SWAGGER LIKE SIDDHU

Kailesh Kher bleated "Naam Hai Siddhuuuu, Naam Hai Sidhuuu". Thy name is Siddhu and populist is his mantra.
It is amazing how this lawyer, staying in a one-room shared apartment with his friend in Mysore, turned around the Karnataka budget of over one lakh crores. Unlike other Chief Ministers, i really admire the man. He keeps a beard, wears a simple dhoti, speaks rustic Kannada and ensures the common BPL man is benefited.
And benefits galore. Rice at one rupee a kilo, pension for war widows, girl child education, loans waiver for farmers and flyovers for cities. There was even a package for the ITeS Sector, but i don't remember the details. However, i loved the education part. Compulsory education for all children, even in private schools. Plus, milk in their mid day meals.
As for the shoppers, Siddhu decreased the price of footwear and increased the price of movie tickets. What's more, he his going to pass the burden of the free milk to us. But i don't mind. Lakhs of children will be benefited. Dare i say, his move to conduct IT raids of mutts is a little risky, though justified. Hey, there's even funds for starting Kannada Studies in Germany too. Now we can put our Kannada ebbettu (thumb print instead of sign) and get an M-Class, or better, serve Ragi mudde at cafes' over there.
Our state has seen its ups and downs, and the deep ends. It has never seen the heaven. Hopefully, Siddhu will change it. If we cannot reach for the starts, at least we could have the telescope to see them. Hope is everything.
In the meantime, enjoy your milk, put on some music and swagger like Siddhu.

MADE IN DETROIT-R.I.P

I watched in amazement at the Chevrolet Camaro in Transformers. That black strip on a yellow body made me drool more than Megan Fox and the Aussie chick that came in the last installment. Not to forget, the muscular Humvee and the GM pickup.
And then, i read the news. DETROIT GOES BUST. FILES FOR BANKRUPTCY. It felt really bad.
Remember the episode from MadMen where Chevy calls for the biggest ad agencies, and SC&P, along with GCG (or the agency where Peggy works) merge. Those were truly the golden days for America. The college goer had the muscle car, the family had the wagon and the rich had the Lincoln. You did not have to print "Made in America". You just had to say "Made in Detroit".
All those mega factories which followed Henry Ford's assembly line have fallen silent. They almost did when the Japanese came calling, and Toyota made a Sushi out of the American giants. Customer was king, and the Japanese knew the Art of War, and customer care too.
But, innovation happens when crises strikes. The Americans made their cars slightly fuel efficient, and solved the problem of mileage. How? They invaded oil rich countries. This master stroke brought back the pick up trucks, Jeeps, and anything that could be driven in Red Neck country. They went global and ensured Arnold Schwazzneger (don't bother with the spelling) acted in movies, became a politician, married a Kennedy and bought not one, or two, but seven Hummers.
Detroit's giants shifted base to China to sell the American dream, including divorce rates which came from making love in the car, and sold more to the guys who had wrote the Kamasutra. We already had the Ogilvys' and Y&Rs', only the brands were yet to come. The once great state of Detroit, where at the ring of the bell, the boxes were opened and sandwiches consumed, while workers watched another swanky car roll out of the assembly line, is now witness to hearses, that carry the murder victims as crime rates soar and communities flee.
Perhaps the hearse, also made in Detroit, is an indication of the city's demise. Generations of families which had more oil and grease than blood in their bodies, have now moved on to other cities. The Detroit Auto Show is the only saving grace, ironic considering American Cars are made in China and India, to be bought by them and the rest in Asia.
This is a bad account even Don Draper would not be able to market.

MILITARY REPUBLIC OF INDIA

Egypt. The people rose in protest against a tyrant. As usual, the police beat, shot and killed the protesters. Before more people got hurt, the Egyptian Army stepped in and Mubarak was kicked out. It repeated the act to remove Morsi, bowing to popular sentiments. The Tahrir square has been witness to this historic event.
Back home, we have seen the Army rescue victims of natural and man-made calamities. Be it a child stuck in  a borewell, or pilgrims who expected God's mercy. Not to forget their job of trying to push back terrorists, within and outside the country; not to forget the role it plays when fanatics stir up communal violence and pit one man against his brother. The Army is called in to hold the pieces together and keep the peace.
One thing the Army hasn't done yet is take over the Government.
Yes, an attempt was made by Mangal Pandey, when the white man was ruling us and pork fat was used in guns. Today, a white woman, surrounded by hogs, is ruling us. And the Army, sadly, is killing itself. The suicide rate among the Armed Forces is high. Juniors shooting their senior officers over leave sanction is becoming a recurring event. Even for the ones not contemplating suicide, it is a tough task. We have battle tanks that blow up from the inside, MiGs that crash while taking off and choppers that drop from the sky like dead birds.We may have the highest casualties in peace time, than war.
Be it trucks, guns or plain rations, the government of the day always does an "Italian Job" of things. The magnitude of corruption increases as the defense budget sky rockets. Yet, terrorist acts continue and are more brazen than the previous one. Remember the Mumbai attacks?
It might sound as sacrilege, but sometimes to protect democracy, you need to appoint tyrants. Romans did it, Germans did it, Americans still do it; it's time we did it. We have waited more than 50 years, and we should not wait another 50 to realize it is not working out.
Our Army are not exactly tyrants. Yes, freedom of the Press is something that should be kept alive, unlike our neighbor Burma. But the armed forces have a good track record of solving problems pragmatically, be it court cases, providing relief or making judicious use of limited resources. They can be the right solution to our problem. All we need is to give them the call.