Bharat Bandh!!

5th July...Bharat Bandh! Called by Opposition parties, lead by BJP, apparently to raise concerns of the aam aadmi

The result: Schools, Colleges shut...many offices closed...trains stopped, buses being damaged, huge traffic jams, loss of crores of rupees.

What kind of politics is this: you trouble the common man, in name of raising their concerns. Whats the point of disrupting the whole system? And more importantly...what benefit the common man gets out of it! Simply nothing...
Its Just a lame attempt at show of power...or else how do you justify a crowd pelting stones at a office cab, carrying employees to work? What if a ambulance gets stuck in the traffic jam ?

Agreed that price rise a issue and it should be debated upon. I'm sure those doing it must have deliberated upon it before taking such a decision (I'm sure, even they love votes). It would have been more appropriate, if the Opposition party would have called for a debate on national television for the government to explain this. That would have been peaceful, wouldn't have caused any troubles to anyone, and yet it would ensured that the concerns were voiced to those who matter. In this age, where Media is so much empowered, and so much reach..do we need bandhs to ensure that our voices are heard!

While driving to office, I was wondering ...if Bandh is a platform to raise issues..then what is Parliament for ? Isn't it supposed to be a platform where our chosen leaders should discuss/debate topics which concern the nation and its citizens? And what happens in parliament sessions: walkouts...! These very political parties, refuse to utilize that precious time and money, to have some constructive discussions.

I've always believed that Opposition should be about constructive criticism...instead of "opposing just for the sake of it". Would there ever be a day, when we'll see some constructive politics in India!

From Labour Room...

One of my colleagues once commented that "once you have seen your wife enduring Labour Pain, you would start loving her all the more". And after my experiences over last 48 hours..I must admit that I couldn't agree more.

My wife entered the labour room, with approximately 21 weeks pregnancy. While the reason and result both were rather fateful in our case, but the experiences or lets say the process was almost similar to that of full-fledged delivery.

She was in labour for close to 14 hours.

14 hours of continuous and literally excruciating pain, consistent bleeding. Every single minute was a test of her mental and physical strength. And with every passing minute my respect for women hood, and in particular for my wife, grew stronger and stronger. Ironically, women are still called 'the weaker sex'

And in that context it's so disheartening to see the plight of women in today's world. Female foeticide is a grave reality, dowry deaths haven't really vanished, domestic violence continues as we speak.

As men..the least we can do is respect and love women. Women - who endure pains of unimaginable degree to give us life.