Golden mess

The ambitious Golden Quadrilateral Project has touched hearts of most regions and their people, but the people of Bihar.

First it was the infamous murder of Engineer Satyendra Dubey. Unfortunately, Dubey was murdered after he wrote a letter to the Prime Minister alleging the grip of mafia in the segment he was constructing the road. Unfortunately, because this gave a wrong turn to the debate that should have taken place then. He was murdered by criminals who robbed him before that. But then Opposition politicians created a ruckus over an unsubstantiated claim that he had been murdered by the mafia and over whether the Prime Minister’s Office leaked his letter of complaint.

And the debate on law and order never took place. A debate vis-à-vis how engineers (and doctors) find it impossible to work in Bihar, where most development projects fail to start or rarely complete. Engineers engaged in building infrastructure are regularly kidnapped and their employers and family are forced to pay huge ransom in return. These kidnapping syndicates mostly run under the patronage of politicians, many of whom are members of Parliament.

The result: in a world where world’s biggest companies contest to win a tender worth thousands of crores in any part of the country, there were no bidders for the National Highway projects in Bihar. Tenders were invited for a second time. And again, no one showed any interest. Now the government is planning to give the job to Bihar State Bridge Corporation, known for its snail’s pace and corruption. And its engineers too would be kidnapped, ransoms would be paid. And nothing will work again.

Everybody is treating symptoms. No one wants to get to the disease. It’s election time soon, so politicians aren’t saying a thing. They can’t for they depend on the crime syndicate bosses.

I am worried because I gotta go pay a visit to my native village. And roads I hear are in a bad shape. So will be my back once I am back. Or maybe I will skip that. This time.

Salacious, says Secular Tiwari

DEOGHAR, DAY 3: Laloo Yadav's party thinks the media's expose of the Sal-Ash-ious tapes is an attempt to demonise the minorities. Shivanand Tiwari, one of the few educated, eloquent in the Laloo party, sees a saffron agenda to "ferment a nationwide hatred campaign" by digging dirt against Salman and gangster politician Shahabuddin. Waah!

BY THE WAY: Laloo was here today to inaugurate a railway overbridge. It's not some new train or a new railway line. It takes a cabinet minister to open a bridge. And Laloo isn't the first one, ministers have opened tea stalls in our country. Anything for claiming the credit for India's development. Development? What development? In nearby Bhagalpur, people angered by hollow promises threw stones at Laloo's meeting.

Initial shock: Bihar repeats in Andhra

The flood relief scam in Bihar landed its architect Gautam Goswami behind bars. He had issued cheques in the name of BSSIC that should have gone to Bihar State Small-scale Industries Corporation, the suppliers of relief material. But the cheques went to another BSSIC, Baba Satya Sai Industries Corporation, spawned by crooks for swindling money.
In Andhra, the money was supposed to paid to VW India Ltd. (Volkswagen India Limited). But crooks had floated a Vashistha Vahan India to cash it.
God knows how many more such dubious accounts with doublemeaning initials operate in this country.
P.S. I'm reading God knows by Heller. Quite funny and uniquely so.

Madhur Bhandarkar stole my words

"I can’t believe it. When I got a call about this news I was shocked and numb," said Madhur Bhandarkar after he heard that his filmPage 3 had been won the National Award for the Best Film. Exactly my words. I am still shocked and numb. Apart from Konkona SenSharma, there was nothing in Page 3 worth watching for anyone above age 3.

And I can't believe Saif Ali Khan winning the Best Actor award for Hum Tum. I am not saying he was bad in the film, but an award-winning performace?

The National Film Awards have been losing it for quite some time. But after this year, any actor worth his facial muscles wouldn't be proud of the so-called prestigious award. Nor a director worth the hat should.

The National Film Awards are highly politicised, like any other government-awarded titles and awards. I will not be surprised to know Saif's mom Sharmila, crony to many senior Congress cronies, played a role. This is a hallmark of the Congress days.

Not that the BJP days were any better. Raveena Tandon, who campaigned for the BJP, lobbied for a National Award for Daman, which was by the way a decent film. Her maternal uncle, Mac Mohan, was one of the jury members that year. Now how did Mac Mohan went on to be a a jury member is another story. Mac Mohan is remembered for playing the villain's sidekick in Sholay. He is the Samba of "Arrey O Samba".

Bol Bamm

The presiding deity of my hometown has a home on the web. Complete with online darshan and online puja. Babadham.org is pretty neatly designed.The city is called B. Deoghar. B stands for Baidyanathdham. People prefer the shorter Babadham. Click for an online trip to Deoghar. Alt: Baba Baidyanathdham.com. On Wiki

In the Lift

This photo was taken in the lift and posted before we touched the ground from 13th. I so love my blog-ready phone.

Blogging from mobile

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The Annoying

Confession: I had Crazy Frog Axel F as my ringtone for a day. yes, I did succumb. And it was fun.

Pro-Congress

If pro is opposite of con, then what is the opposite of progress? Congress!

For the next 15 days, keep children off news channels

The makeshift Ram temple on the disputed Ayodhya site has been attacked by a group of terrorists. All the terrorists have been killed. That however has resurrected curious creatures like Praveen Togadia. Children under 17 must watch news channels only when accompanied by a parent. Reason: Strong language, reference to violence, moral nudity, a lot of horror.