Jaago Re...

Yesterday, the Jaago re team had come over to my office to encourage us to get registered...

Great initiative.... I really felt the guy(Naveen) who had come to give the presentation had the passion to do this.... He really put his heart out trying to convince us to register ourselves to vote....

On behalf of the Jaago Re team I too ask any readers to register themselves in the voters list... Its really been made simple... Just check out http://www.jaagore.com/..... 

During the discussion, somebody raised a point about the politicians standing for election.... The point was that the choice among the politicians is so bad that it makes no difference whether we vote for any of them.... Naveen then asked us as to why dont we stand for elections... We might give many reasons but the truth is that we are sure we will lose... And why is that??? Because we are sure none of the people who actually are interested in India's growth would vote... Not to us nor to anybody.... 

So what drive would any good person have to stand for elections until he feels that people who are as concerned about India as him would support him.... Its like a vicious circle... Honest people dont vote... so honest politcians arent interested to stand for elections...... This has to break somewhere.... Lets try it from our side once... Lets all vote once... Maybe this would encourage some good politician to come out and stand for elections the next time...

We have been burnt many times....... Lets take one more chance.......Please vote this year..

Mangalore attakcs...

I am sure everybody must have come to know about the attack in mangalore on women at a pub...I dont seem to understand as to what the attackers were targeting?? Were they attacking the fact that women were drinking there??? Or that the drinking is a bad precedent???? 

I think the whole media seems to be focussed on the fact that women were attacked in the pub.. so it decides to make an issue on this... I agree that women are soft targets and are always made scapegoats in any cultural changes taking place... But this incident needs to be seen on a larger scale... The society is getting polarised at a very fast rate due to incidents like these...  The point is that tolerance of anything that one doesnt like is getting reduced to such a level that violence is getting accepted as a means to solve it... We are ready to condemn the attack on women but begin discussing the fact whether the "pub culture" is good or bad"...

I think the discussion makes no sense... Because as pubs are not illegal it makes no point debating whether it is good or bad... If the government feels this thing is wrong let them make it illegal.... But this attack does bring out one thing.... Our country is getting polarised on many angles.... This attack is not about indian culture... Its about finding things to split people into groups so as to pitch them against one other... This was the same tactic used by Hitler.... He created fear among the non jews against speaking up and eliminated jews... If he had been allowed to continue he would have found some other group to target.... At the end it is not about beliefs but about domination.... Now its upto us to decide what we do about this... Bt we are so involved in our own lives thinking that we are not affected by this... Not today sure... But who is gonna support you when you are stuck in some situation like this????   

My experience with the cops....

I have never blogged before. Had been planning it for a long time but have been too lazy for it. I had been planning to begin blogging on something general. 

Let me get some reference to what I plan to write. My bike was stolen about 3 months back( Oct 13 actually). To file a FIR I had to run around the police for 3 days. Had to bribe the officials to write down the FIR after 3 days.... I know what I did was wrong but I told myself this is how the world works..... Saying this I put my mind to rest.. But this remained lingering in my thoughts..

Anyways, the police found my bike!!! Yesterday actually..I get a call from the police saying they have found my bike,and I need to collect it. I go to the Mico Layout police station(where I had file my FIR). The cop there tells me that I need give some "Khushi" to get my bike. I go home, get 2000 bucks...Pay him 500.. He tells me that the bike is at Kormangala branch!! So I go there.. The cop sitting there tells me to pay him 2500 bucks to get the work done. I dont do that... I tell him I'l get the money tomorrow...He tells me get the money only then will he begin the procedure.. He takes me to the bike and tells me a story that they caught the thief riding the bike by hitting him with a stick.. I doubt the story...

When i check the bike I find the battery missing, the screws from the tank cap missing... Literally anything sellable missing... I am quite sure its the cops who have sold the parts.... 

Next day, I go back... He makes me wait 4 hours.. Then he tells me to collect a 100rs stamp paper form the bank... When at last I do all this he decides to abuse me and tells me that I have been bugging him too much and that the favour he was doing towards me turns to be more painful... So he doesnt give me the bike till 7 pm and by then all service centres are closed so I have to drag my bike for about 5 km....At the end I pay him 2500 bucks... take abuse from him...and go home exhausted....

Before leaving the police station, I meet a girl whose cell phone and ear ring was stolen right on the road.. She was sure she wouldnt find it but came to report it none the less so that maybe someone else could be safer..

This experience got me thinking.... I have the money to pay them... I have the guts to fight them( I did when he abused me).. But most people dont.. How do they get things done? If they cant what use is the law and order department? Is the process so openly corrupted that there is no way to improve this?? I am not talking about changing the whole system.. Maybe that needs to be done too... But I cant... If I do find someone who can I will help them any way I can...

My question is Have we become so immune to all this(in my case corruption) that we dont feel the guilt of doing the wrong thing???? Are there any steps that we could take to help someone in need?? Have we helped anybody just for the fact that the person needs help???

Lets take the police as an example. Can anybody give ideas as to how could we make things easier so that atleast the simple things which need police involvement get simpler???