[silk] Bangalore Meetup on May 16?
[attention conservation notice: this is a meetup thread. You may want to delete now if this doesn't interest you.] Silklister Amit Varma is touring [1] in support of his new book, and will be in Bangalore to do an event in Crossword on May 16, which conveniently happens to be a Saturday evening. Anyone up for a drink with Amit, myself, and whoever else turns up on that evening, somewhere in the vicinity? We all get to gawk at one of India's most powerful men [2] as an added bonus! Suggestions for place to gather? Udhay [1] http://indiauncut.com/iublog/article/preparing-for-takeoff/ [2] http://images.businessweek.com/ss/09/04/0415_india_most_powerful/49.htm -- ((Udhay Shankar N)) ((udhay @ pobox.com)) ((www.digeratus.com))
Re: [silk] Bangalore Meetup on May 16?
Udhay Shankar N wrote: conveniently happens to be a Saturday evening. Anyone up for a drink with Amit, myself, and whoever else turns up on that evening, I'm game. somewhere in the vicinity? We all get to gawk at one of India's most powerful men [2] as an added bonus! Right between Sachin Tendulkar and Laloo. :-) Venkat
Re: [silk] Bangalore Meetup on May 16?
Udhay Shankar N wrote: Suggestions for place to gather? *cough* -- * Madhu Menon Shiok Far-eastern Cuisine | Moss Cocktail Lounge 96, Amar Jyoti Layout, Inner Ring Road, Bangalore @ http://shiokfood.comhttp://mosslounge.com Join the Moss group: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=39295417270
Re: [silk] Bangalore Meetup on May 16?
Anyone up for a drink with Amit, myself, and whoever else turns up on that evening, I'm game too somewhere in the vicinity? Which crossword is this? There are four in Bangalore. http://crosswordbookstores.com/html/Bangaluru.htm Kiran
Re: [silk] Bangalore Meetup on May 16?
On Mon, Apr 27, 2009 at 11:56 AM, Madhu Menon c...@shiokfood.com wrote: Udhay Shankar N wrote: Suggestions for place to gather? *cough* Hero, have you been cashing on the IPL? Did you ever manage to start that quiz?
Re: [silk] Disenfranchised Minorities?
On Sat, Apr 25, 2009 at 2:51 PM, Venkat Mangudi s...@venkatmangudi.comwrote: Vinayak Hegde wrote: Some people I know are of the opinion that there are corrupt officials who work with the politicians and delete the names if they suspect that the votes are going to their opponent. His argument seemed plausible, but I do not buy it. Has anyone else heard such stuff? Is this true? It is true. I have come across both studies as well as experiences from friends and family members contesting elections at different levels indicating that this is indeed does take place. Electoral rolls are a very powerful political tool. They have been systematically used during the anti-Sikh riots as well during the 1992-1993 riots in Bombay to mark Sikhs and minorities respectively and launch targeted attacks. It is also true that parties field candidates with names sounding similar to those of other candidates who are contesting from the same constituency but from different parties, in order to confound voters. Sometimes, voters in a particular constituency field candidates among themselves in order to eat into the vote shares of the popular candidates. These behaviours, among many others, are known as tactical voting. I have stopped reading mainstream newspapers as all they look for nowadays is a good story - truth be damned. Sad but true. I was also extremely sceptical when I read the first report in The Hindu, wondering whether this was an act of sensationalizing. I am trying to contact the reporters who have done these stories to verify as well as to get a more nuanced understanding. But I agree with Biju's comment that given the current political atmosphere and the polarizations that mark both our polity and our mindsets, it becomes difficult to ignore these reports as mere instances of sensationalism and victim-hood. It would help to investigate more and challenge our own beliefs and assumptions. -- Zainab Bawa Ph.D. Student and Independent Researcher Between Places ... http://zainab.freecrow.org
Re: [silk] Disenfranchised Minorities?
Combined with some other, equally prejudiced comments on this list earlier supports the view that Indian polity is increasing driven by a us and them mindset. So somebody who wants to protect himself from hassle and looks for references before letting out their place to a member of a community (because in his own experience i.e. not reports in the press or other anecdotal evidence, they have a statistically significant number with the us and them attitude) and a person who hears of a few cases of missing names from electoral rolls (anecdotal by their own admission and through the Indian press who always have a flair for sensationalism no less) and attributes this to a large scale conspiracy to disenfranchise them are in the same boat? But looking at the larger picture, I guess this is the very nature of terrorism, divisive politics, and religious fundamentalism (the only difference between the first and the last two is the intentional violence on innocents, the long term damage to society remains the same). They create a faceless enemy and I suppose the human tendency to always get to the root of the fear, to understand it, leads them to conclude that it is an entire community which they have to fear (the propaganda makes this a very easy conclusion to arrive at). This has also created a very easy label to put on those whose actions (and incidentally statements on this list) can be termed cautious at the most - bigot. So what is the pragmatic, intelligent response to such tactics, acknowledging the fact that such tactics are being used by members in each of the major communities in India, be it on caste or religious lines? What might be constructive to the discussion would be an implicit assumption that everybody on this list means well and have nothing to profit from such tactics (Assume goodwill). Kiran
Re: [silk] Disenfranchised Minorities?
On Mon, Apr 27, 2009 at 12:11 PM, Zainab Bawa bawazaina...@gmail.com wrote: On Sat, Apr 25, 2009 at 2:51 PM, Venkat Mangudi s...@venkatmangudi.comwrote: Vinayak Hegde wrote: Some people I know are of the opinion that there are corrupt officials who work with the politicians and delete the names if they suspect that the votes are going to their opponent. His argument seemed plausible, but I do not buy it. Has anyone else heard such stuff? Is this true? It is true. I have come across both studies as well as experiences from friends and family members contesting elections at different levels indicating that this is indeed does take place. Electoral rolls are a very powerful political tool. They have been systematically used during the anti-Sikh riots as well during the 1992-1993 riots in Bombay to mark Sikhs and minorities respectively and launch targeted attacks. It is also true that parties field candidates with names sounding similar to those of other candidates who are contesting from the same constituency but from different parties, in order to confound voters. Sometimes, voters in a particular constituency field candidates among themselves in order to eat into the vote shares of the popular candidates. These behaviours, among many others, are known as tactical voting. I have stopped reading mainstream newspapers as all they look for nowadays is a good story - truth be damned. Sad but true. I was also extremely sceptical when I read the first report in The Hindu, wondering whether this was an act of sensationalizing. I am trying to contact the reporters who have done these stories to verify as well as to get a more nuanced understanding. But I agree with Biju's comment that given the current political atmosphere and the polarizations that mark both our polity and our mindsets, it becomes difficult to ignore these reports as mere instances of sensationalism and victim-hood. It would help to investigate more and challenge our own beliefs and assumptions. Quoting in full to point out that the first para (which mentions Vinayak Hegde wrote: ) were not made by me but Venkat. I think the email client has not quoted properly (The email equivalent of putting words into my mouth heh :) As with any system, the democratic system has been gamed by unscrupulous elements. Vote-bank politics is one way. Another way is Gerrymandering[1] (which is a toponym[2]) which as been around for more than a century) US has a long history of this - a recent sample[3] , in fact as long as electoral system itself. I will be interested if anyone can point out if gerrymandering has happened in India. EC took a stand against dummy candidates recently[4]. On a tangential note, since exit polls were banned I was surprised to see NDTV use bookie odds to predict the winner (Not surprisingly they showed a congress victory - case of cherrypicking data knowing their congress-biased reporting) more at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electoral_malpractice -- Vinayak 1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrymandering 2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_words_derived_from_toponyms 3. http://www.slate.com/id/2208216/ 4. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/4357117.cms
Re: [silk] Disenfranchised Minorities?
On Mon, Apr 27, 2009 at 12:48 PM, Kiran K Karthikeyan kiran.karthike...@gmail.com wrote: So what is the pragmatic, intelligent response to such tactics, acknowledging the fact that such tactics are being used by members in each of the major communities in India, be it on caste or religious lines? What might be constructive to the discussion would be an implicit assumption that everybody on this list means well and have nothing to profit from such tactics (Assume goodwill). Amen. Thathaastu. etc. I'm already hearing expressions of concern offlist that silk is becoming a little less tolerant of difference of opinion than it used to be, especially where it concerns religion/politics. I don't agree, at this point - I still believe that the membership of this list is largely smart enough to learn from those whose opinions are different from theirs. I'm still of the opinion that (unlike many other lists/boards) there is no need to ban or regulate postings on religion/politics. The reminder quoted above doesn't hurt any, though. Udhay -- ((Udhay Shankar N)) ((udhay @ pobox.com)) ((www.digeratus.com))
Re: [silk] Bangalore Meetup on May 16?
On Mon, Apr 27, 2009 at 11:38 AM, Udhay Shankar N ud...@pobox.com wrote: Anyone up for a drink with Amit, myself, and whoever else turns up on that evening, somewhere in the vicinity? Am in Bangalore that weekend as well. Count me in as well.
Re: [silk] Bangalore Meetup on May 16?
Anyone up for a drink with Amit, myself, and whoever else turns up on that evening, somewhere in the vicinity? Hmmm spontaneously and with no outside influence, I think either of these places look good: http://shiokfood.com or http://mosslounge.com. :-) As to how proximal they are to the bookstore, I'm too indolent at the moment to suffer my Bangalore map book.
Re: [silk] Bangalore Meetup on May 16?
On Mon, Apr 27, 2009 at 11:38 AM, Udhay Shankar N ud...@pobox.com wrote: [attention conservation notice: this is a meetup thread. You may want to delete now if this doesn't interest you.] Silklister Amit Varma is touring [1] in support of his new book, and will be in Bangalore to do an event in Crossword on May 16, which conveniently happens to be a Saturday evening. Anyone up for a drink with Amit, myself, and whoever else turns up on that evening, somewhere in the vicinity? Thanks Udhay! I'm looking forward to meeting Silklisters, it's my first trip to Bangalore after joining Silk. We all get to gawk at one of India's most powerful men [2] as an added bonus! Heh. I'm not even one of Andheri's 5000 most powerful people, but we know how lists are. I do aspire, however, to someday have ear hair like Lalu's [1]. He is my inspiration just for that. [1] http://images.businessweek.com/ss/09/04/0415_india_most_powerful/50.htm -- Amit Varma http://www.indiauncut.com
Re: [silk] Bangalore Meetup on May 16?
*I'm not even one of Andheri's 5000 most powerful people * Only the chaps who know how to grab window seats on the Churchgate trains count for that, presumably. On Mon, Apr 27, 2009 at 4:39 PM, Amit Varma amitbl...@gmail.com wrote: On Mon, Apr 27, 2009 at 11:38 AM, Udhay Shankar N ud...@pobox.com wrote: [attention conservation notice: this is a meetup thread. You may want to delete now if this doesn't interest you.] Silklister Amit Varma is touring [1] in support of his new book, and will be in Bangalore to do an event in Crossword on May 16, which conveniently happens to be a Saturday evening. Anyone up for a drink with Amit, myself, and whoever else turns up on that evening, somewhere in the vicinity? Thanks Udhay! I'm looking forward to meeting Silklisters, it's my first trip to Bangalore after joining Silk. We all get to gawk at one of India's most powerful men [2] as an added bonus! Heh. I'm not even one of Andheri's 5000 most powerful people, but we know how lists are. I do aspire, however, to someday have ear hair like Lalu's [1]. He is my inspiration just for that. [1] http://images.businessweek.com/ss/09/04/0415_india_most_powerful/50.htm -- Amit Varma http://www.indiauncut.com -- roswitha.tumblr.com
Re: [silk] Bangalore Meetup on May 16?
On Mon, Apr 27, 2009 at 1:09 PM, Amit Varma amitbl...@gmail.com wrote: [...] I do aspire, however, to someday have ear hair like Lalu's [1]. He is my inspiration just for that. As long as you must have a role model, why not go for the best: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8pRW_QkZY4
[silk] Statistics on development taken by politicos
Hello, Does anybody know where I can find more resources that give copious, reliable and accurate information about the development being taken in all states. Something like the Outlook magazine's reports recently on the development taken by each politician in their own constituency ? http://www.outlookindia.com/full.asp?fodname=20090504fname=Report+cardsid=1 Thanks and regards, -- Bharat
Re: [silk] Statistics on development taken by politicos
Does anybody know where I can find more resources that give copious, reliable and accurate information about the development being taken in all states. Outlook, or rather the Satark Nagarik Sanghatana (SNS), has provided information about way in which each MP has spent the discretionary funds from what is known as the MPLAD fund. SNS got this information by filing right to information (RTI) applications. You can similarly find information about how municipal councilors in Mumbai have spent money from their discretionary funds on www.praja.org For similar information on MLAs, you have to file RTI applications with respective state government departments asking for they have spent money from their discretionary MLA-LAD funds. -- Zainab Bawa Ph.D. Student and Independent Researcher Between Places ... http://zainab.freecrow.org
Re: [silk] Statistics on development taken by politicos
Zainab, Thanks for the quick information :-) -- Bharat On Mon, Apr 27, 2009 at 12:06 PM, Zainab Bawa bawazaina...@gmail.com wrote: Does anybody know where I can find more resources that give copious, reliable and accurate information about the development being taken in all states. Outlook, or rather the Satark Nagarik Sanghatana (SNS), has provided information about way in which each MP has spent the discretionary funds from what is known as the MPLAD fund. SNS got this information by filing right to information (RTI) applications. You can similarly find information about how municipal councilors in Mumbai have spent money from their discretionary funds on www.praja.org For similar information on MLAs, you have to file RTI applications with respective state government departments asking for they have spent money from their discretionary MLA-LAD funds. -- Zainab Bawa Ph.D. Student and Independent Researcher Between Places ... http://zainab.freecrow.org
Re: [silk] Disenfranchised Minorities?
I will be interested if anyone can point out if gerrymandering has happened in India. Yes, gerrymandering does take place in India. One of the recent cases (that was reported in DNA newspaper, if I remember correctly), was the case of election of a municipal councillor in Juhu who won the council elections in 2007 because of the change in the constituency which enabled him to gain votes from his ''votebank''. Gerrymandering is also a very complex process because it takes place differently and is claimed to be the outcome of string pulling by high level officials in the political party/ies. I am trying to look into gerrymandering for my own Ph.D. thesis work. -- Zainab Bawa Ph.D. Student and Independent Researcher Between Places ... http://zainab.freecrow.org
Re: [silk] Disenfranchised Minorities?
But looking at the larger picture, I guess this is the very nature of terrorism, divisive politics, and religious fundamentalism (the only difference between the first and the last two is the intentional violence on innocents, the long term damage to society remains the same). They create a faceless enemy and I suppose the human tendency to always get to the root of the fear, to understand it, leads them to conclude that it is an entire community which they have to fear (the propaganda makes this a very easy conclusion to arrive at). This has also created a very easy label to put on those whose actions (and incidentally statements on this list) can be termed cautious at the most - bigot. Which is why it becomes even more crucial to take that one extra step, to walk that one extra mile, to challenge our perceptions and to question the boundaries that our and/or our immediate society has created around us. I don't mean to sound diadactic, but that is the only hopeful way forward. The other means is when we, as a mass or a community, intentionally choose to move beyond historical rights and wrongs and embrace each other despite differences. -- Zainab Bawa Ph.D. Student and Independent Researcher Between Places ... http://zainab.freecrow.org
Re: [silk] Statistics on development taken by politicos
On Mon, Apr 27, 2009 at 9:39 PM, Bharat Shetty bharat.she...@gmail.comwrote: Zainab, Thanks for the quick information :-) -- Bharat The other means to find state assembly constituency development profiles is to gather data from NSSO about population statistics, and about education indicators and other basic amenity indicators from other data sources. This is much more tedious. We, at www.empoweringindia.org, are trying to put together constituency development profiles after the national elections are over. But this is going to be an uphill task given also that the population census is already backdated. -- Zainab Bawa Ph.D. Student and Independent Researcher Between Places ... http://zainab.freecrow.org
Re: [silk] Statistics on development taken by politicos
On Mon, Apr 27, 2009 at 9:36 PM, Zainab Bawa bawazaina...@gmail.com wrote: For similar information on MLAs, you have to file RTI applications with In a recent interview I heard Arvind Kejriwal opine that the RTI has too many backlog cases and the Information Commission which is supposed to fine the officers does not bother to implement this fine/action**, thereby pushing the RTI towards its slow and imminent death. I've also heard that the RTI is largely misused but i'd still like to think its an effective tool if used positively. ** iirc, Kejriwal said the IC is empowered to fine the officer 5 bucks per day beyond the mandatory 30 days. In some cases this has turned into a 3 year window. -- .
Re: [silk] Disenfranchised Minorities?
However, gerrymandering as a prerogative of the govt of the day, as it is understood in the US, is not acceptable in India. Zainab's example I think relates to the new delimitation of constituencies which is based on population changes and not the mere political expediency of the govt of the day. On Mon, Apr 27, 2009 at 9:48 PM, Zainab Bawa bawazaina...@gmail.com wrote: But looking at the larger picture, I guess this is the very nature of terrorism, divisive politics, and religious fundamentalism (the only difference between the first and the last two is the intentional violence on innocents, the long term damage to society remains the same). They create a faceless enemy and I suppose the human tendency to always get to the root of the fear, to understand it, leads them to conclude that it is an entire community which they have to fear (the propaganda makes this a very easy conclusion to arrive at). This has also created a very easy label to put on those whose actions (and incidentally statements on this list) can be termed cautious at the most - bigot. Which is why it becomes even more crucial to take that one extra step, to walk that one extra mile, to challenge our perceptions and to question the boundaries that our and/or our immediate society has created around us. I don't mean to sound diadactic, but that is the only hopeful way forward. The other means is when we, as a mass or a community, intentionally choose to move beyond historical rights and wrongs and embrace each other despite differences. -- Zainab Bawa Ph.D. Student and Independent Researcher Between Places ... http://zainab.freecrow.org
