We, the people ...

It is Anna everywhere! One man, yeah ... one capable, patriotic, selfless man having the will to do something for the nation can make the difference! There is so much that this Gandhian has taught us in so little time. It is Anna-movement all the way and we, the people, decide.

It is said that Mahatma Gandhi, the father of the nation, gifted us freedom from the British rule. I iterate the words "it is said", because our generation had not witnessed all that Mahatma did pre-independence; cannot imagine how non-violence could have really got us freedom. Though contribution from Bhagat Singh, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose cannot be discounted, it was Gandhi who really troubled the British. It is now we actually witness and have the privelege of being part of the people's movement - India's struggle to become corruption free! Thanks to Anna!

So it is India, minus the politicians, against corruption and for India growth story! This, I believe, will be the turning point in India's path of becoming number one nation - if we really become one! We, the people have the power to bring in the much needed revolution! It was high time and Anna recognized it, showed the way to India! Anna, in true sense acted as a bridge, a carrier, a great student first and then a teacher, who beieved and transpired Gandhi's ideas to today's India. His selflessness, patriotism and will did what nobody in post-independent India did for India.

Politicians talk about great leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Veer Savarkar, Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar and many more - whose contributions to motherland is immense. But none of the recent decade politicains are even a distant shadow of the great leaders they deem to follow. In fact, they divide the country, create vote banks and that is the politics the younger generation politicians are also fast learning from their predecessors.

Looking at recent events - Anna's fast and debate over Jan Lokbal bill, it is more than clear that none of the parties are interested in passing the bill. It has already been 42 years old bill and given the freedom that the politicians enjoy in this country, Lokpal will not see the light of the day ever. What options do we, the people, have? Take a tough stand and force the bill through the parliament, as a sugarcane is crushed to get the juice out of it! But as Congress says, it is undemocratic to force a bill through parliament in this fashion! They forget democracy starts with "We, the people, ...". And, given the constraints that we, the people, have now ... can we really afford the corruption that is eating the nation to continue unabated? And how democratic has the ruling party been now and in the past? One should not forget the way the nation paid during the time of emergency! Congress, in fact, has not left a stone unturned. It has Congress person as the President of India, it has many congress governors and tries to have all important institutions/commissions like CVC, CEC, CJI, CAG, etc under its control! With all this in background what is the guarantee that Lokpal will not do favours for the ruling party in the future? All this should be considered while passing the bill, and therefore Jan Lokpal!

With all this said, let us be optimistic and assume that we, the people, get Jan Lokpal bill through. But we should continue to have Anna's services. This civil body should never be dissolved! This revolution should continue. Every nation needs a revolution to clean the dirt that gets accumulated over the years. Greedy and unpatriotic people find ways to get around laws, which needs to be plugged from time to time. And if we, the people, are united as we now are during elections - that day will just be round the corner when India will be the most powerful nation!

Jai Haind! Inquilab Zindabad!

Aayushyavar (bolu) kaahi

Yesterday I had been to the now famous - Aayushyavar Bolu Kaahi - show. After the show I met Dr. Salil Kulkarni and Sandeep Khare back stage - was nice, both the show and meeting them. Enjoyed every bit of it. Their comments while reciting poems or singing songs are remarkable. I appreciate their talent!

I am a great fan of this duo, Salil and Sandeep (taking the liberty to refer them by their first name). Salil is, no doubt, one of the best Marathi singers and Sandeep has proved himself with all his well known poems and songs - my favourite of all being "Damlelya Babanchi Kahani". They have made all Punekars (or should I say all Maharastrians?!?!) proud.

Jara chukiche jara barobar bolu kaahi ...

One thing I noticed yesterday - is in live performance the response from the spectators (rasik shroteho) is very important to get the best out of the performers. I had seen television advertisements during cricket world cup saying - team jeetati nahi hain, jeetana padta hain (team doesn't win on its own, we have to make teams win). It is even more true in the case of live music shows. And I am sure, though there is no ready statistics to prove my point, that had I been watching the same show in Pune, or maybe in Dadar or Vile Parle, (where there are a lot more marathi speaking rasiks) the show would have be much better and both, performers and spectators, would have enjoyed a lot more. Though I said I do not have statistics to prove my point, but the number of performances in Pune against that in Mumbai, may just prove the point. More the number of spectators, more the number of shows! Which also means that more is the interest in people and so better response and more will they enjoy and so more will be the spectators - kind of vicious circle, is it not!

... ugaach valse shabdaanche he det raha tu!

Chala dost ho aayushyavar bolu kaahi ...

There has been a lot of debate on Pune vs Mumbai; notice that I naturally said Pune vs Mumbai. I believe that a Mumbaikar would have said Mumbai vs Pune. I think, the place that you feel you belong to always comes first - many may differ on this.

... bhidle naahit dole tovar bolu kaahi (or kaahihi :))!

Mee morcha nela naahi, mee samp hi kela naahi ...
Punekars like to take life on a lighter note ...ekdum araamaat! Being in Pune itself makes it that much more easier. There are no local trains, fast or slow, running every two minutes... just means that there is nothing to run for. Most of the shopkeepers themselves opt to keep their shops closed in the afternoon to have a good afternoon nap.
Puneri pati (boards in Pune) are one more very talked about thing, especially by Mumbaikars. When I used to stay in Pune, I never felt anything special about it! But at the same time, find them interesting now. Most of them are to avoid uncalled for disturbances - Dupaari 2 te 4 bell vajvu naye (do not ring the door bell from 2 to 4 pm); ikde Joshi rahat naahi, ugaach bell vajvun vichaaru naye (Joshi doesn't stay here, please do not ring the bell to ask for Joshi's address)! Other boards in the shop saying, we do not have any other branch (aamche kuthehi shaakha naahi!) is to prevent others cheating their customers (many Mumbaikars interprete it differently).
Many outsiders fall for some boards outside shops - maybe because of the words being used - yantra for instance makes many think of some automatic machine, while it is something very trivial being referred to as yantra. Many other boards are to keep silence (horn related issues) in the street or to avoid parking / traffic problems.
Basically, Punekars have one motto - "Live and let live (peacefully)!"
... mee manaat hi maazhya kadhi danga kela naahi!

Damlelya babanchi kahani...
Mumbai! The name itself flashes the picture of an over-crowded fast local train - so-called lifeline of Mumbai! People rushing to catch their 7:22 fast to their work place. They know that a minute lost in the morning may magnify the loss many a times... very much disturbing their schedule! Time spent in commute varies from 2 to 4 hours daily, add to it working hours of 9 hours - makes, for most of them, 12 to 14 hours daily - spent to earn their living.
...roj tech aahe kaahi aaj naahi!

This being the story for both, mom and dad, children spend their lives waiting for weekends! Weekends again are for extra work, to prepare the household for another week, and to recharge oneself to face another long week. And so weeks make months and months make years. And then...

...babansaathi yeil ka paani dolya madhye?

It is more about how majority of the people think and what kind of lifestyle they get used to! Most of the people in Mumbai, I think, cannot escape the grind of life which the maximum city takes them through. Whereas, most in Pune save a lot of time in commuting - can afford houses closer to their office. With same working hours, a Punekar can give their family much more time, which alone breaks so much complexity. And you will admit that, one complex thing has the potential to make simple things complex; whereas, many simple things can even break a complex thing into simpler things.

Vande Mataram!

"Motherland" - what significance does it have in your life? Same as that you have for your mother?

Every citizen from day one is taught to respect his or her motherland. Right from childhood days, we pledge for mother India, sing national anthem with great pride in schools, sing our national song "Vande Mataram". Learn what great freedom fighters did for the nation, hear patriotic stories, watch patriotic movies, represent India or cheer for India everytime India participates in international events. All this and more in inculcated into every citizen from childhood days. This to make everyone patriotic, so that the person serves mother India in every possible way, everyday, every moment. This is how a nation grows. John F. Kennedy has rightly said in his inaugural speech - "Ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country".

Children grow into adults, start earning money, and sometimes fame as well. The first thing many of them try to escape is tax - by hook or by crook! We bribe, small and big, most of the time to avert paying fines or get things done - legally or illegally. Politicians very proudly and without much thought declare bandhs (strikes), acts of vandalism destroy national property worth crores in hours, in minutes. Scams, protecting scamsters, generating and hiding black money, etc. makes India that much more poorer. And still we say we are patriotic and we love our motherland!

We should ensure that every act helps India grow, directly or indirectly. Work for India, live for India and breath for India! That should be the mantra! If this happens, we need no laws! In a way, country having less laws have more patriotic people and less thieves! Why would there be a watchman where there are no thieves in the first place!

Whoever involve themselves in corrupt practices are not patriotic! They are anti-national elements and should be dumped in the Arabian Sea. No place for them in motherland!

Vande Mataram!

I'm Anna Hazare!

It is good to see India Awakening! Indians from all walks of life, forgetting their age, gender, caste, class, geography, were on the streets all over India, for a cause. That cause, as you all know is corruption. Corruption has been eating our country all these years, a major hurdle in development, growth, hurdle in the fight against hunger, diseases, illiteracy, injustice, terrorism, environment protection ... if not more. And it wasn't that the people weren't ignorant. They weren't acting. They didn't have support, didn't have ideas.

Anna Hazare, age 72 years, a social activists, a retired driver in Indian Army has driven India to a new awakening. A true patriotic person, did not stay back when India was fighting China way back in 1962. When the nation called for its people to fight for the country, Anna Hazare immediately responded. He has done a lot for the country before this anti-corruption movement. But this was different. Different as the nation supported him full-fledgedly. And certainly this is not his last.

Government on day one of Annaji's fast, thought this to be some kind of movement that will be fast forgotten. Thought it will get burried in other breaking news. Thought it might just hit routine prime time debate on some news channel for a day or two. What politicians think and know is that public memory is short. Government said "Who is Anna Hazare!". They even came up with government form of toothless Lokpal bill, just in case...

Young India sporting "I'm Anna Hazare" cap

Quick came the answer, this time from the youth. Young India in their 20s gave a fitting reply. Said "I'm Anna Hazare", every Indian is Anna Hazare and do not mess with us. We decide. Government measured the potential this movement had and cleverly, this time, came in to support the movement before it was too late. Formed a panel containing 5 politicians and 5 participants from the civil society, to work on Jan Lokpal bill, which they promised will be floored in the lok sabha in monsoon session of parliament. An unprecedented thing. All thanks to Anna, for forcing the government to act on something that was in cold storage for 42 years.


Who's going to stop us! We, the civilians, rule!

India won yet again, this time a bigger win. But this is just the beginning, has a far way ahead until this bill is passed and India puts an end to corruption and corrupt people.

What an idea.. sirji!

Today, after a normal day at work, I reached home. After changing over, I started browsing through TV channels. Browsing stopped at Star Cricket, where re-telecast of India-England ICC World Cup '11 match was on. While watching that for sometime, something struck me hard. There was silence all around, I heard nothing for some time. Instinctively, I touched my head. There was no blood on my hand, rather found nothing unusual. What was it that struck so hard! Then I realised it was a thought! Started digging into it, deeper. 
I was thinking about the world cup format. India won the world cup, but England drew the match against India, in that sense England is equal to India and so England also won the cup! Secondly, South Africa won against India, so with similar logic South Africa won the cup! But, South Africa lost to New Zealand, which in turn lost to Pakistan and Pakisatn lost to India, so India is a worthy winner! Haha...
Kuch aur kaam nahin hain kya, kuch bhi sochta rehta hain... bakwaas band kar!
Huh.. who said that!? Forget it, I thought, let me go deeper into my original thoughts!
Com'on this is so common. I have thought about it hundred times before!
Then, go over it one more time, hardly matters. Why not have a world cup, wherein all matches are knock out matches. Lose one, you are out! We can have best of three. Have groups made up of two teams, play each other until a team wins twice. So, if there are twelve teams to start with, we have six groups. Twelve will become six and six will become three. Three play each other twice, if there is a circle formation i.e. if B wins against C, A wins against B and A loses against C then sum all scored-for runs minus scored-against runs and decide the winner. No final will be played. If there is no circle formation, then play best-of-three finals.
Moron you are!
Well, let me continue. Groups will be formed based on matches played against each other in last four years. So, not only the world cup, but all the matches will be interesting.
Hmm, this seems to be a good idea!
So, unless a match is declared as a friendly match, all other matches will count for group formation. And teams will have to play certain minimum number of matches against each other in the four years between two world cups.
This seems to work!!!
I knew it! Something good comes out of garbage thoughts as well! :)

Sachin, Tusi Great Ho ...

India has been celebrating its world cup win for last more than twenty-four hours! And neither are the news channels tired of reporting stories related to the world cup win, nor are we Indians tired of watching it. Everyone just wants to follow the cricketers wherever they go and whatever they do; everyone wants to celebrate endlessly.

India is a country where cricket is passion, playing, watching or following the cricketers. After the win, it was all about dedicating the win, felicitation programs and reward time for our cricketers. The team was felicitated by the President of India, while rewards are pouring in from BCCI, various government bodies and large corporations. Our cricketers have made Indians proud and they certainly deserve it all. Along with this, there were discussions happening mainly comparing '83 vs. '11 ... win, captaincy, team and so on. But when it came to dedicating the win, all unanimously dedicated it to our great son of Mumbai, Sachin-paaji.

Yuvraj, Raina, Yousuf carrying Sachin on shoulders for the victory lap

Sachin's 21 years of service to Indian cricket may just be one reason for this unanimous dedication by team players. But this world cup probably being his last one of his career may just be another! Probably there may be more reasons to it. Possibly, his contribution in this world cup!?

Today, when I was watching one such television discussion, there was a question asked as to why there is so much of affection between Yuvraj and Sachin. Well, they may be friends, are together for so long, playing for India. But there is more to it than just this! When Yuvi was out of form and had been dropped from the team in 2007-08. It was Sachin who was in constant touch with him. Caring and ensuring to it that he practiced and kept himself fit to one day return to the one-day squad. But, I think, it wasn't just this as well. There is more to it!

I remember Sachin, in particular, was upset over India's early exit in 2007 World Cup. There was a movement going on against Sachin in the media, asking him to quit. This was something Sachin could not take. He had a dream of holding a World Cup in his hands. He had seen Kapil paaji do it, he wanted to do it himself. He wanted to win it for India! It was because of this dream that Sachin, in his childhood days, started playing cricket with season ball instead of a tennis ball. Sachin, in 2007, was seeing this dream being shattered.

Sachin's dream fulfilled.

Sachin decided to stick. He had made up his mind to play 2011 World Cup and win it. Cricket, being a team game, he wanted support. He wanted match winners in team India. Yuvi was one such match winner, he didn't want to lose. Sachin, as intelligent as he is, took personal interest in Yuvi, when the latter was dropped from the squad. Sachin used to call Yuvi daily; to ensure that Yuvi practiced, remained fit, made it to the team, get into form and win it for India, for Sachin. Little Master's off-field master stroke! From what was seen as a controversial selection before the world cup, Yuvi went on to became the man of the tournament! Had it not been for Sachin and his dream, we probably might not have won the cup ... who knows!

Sachin, tusi great ho ...

India Tastes Victory ...

Dhoni lead the way, in style, to another victory! This has given the nation, especially young India, joy like never before! Most of what young India heard about, and clips of Kapil with the cup in '83 that we saw on television was all second hand experience! This team has given us first hand experience, the real taste of victory! A much needed victory to prove to ourselves what we are capable of. We are the new champions! We are the world!

Team India did it for 1.21 billion people of India; for Sachin Tendulkar, who tried hard to achieve this feat for last 21 years in 5 previous world cups; for Guru Gary and for themselves. What started with an early exit from 2007 world cup, got us this title! Yeah, I believe, it was that spark that has now ignited in a flame, in each one of us, to achieve what team India collectively achieved. Immense talent, no doubt, is there in this team. But, moreover, India wanted to win very badly (tears of happiness just proves it). That urge got us through some of the toughest and challenging moments that team India faced during this world cup.

Wins against Australia, Pakistan and Sri Lanka were all big, and Indians backed the team all through. Indians, including politicians, businessmen, actors, all came in large numbers to witness this historic win. Celebrations, after the win in finals, ran throughout the night! India was glowing on a new moon night! This was the glow from within each one of us. Just wondering what kind of positive vibes a win could possibly get. 

While watching India celebrate the victory on a news channel, I saw a person with Indian tricolour in hand, with all emotions right up on her face, saying "Mere India ne world cup jeeta. Yeh India ke liye hain". I think and hope that this "for India" urge, will soon show up in other fields too, especially in politics. This may just be the beginning of a new era. Era, which will change India forever, for good and show to the world its true potential.

What it is to be Afridi !

What it is to be Afridi!

I watched India-Pakistan play each other yesterday. The most awaited match of the tournament. Media had hyped the match, but when India-Pakistan play each other, especially in world cups, it is all part of the parcel. This is the tenth world cup and India played Pakistan the fifth time in world cup history. And as usual, I expected the players, specially Pakistani players, to sledge and there by create the atmosphere of true rivalry. On the contrary, they weren't the Pakistanis of old days. Javed Miandad's jumping on the pitch, Amir Sohail's aggressive remarks, Shoiab Akhtar's angry looks... were all missing. Pakistanis played like true gentlemen. Not that they weren't gentle enough earlier, but "that" edge was completely missing, in their batting, bowling and fielding. I didn't enjoy beating Pakistan as before.

Afridi was leading an inexperienced Pakistani side. Just before the world cup, quite a few players were axed for being involved in match fixing. A day before the match, players were warned by their interior minister not to get involved in match fixing. They were under vigil all through. I can just imagine, what they could have been through.

Pakistani politics, I think, is eating away it's cricket. We all know what the Sri Lankans faced when they last toured Pakistan. No other team now wishes to play in Pakistan. Whatever matches Pakistan plays, plays on neutral venues or opposition's home ground. Though the world cup is being played in the Indian sub-continent, Pakistan didn't get to host a single match. What a pity!

Economically, Pakistani players are poorer in comparison to other cricketers. All for obvious reasons. IPL also do not entertain Pakistani players.

With all this and more, there is no doubt whatsoever, that they are a talented lot. Just to mention - reverse swing was first noticed by Akram and famous doosra was Saqlain's invention. Pakistan has a long list of great cricketers. Wahab Riaz, a new find for Pakistan, proved that yesterday. His reverse swinging yorker to Yuvi said more than words could ever say. No wonder they topped their group and reached the semis.

One day after the loss, Zulqarnian Haider, Pakistan's former wicket keeper, has questioned the defeat and has asked higher authorities to probe the poor performance of the team. Wonder what Afridi will have in response to all these allegations.

Afridi, in the interview after the match, said sorry to his nation and I'm sorry for him. Not because he lost the game for Pakistan, but because talent is not getting it's worth.

Well, I am a true supporter of men in blue! Pakistan was just another hurdle, we got to get our hands on to our second world cup!


PS: Afridi, a day after I wrote this blog, has questioned Pakistani's openly as to why Pakistani's hate India? He said, Pakistani weddings are done in Indian style, Pakistan watches all Indian movies, dances to Indian music, has so many things in common... then why? It was just a game that Pakistan lost!
Well said Shahid Afridi! We certainly need more people like him on either side.

De ghuma ke ...

Another three days and we are through with the league phase and there is no world cup fever in India!?! Well... stop kidding and feel the heat!!! It's on ...

England has kinda fellas chosen for themselves - well, it is because of them that the atmosphere is all chilled up. Windies are blown out by bench-warmer Tredwell, and of course, Swann came is handy as usual. What started as a usual match, England as usual made it unusual! Having lost to weak teams (Ireland and Bangladesh) and drawn with India, they won against South Africa and Windies; all thrillers. Forget not Rusell's catch taken (well almost) by Jonathon Trott and thereafter the review for LBW appeal against Sarwan, would have really broken the team. With just 26 runs to defend and 4 wickets to take, Englishmen held their nerves when it mattered! Scrapping through a do-or-die situation like this, they had a lot of luck on their side today. It might just get them their first cup, if it favours them till the end.
With all this part of history, Bangladesh will now have to try their luck against the mighty South Africans. Life is not always that easy (Bangladesh gate crashed into the second round in CWC 2007)!
With only a few league matches still to be played, it is quarter-final time, and with top eight team almost certain now; get ready to knock off or get knocked off!

The Supreme Saviour!

"What the hell is going on in this country," the Supreme Court remarked as it expressed annoyance with the lack of government's seriousness in bringing to book alleged black money offenders like Hasan Ali Khan and asked for his arrest.

Hasan Ali Khan, who started as a stud farm owner with just 2 horses in Hyderabad in 1991, moved to Pune and Mumbai to grow as a gambler, betting on horses. He is now a billionaire with 8 billion dollars stacked in accounts abroad. He had/has accounts in Swiss banks with balance over 6 billions, which was recently moved out to elsewhere. This person having strong connections to the underworld, was introduced to the Swiss bank by none other than Dubai underworld dealer in ammunition. And, yeah... and, guess what, he is a free man in India! Being arrested and left out for crimes like owning a fake passport, has a strong backing from someone very mighty.

"You (Enforcement Directorate) know about his arms deals, smuggling cases and his other connections and still you allow him to come on another day. Whose convenience is sought to be seen? We want a simple answer why is there not a custodial interrogation (of Khan) when the nation's integrity and sovereignty is at stake.", questions honourable Justice of India.

Honourable Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, who is fully aware of his responsibility, is simply incapable of acting and says that compromise has to be done to run a coalition government. But, in the case of appointment of Chief Vigilance Commissioner (CVC), it wasn't compromise in the name of coalition. Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, Home Minister P. Chidamabaram and Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj were part of the panel to select the CVC. Swaraj's demand to expand the panel were put down and C. J. Thomas was appointed as CVC with 2-1 majority against Swaraj's wish. The President too had given a go ahead for this appointment. This was another attempt to have individuals, who can do fovours for Congress, holding important positions.

Supreme Court, after Sarosh Homi Kapadia took over as the Chief Justice of India in May 2010 (earlier CJI, Balakrishnan, who held office for three years, has allegedly amassed disproportionate wealth), has come out against the government time and again on issues from washing of paddy in the last monsoon, to eviction of Thomas as CVC, to oust Raja and initiate investigation in 2G scam, to stacking of black money in tax haven and many more occassions.

"I come from a poor family. I started my career as a Class IV employee and the only asset I possess is my integrity", said Sarosh Kapadia, son of a defence clerk, in one felicitation function held for some other judge. An honest person at the helm can work wonders for India.

Finally, in the PIL filed by Ram Jethmalani, SC orders CVC's eviction. Surely, what government wants is clear from acts like these, doing every bit to pave way for corruption. In times like this, we, the people of this country, have hope because and only because Supreme Court is above the government - directing it to act. Many thanks to SC and moreover, thanks to Honourable Chief Justice of India Sarosh Kapadia, you are the Supreme Saviour!

Freedom to choose!

A man walks into a restaurant and places an order for four veg meals, one each of Gujrati, Punjabi, Maharashtrian and South Indian. When he has all four meals at his table, he chooses something from each and asks the waiter to take back the rest.
Yeah, this is one of the recent television advertisement of direct-to-home service provider, which allows its users to choose individual television channels, instead of predefined packs of channels.
This is the new world with cut throat competition, in which each company tries to attract consumers with unique features built into their products.
If one mobile service provider comes with dynamic cellular plans, then other comes up with one-second pulse rate. If one bank works from 8 AM to 8 PM, other bank works 365 days a year. All in the same game, to leave others behind in the race. Even public sector units (PSU) have their sleeves rolled up. Chandrababu Naidu even ran his government in Andhra Pradesh in much the same style, as corporate world does. Many started calling him the CEO of the state, and not CM (chief minister).

Let's start from the first line all over again...
A man walks into a polling booth and gets lists of cabinet ministers of different political parties or alliances to choose from. Say, for UPA we have Mr. Manmohan Singh as Prime Minister, Mr. P. Chidambaram for Home, Mr. Pranab Mukherji for Finance, so on covering all major portfolios and one local representative. Similarly, for NDA we have Mr. L. K. Advani as Prime Minister, Mrs. Sushma Swaraj for Home, Mr. Yeshwant Sinha for Finance and a local representative. When he has the ministers on the menu, he chooses one for each portfolio, plus a local representative. Giving India more power to choose. Intelligent India, intelligent government!
With main portfolio already allocated, having a mix of all parties, the chosen prime minister now chooses his other cabinet and state ministers from among the elected local representatives, which together will form the face of the government. All other elected local representatives alongwith the losers competing for major portfolios will form the opposition. Party lines broken!
What say... poor uneducated people, a very big number in itself in India, won't understand and will not be able to register their vote? Doesn't matter, they can just choose a local representative, as they do now, and/or a prime minister, leaving everything else blank. A valid vote! For blanks, we may consider local representative filling in for them at a later stage. Open for debate!
Election for educated will be online and/or in booth, and with UID chipping in.. it will just be easy. Is it not?! For others we have our electronic voting machines to choose just the local representatives. Not bad!
Cutting party lines to individuals, ending casteism and still having a good, knowledgeable opposition will get competitiveness into governance. Just what India needs badly!

India Infected!

India completed 61 years being Republic! After 61 years, it really feels bad, that India is suffering from cancer. Yes, I say it again, India has cancer, a disease which is curable only if detected and treated at an early stage.
What are the chances of survival?
Wait, do not jump to it right away. One does not ask that question to a person suffering from cancer! It is simply not appropriate!
Okay! What type of cancer is it? When was it detected? Is it being treated? Who is ...
Wait... one question at a time. It started as brain tumor; but as tumor is an abnormal malignant growth of cells, it has rapidly spread to other parts of the body. Now most of the parts are infected. And it is known to everybody since long, everybody who keeps himself updated. But nobody cared, nobody cares. It is not being treated. Even worse, doctors are acting as though they are treating India, disinfecting India off the fatal disease; but in reality they are the ones who infected India and are spreading it.
Now, before you pound me with your next question, let me mention the name of Yashwant Sonavane, probably not the last good cell to perish. That cell tried to punish malign oil mafia cells. There were quite a few Yashwant's in recent times, if you can recollect Satyendra Dubey and Shanmughan Manjunath.
What are the doctors doing?
Doctors are themselves malign! They have their hands dirty with 2G, CWG, Adarsh, .. all very recent and the list goes on. There are too many older ones, which I do not want to get into. Lessons learnt by 26/11 like incidents are easily forgotten. Doctors have the list of all malign tumors, with addresses from Germany; Swiss is willing to help. Only if doctors are ready to help India! Malign cells are making themselves strong... Hasan Ali's case, a Pune based man, who siphoned 6 bn USD from Swiss bank recently. India needs a good doctor and all malign tumors can be washed away. 
How will India get rid of cancer?
Good cells are too busy, don't want to understand the issues, not willing to act and not willing to appoint a good doctor! Instead, good cells get away from malign bodies and start a new life in foreign bodies.
What good cells need to do is to appoint a better doctor, get rid of tumors and protect new cells.
Apart from the above, it is very important that quality-good-cells get right up to the brain. Reservations should be done with. It is simple. If a family, because of limited resources, cannot provide higher education to both the children they have. Then most deserving child should be provided with best of conditions, so that he/she supports the entire family when he/she grows up and becomes wise. There is no point promoting the least deserving one and building inefficiency!
With this, you will see, India will not only survive till eternity, but will soon become a super-power! Jai Hind!