The best way to know the self is feeling oneself at the moments of reckoning. The feeling of being alone, just with your senses, may lead you to think more consciously. More and more of such moments may sensitize ‘you towards you’, towards others. We become regular with introspection and retrospection. We get ‘the’ gradual connect to the higher self we may name Spirituality or God or just a Humane Conscious. We tend to get a rhythm again in life. We need to learn the art of being lonely in crowd while being part of the crowd. A multitude of loneliness in mosaic of relations! One needs to feel it severally, with conscience, before making it a way of life. One needs to live several such lonely moments. One needs to live severallyalone.

Wednesday 27 June 2012

AUSTERITY HO! (III)

They: Our lords, inheriting the power corridors of Delhi and the Indian states
Us: The subjects, always taken for granted, and so treaded and trampled at will

Take 5:

They: Due to some reasons only they know, members of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Agriculture decided to examine the farming sector of the region around Chandigarh. Now North India is reeling under the heat. So the folks, 23 members of the committee, headed by CPM’s Basudeb Acharia, decided to land in a five-star hotel, to deliberate and discuss.

To help them accommodate better, some of them checked-in two days in advance. To feel at home, some even brought their wives and other companions to the place. They chose deluxe rooms of the hotel that cost Rs. 15,000 a day. It excluded other costs like transportation and meals.

The five-day June 15-20 ‘summer tour’ had sessions and visits to different cities. Our lords designed to extend the experience of pleasure by choosing Shimla as the destination for study tour.

The summer adventure cost Rs. 5 Lakh a day and was paid from the taxpayers’ money.

There are many parliamentary standing committees to help the parliament steer clear of the bumpy roads the complex work function of the Indian Parliament provides. Seriousness in the tone the way these standing committees are defined becomes even more imperative after the fact that the Parliament has virtually ceased to work wasting majority of the working hours. Google for it and find volumes of analyses written on it.

So ample room for our lords to maneuver on travel and leisure front while window shopping in the name of the real job!

The Chandigarh exotica for our dear lords came within a month of the austerity measures announced by the Finance Ministry that put a total ban on meetings and conferences in five-star hotels.

There are good and secure guest houses in Chandigarh but probably the office memorandum of the Finance Ministry didn’t reach this group of the lords.

They: This early June, the Human Resources Development Ministry had two event lined up, Central Advisory Board on Education (CABE) meet and the State Education Ministers conference. As usual with practices by our lords, a five-star hotel, Ashoka, was chosen as the venue.

This event, too, was held just within days of the UPA government announcing the austerity measures.  

Us: Apart from the ministries and related affiliates, the Finance Ministry note covers all other institutions run or funded by the government. I have not come across any report saying any ‘you and me’ violating these measures.

Our lords gave logics of earlier approval and ‘arrangements already made’ when it came to their sleeves. They said five-stars were chosen for security reasons. They said it would be too difficult to alter the arrangements as invitations were already dispatched.

Government of India is commemorating 150th anniversary year of Mahamana Madan Mohan Malaviya. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is heading the committee constituted for it. Last year, on birthday of the Mahamana on December 25, a function was to be held at Vigyan Bhawan and was to be attended by Manmohan Singh, Sonia Gandhi, Kapil Sibal and others. Everything was done, cards were sent. And two days before the December 25 event, I received (and so others) another letter saying the programme was altered and the event would now be held on December 27.

I don’t mean to critically analyze here the dull event and how it was watered down but if this event involving the most elitist band of the ruling coalition could be altered, then why not these much smaller and scaled down five-star events.  When events involving such high-profile designations can be held at government auditoriums, then why not routine ministry specific meets and conferences.

All the events and programmes mentioned above had limited number of participants with no public interaction at the venue. Government can more efficiently provide security to such small group events at venues owned and operated by its different wings.

Summers are tough for many parts of India due to severe power crisis. Uttar Pradesh has been the perennial rough patch irrespective of who rules. This year, the government came with a bizarre solution - closing down malls and shops by 7 PM to save electricity and to reduce almost 15-18 hours of domestic power outage roster.

It was ridiculous and stupid. After hue and cry, the newly appointed chief minister decided for a rollback.

It is no hidden fact that areas of influential politicians in Uttar Pradesh are getting electricity 24/7 while the common man is forced to sweat out the most hours of his day.

To continue..

©/IPR: Santosh Chaubey - http://severallyalone.blogspot.com/