Time is of the essence, Mr Chief Minister
On Friday September 2nd, last the new Gold Digital Cinema was scheduled to be inaugurated at 7.30 pm by Meghalaya’s Chief Minister, Dr Mukul Sangma.
The gentry of Shillong had begun to arrive at 7.15 pm as mark of respect to the organizers of the function. But the clock kept ticking … still there was no sign of the CM. The media were in waiting for over one hour! At 8.40 pm the notable guest arrived with a bevy of Bollywood’s bold and beautiful. They glided into the hall exquisitely turned out in trousers and pencil heels, all smiles.
The CM who was over an hour late did not even consider it fit to apologise to the audience! Perhaps he thinks anyone who has come to watch a movie has all the time in the world to spare. A lady in the hall who shuttles between Australia and India muttered under her breath, “Does the CM think all the people in that hall are ‘idiots’ and therefore they deserve to wait for him, however late he arrives?”
This is not the first time that Dr Sangma has been late for appointments. A techno savvy, CM with the right vocabulary in his repertoire and a role model for many, has only one major lacuna – time management ! Perhaps it’s time to bring management gurus like Shiv Khera or Deepak Chopra to Meghalaya.
CLP Meeting
In the recently concluded CLP meeting, a legislator was asked if everyone is happy in the ruling coalition. The legislator, who is well known for shifting allegiance to another political party from the one on whose ticket he won his seat, said that everyone may not be happy but the chief minister is a fighter and knows how to get his way.
This is what is required in the volatile political climate of Meghalaya where every six months to a year, a new chief minister is appointed on account of internal dissidence.
The present chief minister who has weathered months of political rumblings from his coalition partners has come out victorious!
The otherwise reticent Congress President apparently gave the dissidents a dressing down and asked them to prepare for the battle of 2013 instead of playing musical chairs.
It remains to be seen if 2013 is going to be the year of the Congress party in Meghalaya or whether the regional forces will rise form the ashes. According to a leading astrologer of Shillong it is only in 2018 that a single political party will secure full majority to form the government.
Jan Lokpal
The recent fast unto death by Anna Hazare for a strong and effective Jan Lokpal Bill has become a major topic of discussion among school and college students. School students were seen discussing it with their peers and even with their tutors in tuition classes.
Whereas, college canteens, corridors, parking lots, basketball and football courts were infested with college students and with their take on the Jan Lokpal Bill. The recent crusade against corruption by Anna Hazare has already been billed as one of the greatest public outcry after India’s independence movement.
The after effects of the riveting crusade against corruption by the 74 year old Hazare from Ralegan Siddhi, a village in Parner Taluka of Ahmednagar District in Maharashtra has resonated with people of all age groups. It has rallied all Indians who are angry about corruption, said a resident.
The state and union government establishments, which are quintessentially known for “big addas” (underworked employees) has also become an Anna Hazare discussion forum, as if shunning work is not corruption. Some educational institutions have also taken up the topic of Lokpal and corruption as a debating theme.