected, stood by and are tolerating. These are one of those rare moments that I feel ashamed of being an Indian. How wrong was I when I felt good of Gurcharan Das' The Elephant Paradigm! Yes, we do have a long way to go; but, now I ponder, is the path right? The country sleeps on...
(Reminds me of a song: rAmachandra keh gaye siyA se *aisA* kaliyug AyegA!)
Losing Money
They knocked off the tax-saving scheme out here. We'll be shelling out lotsa money as tax from our pockets. I always believed in paying tax, albeit it goes into politicians' pockets. Most of the collected tax is not put to right use but I used to pay tax, now its just multifold.
If the govt doesn't know how to utilize collected taxes, they should allow people to decide whats good for them. We see flyovers flying all over, even if not needed, each taking an era to build and sucking up huge money; potholes that are manholes, factually, and ones which have been there since eternity; no drinking water for many cities & villages; promises unkept, always, blah blah blah. God knows when the area-wise tax utilization will be effective.
Below are some of the snippets from some of the songs that I recall. (In my defense, beforehand, I do not like Prince, but this is one song that was somewhat close to find mention)
Pink Floyd
Money, it’s a crime.
Share it fairly but don’t take a slice of my pie.
Money, so they say
Is the root of all evil today.
But if you ask for a raise it’s no surprise that they’re
Giving none away.
Dire Straits
Now look at them yo-yo’s that’s the way you do it
You play the guitar on the mtv
That ain’t workin’ that’s the way you do it
Money for nothin’ and chicks for free
Prince
Money don't matter tonight
It sure didn't matter yesterday
Just when you think you've got more than enough
That's when it all up and flies away
That's when you find out that you're better off
Makin' sure your soul's alright
'cause money didn't matter yesterday,
And it sure don't matter tonight
I guess that this phase is one where I can remember the taste of money: when money talks, morals walk! Time always meant money to me, and the vice-versa also being true... losing money, I've lost time too.
If the govt doesn't know how to utilize collected taxes, they should allow people to decide whats good for them. We see flyovers flying all over, even if not needed, each taking an era to build and sucking up huge money; potholes that are manholes, factually, and ones which have been there since eternity; no drinking water for many cities & villages; promises unkept, always, blah blah blah. God knows when the area-wise tax utilization will be effective.
Below are some of the snippets from some of the songs that I recall. (In my defense, beforehand, I do not like Prince, but this is one song that was somewhat close to find mention)
Pink Floyd
Money, it’s a crime.
Share it fairly but don’t take a slice of my pie.
Money, so they say
Is the root of all evil today.
But if you ask for a raise it’s no surprise that they’re
Giving none away.
Dire Straits
Now look at them yo-yo’s that’s the way you do it
You play the guitar on the mtv
That ain’t workin’ that’s the way you do it
Money for nothin’ and chicks for free
Prince
Money don't matter tonight
It sure didn't matter yesterday
Just when you think you've got more than enough
That's when it all up and flies away
That's when you find out that you're better off
Makin' sure your soul's alright
'cause money didn't matter yesterday,
And it sure don't matter tonight
I guess that this phase is one where I can remember the taste of money: when money talks, morals walk! Time always meant money to me, and the vice-versa also being true... losing money, I've lost time too.
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