Gujarat has made voting compulsory in local polls, and Himachal Pradesh is keen to emulate the model :

Modi says the new Act will help increase voter turnout and will take away black money and huge spending in elections. ”Until now, voters were affiliated to a candidate, caste or party. This bill gives a chance for the neutral voters to participate in the democratic process,” said Modi.

But if a person fails to do vote he or she will be served a notice and will have to furnish a valid reason within 30 days of the notice being served. If the reply is not satisfactory, he or she could be declared a defaulter.

I’m filing this post under the ‘Stuff the government does it shouldn’t be doing’ category. This idea sounds all good and noble, but the government really has no business enforcing voting. I won’t talk about liberty; instead, my reason is : the government is not your mummy-pappa to make you a good or responsible person. If you smoke, you very well know it’s consequences as a responsible adult so the government shouldn’t play moral police. Likewise, for voting. I have seen a few posts around the blogosphere welcoming this move and therein lies another fundamental problem : We do not know why a government is in place. In the guise of doing something seemingly well-intentioned, the government is now involved is much more (warranting a separate category at this blog — at the very least). It can be argued that the need for wise voting and its underlying cause — electing good representatives — will partially be eliminated if the government performs just its minimalistic functions.

If there is one thing I haven’t understood, it is the adulation Paa has received. Now you know I haven’t exactly loved the movie, so it is all the more bewildering to hear reactions from people and news such as this :

“Balki wishes to put in three deleted scenes of the film back on to it. And I think we shall be talking to the channels and media about it. One of the refrains that floated by was that they had wished there was more of Auro in the film. Guess Balki heard that one and now wishes to execute it,” Amitabh posted on his blog.

More of Auro ? Really ? So you didn’t wish he’d die sooner ? What on earth is wrong with you !

*****

I wasn’t sure after watching Paa if it was the bad movie that put me off or my lack of love for the Bachchans. Since then, I have been reassured that it was — in fact — the bad movie bit. This was after a friend who is a self-confessed Bachchan fangirl saw the movie and almost hated it. Now it could be that my review was so scathing that it spoilt it for her, but let’s not get into complex psychological analyses.

*****

I find uncanny resemblances between how I feel about Paa and how I felt about Slumdog Millionaire exactly a year ago. Only then, I was on the other side of the argument. I had loved the movie, and some critics and intellectuals were bashing it for being a banal plot, requiring an unreasonable suspension of disbelief — most didn’t take the Oscar wins too well either.

I had suggested then that the detractors must suck it up and accept it. Ergo, I have to humbly do so myself now.

I’ll still maintain that I love Slumdog Millionaire for being a an engaging movie in a creative format. Engaging writing is what is missing in Paa and the least of all its flaws. So I think I am being consistent and not a hypocrite.

Dan Lyons — writer of the Fake Steve Jobs blog — has pulled off a stunt on AT&T marvelously. It all started with AT&T CEO made a comment that they might think about a system wherein heavy data users were charged more. The dig was at iPhone users, since 3% of their customers utilize over 40% of their data traffic. Being Fake Steve Jobs, he had to react to this. It started with a fictional call he made to Randall Stephenson, CEO of AT&T where Randall blew him off. A couple of rants later, he posted this at the blog :

I’ll tell you something — I’m really blown away by the way people have responded to AT&T’s bastardly behavior over bandwidth usage. Our engineers are friggin livid. And, because they’re engineers, which means they’re basically evil little pricks, they’ve come up with a plan to teach AT&T a lesson. They’re calling it Operation Chokehold. Last night I got this email that they’ve been sending around inside Apple, encouraging people to join the crusade:

Subject: Operation Chokehold
On Friday, December 18, at noon Pacific time, we will attempt to overwhelm the AT&T data network and bring it to its knees. The goal is to have every iPhone user (or as many as we can) turn on a data intensive app and run that app for one solid hour. Send the message to AT&T that we are sick of their substandard network and sick of their abusive comments. THe idea is we’ll create a digital flash mob. We’re calling it in Operation Chokehold. Join us and speak truth to power!

The engineers have asked me to serve as a kind of communications director for their efforts — soliciting ideas on what apps to use (Pandora may not be the best) and how to refine the attack on the network. If anyone has ideas, use the comment strings. Tell your friends. Get people involved. We have five days to create a movement and plan a major assault. As the Portuguese said during the Obama campaign: Si, se puede.

Operation Chokehold, as he decided to call it, steadily gathered steam — more discredit goes to AT&T for it than credit to Dan Lyons — and soon there were Facebook fan pages, events and tweets. The idea was simple — start using a data intensive app on Friday the 18th of Dec. at 12 p.m. PST. Given the age of signing online petitions and making your voice heard via virtual means, the method of protest clicked. So much that AT&T had to respond to it, pointing out that the protest idea was irresponsible and pointless. They further said that there were hardly 300 fans on the FB page, so it wouldn’t affect their network. But as the numbers reached the thousands, the FCC — the highest body for anything related to communications in the U.S. — had to respond cautioning users against the potential drawbacks clogging would have on emergency situations and numbers.

Technically, the idea wasn’t illegal, but I am sure the blogger could be sued for any untoward incident. Further, AT&T and FCC made Dan Lyons sound like an attention-seeking irresponsible blogger : from what I have read and seen of Dan, that is probably not true. Dan Lyons has responded superbly since, and I can’t help but appreciate the way he has handled it.

First, he made it clear that alternate modes of protest could be deployed (such as flash mobs at AT&T stores) and that he didn’t really want the protest as it could cause harm — he just stopped short of dissuading users who were all set to go ahead with the plan. However, by then Operation Chokehold had taken a life of its own, and it was beyond Dan’s control — something that worked well for him, having absolved himself of potential lawsuits.

It didn’t end there. He came out with another scathing post on AT&T : its returns, revenue and investment numbers for the last few years and making fairly valid points — or probably as valid as any other neutral watcher could make. In all, he has defended himself very well, whilst even giving up the Fake Steve Jobs character at times.

It is amusing how something that started as an unlikely success soon transformed into a disgruntled users vs. AT&T proxy war. I’m not sure how it is going to go tomorrow at noon, but I can take a guess that the fragile 3G network in metropolitan areas such as New York and San Francisco might not need superhuman efforts to bring down.

As for my take on the entire matter, whatever is the point to make, I believe it has already been made by the protesters — loud and clear. Nothing more to add. The whole thing is arguably in bad taste, but mobs seldom abide by good taste and the law.

Oh, and Dan Lyons is back in prime form (as a satirical writer), after a long time.

P.S. : Just so you know, I do not condone Operation Chokehold. I merely report.

***

Here is Dan Lyons speaking at an Authors@Google event. It is long, but makes for a hilarious watch :

It appears that today is a day when more than just a few things are right :

Gadchiroli villages get legal right over forest.

Two tribal villages in the Maoist-infested Gadchiroli on Tuesday became the first in the country to get legal rights over forest and forest produce.

Mendha (Lekha) and Marda will manage the forest and water in their jurisdiction and be the legal owners of forest produce except timber, according to a document, Record of Rights, presented to the representatives of the villages by governor SC Jamir.

On August 15, the government had announced its decision in favour of the villages. The Record of Rights recognises the villagers’ right to manage their forest, water, and the right to forest produce as per the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Right) Act, 2006.

I hope this precedent paves the way for many more similar decisions. Tribals rightfully own their forests and giving them legal ownership can only help solve the cause of Naxalism, which in most cases stems from Government seizure of forest land and subsequent contract deals.

Locals are also capable of preserving forests far better than the Government, which — at last count — wasn’t really good at anything and had a long nose that it used to poke into unnecessary issues. For more, check the Stuff Government Does That It Shouldn’t Be Doing.

are Goa CM Digambar Kamat and Congress MP Shantaram Naik for their views that the Russian rape victim was — for lack of better words — ‘asking for it’.

Goa CM Digambar Kamat :

Do you believe that Goa’s image has taken a beating by this incident? This is not the first such case. Do you believe Goa will be seen as an unsafe place?

I don’t agree. First, you should go to the root cause of this case. What was this lady doing so late in the night with some people? Why did she accompany this man in this car? These are some of the questions which have to be answered.

Congress MP Shantaram Naik :

Rape is a heinous crime but “an alleged rape of a lady who moves with strangers for days together even beyond the middle of the night is to be treated on different footings,” said Naik.

You know what, millions of other think likewise, so I’ll just bundle them together and present this Dude of the Week to all those men and women. Go enjoy.

I read the poignant and heart-breaking story of a nurse, Aruna Shanbaug, raped by a sweeper 36 years ago and comatose since. Her euthanasia appeal was brought to the Supreme Court and in a positive sign for an otherwise pro-life court, it hasn’t been outright rejected. The case will be heard by the bench.

Such cases are borderline which make even the pro-life audience rethink their ideals.

As for me, I believe everyone has a right to take a decision about their life, including take it away. If we cannot provide a better life to the distressed, I don’t think we have a right to criminalize their actions.That said, even if we could provide them a better life, my stance would be the same.

If this doesn’t win a Pulitzer for journalism, what will ?

Shahid Kapoor ignores Amrita Rao’s Twitter messages.

Amrita is very disturbed at this development and is wondering whether the person she is following is the real Shahid or it’s a fake profile. A close friend of the star says: “Shahid was Amrita’s co-star and close friend. He has not been responding to Amrita’s Twitter messages in spite of his fans re-Tweeting him on his ignorance. Shahid was in touch with Amrita some time ago and no one knows what has transpired between them. Maybe they are texting each other privately, but Amrita is quite disturbed at this.”

The informer adds: “Amrita’s real id on Twitter is Amritarao17 and we are sure Shahid has good social conduct and will reply to her messages but she is wondering if she is Tweeting the real Shahid given so many fake profile holders are also.”

Foremost, my condolences to Miss Amrita Rao. This is an undeniably tough time for her, second only to that screening of Vivaah.

But I couldn’t help but notice a few flaws in the reporting :

• Amritarao17 is not a verified Twitter account. I’m not sure how the reporter is sure it is the actress’s ID.
• Her tweets are public. All the reporter had to do was find what ID of Shahid Kapur she was tweeting to and check if it is, in fact, Shahid Kapur.

Get these right. Until then, no Pulitzer for you.

It’s not as if Paa was endurable, now I come across this :

Amitabh Bachchan as Auro will now be a T20 cricket commentator for the India-Sri Lanka cricket match to be held on December 12. Amitabh will be doing the ‘expert commentary’ in the breaks between the match.

Confirming the story, Paa’s director Balki says, “Auro will be doing the expert commentary for television for the T20 match in Mohali.”

A big cricket aficionado, the challenge for Big B would be to do a cricket commentary for the first time, and that too in Auro’s soft and childish voice. A challenge that the actor is already gearing himself for.

Seriously, what ?

If I’m getting this right, Auro, a 13-year old will spend the day in the commentators box handling the mike and orally impressing older men like Ravi Shastri, Arun Lal and Navjot Sidhu with his skills, while the crowd cheers them on. I’m sure it will be an honour and a pleasure for fellow commentators.

OK I’ll stop, you get where this is headed.

Link via @rameshsrivats. Do check out the Paa review.

This isn’t why Switzerland banned minarets — you’ll find generous literature about that anywhere on the web. This is why Switzerland really banned minarets.

For that, we’ll have to revisit Switzerland’s history. The country has been historically neutral to most issues. It can get really frustrating if you are neutral out of choice and using that, someone calls you a scared little girl (or in adult terminology, scared p***ies).

Adding insult to the injury was an inferiority complex. The U.S. were screwing Afghanistan; the U.K. was screwing its immigrants; the Danish were messing with the founder of Islam — that takes serious courage by the way; the Germans had Hitler — that counts for atleast one whole century; the French invented pizza(corrected by my friend Nachiket) French fries (this one has to be right) and cheese that’s killing Americans; the Vatican had the Pope — no one messed with him, not even gay priests.

Contrast that with Switzerland — the only thing they got was SRK flying in to shoot a song every 4 years. They didn’t even know he was a famous actor; they figured he shot commercials for digestive tablets.

Now tell me — can you blame the Swiss if they felt neglected ? They were like the child that parents ignore because he is good and obedient.

They decided enough was enough. They wanted the world to take notice of them — even a fleeting mention on CNN was fine. Next, they wanted a symbol that wasn’t important enough to affect anyone, but was good enough for outsiders to take notice. So they decided, minarets it would be. Half the world had no clue what a minaret was — they were also helping people’s vocabulary. Nice people, as I said.

So one day when no one was watching, they voted against minarets sending out a strong message that they weren’t some little pricks. They were big, big pricks.

We’ve taken notice of you, Switzerland, and the whole world is saying you’re a big prick. Heck, you even got a mention at this blog.

So now can you be a good country and get rid of the ban ? Fine, I’ll buy one knife from you.

The BJP recently objected to the use of the phrase ‘Hindu terrorism’ in the Parliament by P.Chidambaram :

While talking about government approach towards any form of terrorism cause by any group irrespective of its religious colour, Chidambram said: “The government maintains zero tolerance for terrorism inspired by religion, may it be Islam or may it be Hindu.”

Chidambaram was immediately pointed out by BJP’s Prakash Javadekar and SS Ahluwalia and other BJP members for his repeated usage of the word of “Hindu terrorists” during his statement on internal security issue.

“When the investigation is on how could you say it would reveal the Hindu terrorists”, Javdekar asked Chidambaram over his Hindu terrorist remark.

Another BJP leader Ahluwalia questioned Chidambaram how could he generalize the entire community over an alleged act of a few individuals.

I am with the BJP on this one; I believe the correct neologism is Saffron terror. But that’s okay. We are going to take a while adjusting to such new words. It would be too obvious an irony to mention the BJP’s use of the ‘Islamic terrorism’, so I’ll skip past that.

One thing we can agree upon : if one form of terrorism is always termed religious, we have a right to call any other form that uses religion as its basis with its associated religion. Else we should agree that terrorism has no religion.

Which brings me to the oft-repeated sentence, ‘Terrorism has no religion’. I disagree. Whenever terrorism is inspired by religious ideas or in defense of a religion, it makes perfect sense to associate it with the corresponding religion. When they call themselves religious terrorists, who are we to disagree ? And let’s face it, every religion today has violent fundamentalists. Period.

The only difference in my association : I’d put together the religion, terrorism and the perpetrators in the association. That would just be fair on the innocent fellow followers.

If that is confusing, the gist is thus : We cannot decouple religion from terrorism, else we’re not looking at the larger problem.