What a slap that was !
Union Agriculture Minister, and the BCCI kingpin was slapped by an enraged Sikh youth. He had earlier slapped Sukh Ram another minister. Some people have thrown shoes and chappals at some of our netas. But do they ever introspect why they enrage the public to such an extent.
The conversation going around is that Meghalaya too needs to think of better ways of naming and shaming the ministers because the conventional way of seeing their names in the newspapers does not cut any more ice.
A member of the public who read the ‘bhashan’ given by one of the worthies on National Press Day, said, “So now they have started preaching to the press about how they should conduct themselves. Don’t they know that not only the media but even the public are aware of how they have amassed wealth to build mansions and business centres everywhere in the city?” The poor and powerless will take political ‘shit’ (this word is no longer unparliamentary according to Robert Chambers) for a while but they can also start revolutions when the needs arises.
The burgeoning of a political class that has made its money brazenly from politics is already causing much frustration among the youth as they see a dismal future for themselves.
2013 might surprise many! Candidates may not get a physical slap but a slap of defeat! Hopefully!
Gearing for 2013
On Saturday last ICARE an organisation that calls itself a think tank called a meeting of concerned citizens at the Shillong Club. Many who attended were youth leaders comprising teachers, entrepreneurs, some from the legal profession etc.
The topic of discussion it is learnt is – guess what? The 2013 assembly elections and whether change is possible if the same set of legislators are re-elected.
Hints were dropped that there’s need for younger, dynamic people to take over the reins and that those who are well past their shelf life (who sleep their way through the assembly sessions and who do not even hear what’s being discussed in the Assembly without their ear phones etc.) should voluntarily quit.
There was much talk about patronage democracy and how MLAs are behaving like super patrons doling out plastic chairs and buckets and mugs to a fawning electorate. “This has got to end,” they said in unison. “But how?”, asked others. After the brainstorming session the group decided to meet again and visit schools, colleges and universities to enrol volunteers to speak of the need for change and for better governance.
In the adjacent room another meeting was on and it was quite noisy. The audience was a very motivated one – clapping and affirming one another. They belonged to a group selling utensils (one of those who catch you unawares and promise to make you a down-line until you become an up-line).
The leader was a highly motivated woman and in the end each one in that room knew they were going to sell their product by honing their salesmanship skills to the hilt.
Someone said ICARE should take a cue from this group in selling their idea!
Fake Encounter
A Khyndailad businessman withdrew a big amount from a nationalized bank branch at UTS Syiem Road, recently.
He was paid the amount in Rs1000 currency notes. Later the same person went to a private sector bank with the amount to send it to an outstation party. The private bank detected a fake note out of the deposited amount.
The customer later went to the nationalized bank with the fake note and requested the banker to replace it. The banker told him that he could not do it and told the customer that he should have checked the notes before taking them away.
The customer said that the banker’s proposition is ridiculous since it is impossible to check each and every note when the amount is big. But the matter of concern is that if the private bank could detect the fake note so efficiently than what had prevented the nationalized bank from doing so?
Though in the end the nationalized bank assured the businessman that his money would be returned the question marks remains. Why is the fake note detection machine in the nationalized bank not as effective as the one at the private bank? Perhaps the machines in our nationalized banks need revamping!