Wishing everyone a great New Year

YOU are the Time Person of the Year.

You and me, the nameless entities who straddle between the real and the virtual worlds, trawling the depths of the Internet and those of us living by it have just been awarded the TIME magazine ‘Person of the Year Award’. We have now joined the haloed portal along with the likes of Charles Lindbergh, Mahatma Gandhi, Queen Elizabeth II, Charles De Gaulle, Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev, Nelson Mandela…. TIME’s salutation to You and me couldn’t have happened earlier; haven’t we bared our souls to this gigantic wired and wireless mass, dropped our fears and trepidations and danced our fingers on the keyboard to write and express our opinions, share joys and sorrows, rantings and ravings, picked up that video cam, shot and uploaded out work on You Tube and the like. We have made the Internet what it is and have got so much much more in return than we have given.

Image courtesy TIME magazine.

Launching my Book Reviews Blog

Just launched my Book Reviews Blog (on blogger!). This blog had been in my mind for a long long time and finally it has seen the light of day. The sidebar has the link to the site and will open in a new window. I hope I am able to keep the momentum going on this and that's my biggest concern. Hope you guys enjoy reading!

Strike(ing) Politics…

The state of West Bengal and its complex politics, at times, amplifies all that is wrong with politicians, trade unions and sections of the working class. A state that has been ruled by communists (sic) for more that three decades uses the might of the state machinery to bring life and business to a grinding halt during any strike (we call it ‘bandh’ here) call. It is possibly the only state in India, if not the world, where trade Unions that are a part of the ruling government can declare strikes at the drop of a hat. So what have you – a government in office shutting down work!
The issues on which strike calls are given is, at the best of times, blurred and fuzzy with grassroot cadres hardly able to articulate the reasons while they merrily go about enforcing the shutdown. India’s unorganized sector - constituting almost 90% of the working/business segment is among the worst hit and the communists, messiahs (sic) of social change and equality, don’t even figure on their radars daily wagers (of all hues) for whom every single day is a challenge to put bread on the table. Politics and politicians the world over, with maybe some stray exceptions, does not serve people’s interests! Their trip in life lies somewhere else – all the trappings of power and money! We sadly do not figure in that trip.

There is a silver lining though – some people standup and face off with the scrum. Today (12/14/06) is possibly the first time during a strike call, by militant trade unions in West Bengal, that the Chief Minister (the highest political authority in the state) has chosen to deploy a strong police force and armed escorts to vehicles ferrying people willing to work!