In-Dependence ??

The year 2006 spells CATASTROPHE.

The Mumbai floods, the Mumbai train blasts, the floods in Gujarat & Madhya Pradesh, the Israel-Lebanon conflict, the Colombo bomb blast, the foiling of the terror plot to blow up 10 flights from London to USA – all this & more.
Think about it – we are not yet 8 full months into the year.

The floods in Mumbai

It is a fact that this year the rains were a third of the 994 mm of last years 26/7 – but the result was almost the same. The city stopped for 2 days. WHY? Why weren’t the drainage systems in place? Why weren’t the roads repaired? Why did the nightmare of 26/7 have to repeat itself – almost? Sadly, these questions fall on deaf ears.

The politicians, who are concerned only about their personal kitties & well being give a damn about what happens to the country.


The Mumbai train blasts

I have written enough about this in one of my earlier posts – ENOUGH! We have finally managed to get hold of someone somehow connected to the blasts – that too a far indirect connection. The London plane blasts were AVERTED & 21 suspects were ARRESTED WITHIN 3 HOURS.
Here – blasts happened & how ! – Killed over 200 (official figures), injured thousands, handicapped many more. Arrests have been made few & far between till now.
But seriously, can we expect anything from the legislature & the judiciary which has still not delivered its verdict on the 1993 Mumbai blast suspects. Btw, the new D-Day is September 12, 2006 as postponed from August 10, 2006. If the judgment is delivered, it will be over 13 years since the blast took place. Do we still care ?


The floods in Surat – completely a man made disaster. It DID NOT rain in excess there. The drainage system is BAD, to put it lightly. Plus, the river Tapti, which overflowed has quite a few metres of silt deposit at its bottom. The government & relevant authorities have not taken any steps to remove it – resulting in its overflowing and subsequent floods.

Food for thought – In any of the news coverage, “excess rains” were never mentioned – only the words “Surat flooded” were used. Go figure !



Are we a developed country? Yes, the economy is booming, yes the salaries registered a phenomenal, 2nd highest in the world growth this year. But, is the basic infrastructure in place? Especially in metros.

The people are not provided with proper roads, clean drinking water, uninterrupted supply of electricity, security & safety, a hygienic civic sense.

The average age of the Lok Sabha & Rajya Sabha Members(over 50) is double the age of the average Indian(26.48).

We need the youth of the country to take matters into its own hands, to work towards securing its own future in the country, to try and provide their off-springs a better India, a better Mumbai to live in.

If not in full fledged politics, lets be a part of social service NGOs, rural development forums, forums which raise their voice against wrong doings of the government. Lets work towards freedom from the “chalta hai” attitude. Lets fight to get our basic rights. Lets make our home a better place to live in .

Happy Independence Day. Lets make it truly happy, and our country truly independent.