Why is Bollywood defending Salman Khan?

Not for the first time, many prominent faces from India's Mumbai film industry, often called Bollywood, have demonstrated an outpouring of grief, sympathy and support for a convict.

Found guilty on all charges by a sessions court, Salman Khan, the convict, is out on interim bail, and will probably appeal to a higher court.  The legal process is under way.

In the midst of this media frenzy over an actor being convicted for a crime, once again, the vapidity, lack of mental prowess, and the result of living in a bubble are all showing up through expressions from many faces representing this movie industry.  Some of it borders on schizophrenia, plenty is marinated in self absorbed delirium, and much is bubbling in contempt of a nation's judicial system.

Behind all this lies the underbelly of these low lives in show business.

This industry attracts a special variety of nitwits - those that can convince themselves that their lives in make believe are real in some way.  No doubt, the bubbles they build around themselves with some success, money and the star system make sure they're insulated from most realities.

The adulation, the stardom, the recognition, the special treatment, all of it permeates well inside some of these fools and they start behaving as if they're suddenly far more intelligent and far more potent, and now capable of wielding some real power and influencing other people's thought and reasoning.

In reality, as soon as their market shine is over, that bubble bursts.  Some part of them recognizes this, and that's when the insecurity sets in.

Actors can be extremely insecure in many ways, particularly emotionally.  It can be useful to learn the craft, for vulnerability and that emotional softness can open the doors to exploring characters, motivations, feelings, nuanced expressions, etc.  But all this good stuff is for actors, the artists, not the stars and wannabe stars.

In the midst of an industry where few bets are secure, Salman Khan has blazed a trail of success, starring in hit after hit.  There's no denying he is a marketplace superstar.  He is a relatively far safer bet.  This has built an air of invincibility around him, and that's great, for the unsolved puzzle of what makes a movie click remains unsolved.

What is not so hard to solve, however, is why this multitude of stars and wannabe stars flock to him in this time of his life when only the law should be dealing with him, and others should, in all sanity, just shut up and wait.

Salman Khan by many accounts has lent a helping hand to many people.  Now, that's fantastic, and maybe he really is a caring human being, except when he is drunk and driving without a licence, or takes a fancy to shooting endangered animals for no freaking reason whatsoever.

So, there are two sides to him?  Maybe.  The Bollywood industry should show its consternation.  Nothing wrong with that.  But it is absolutely ridiculous for some twits to be mouthing off about how harsh the sentence is, and how unfair the verdict, etc.

The pointed question to ask is - What exactly do they mean by showing their solidarity with and support to Salman Khan?  Support from the 'fraternity' is really of no use except emotionally.  Salman Khan isn't grieving the death of a loved one for this.  None of them are lawyers, so they can't fend off the threat of the charges against him.  Useless again.  They can bend public opinion in his favour, but this can backfire.  In any case, the judiciary takes no cognizance of any of this, so that's pretty useless too.  Do they need to take care of Salman Khan's family when he is cooling his heels in prison?  Not even that.  He can easily afford that.  Do they need to pet his dog?  What exactly can they offer him that will be of any use?  Pretty much nothing.

To me, solidarity is about being with that person, and taking on what s/he is taking on.  That means, this lot should be willing to go to prison, or stop working till he comes out, not make any money, just like he cannot when in prison.  I can bet my last paisa none of this is going to happen.

Here is where it gets uniquely interesting with the insecure monkeys of this industry.  It is a 90% failure delivering industry.  This means, only one out of ten films can actually be profitable for the producers.  The rest lose money.  The actors make out, because they get disproportionately large pay packets, because of the star system.  That's commerce, so fair enough.  But a great many others are fairly dispensable, because not all can be stars.  But there's always a next opportunity!

For women to be cast opposite Salman Khan means an automatic leg up.  For directors, it means a good chance at delivering a hit, and going on to make another movie.  For a producer it means a good chance to make a profit.  Salman Khan is a winning horse!  This is probably the only reason the majority these fools are fawning over him, falling all over themselves to be with him.  For the record, lesser people, even within this industry haven't got any support in times of trouble.  It's a dog eat dog world inside this bubble, and the dogs and bitches are all lining up to potentially mate with and be buddies with the alpha dog at the moment.

Now, what about Salman Khan's charity work?  There must be a million rich crooks out there, who avoid taxes, rape the Indian economy through every loophole, get rich through dubious means and outright thievery, and thousands of companies and corporations signing on to every dark means available to rake in the money, that do charity.  It's like advertising - an irritating necessary image building expense.

Let's not forget, Salman Khan's charity started after this incident of drunken driving that killed a person.  It is entirely possible that he is remorseful, and wants to repair the wounds inside his heart that only action of this nature can have some impact on.  Any human being is capable of this, but what these industry twits need to understand is that the kudos for one thing can't cancel the punishment for another.  This is not some twisted sense of karma as a bank account that the law works on.  You break the law, you get punished.  End of the story.

Now, nobody with a conscience can simply go on as if everything is normal, after killing someone inadvertently.  I haven't heard of Salman Khan showing any real remorse.  Maybe the poor guy is feeling remorseful, but his legal team has told him he should put on a face of bravery as their story is that he didn't drive the car!

I have heard of a lot of charity from Salman Khan, but how much of that charity would he have done if he had no money, or success of that magnitude?  It simply wasn't possible.  So, is money everything?  Apparently, this is a point that has escaped argument!  But the court is not considering any of the other 'good' the bad guy in the picture may have done.  This case is about this incident, and should be so.

The other angle for all these industry beefcakes and butterflies to work with is the people behind a lot of money that is riding on Salman Khan right now.  There is every chance that the underworld is involved, and to cover their investments, could very well be influencing some events like people dying and disappearing.  They could also be key to deciding who is on their side of this case and who isn't.  How can anybody miss out on this great opportunity to show solidarity with the people who can ensure their stardom in the future?

We cannot take their statements seriously, especially when some are not even based on any cognizance of reality, blaming the victims, the system and so on for being run over by a badly driven car while sleeping!  But we can certainly search for integrity, intelligence and substance, if we were to expect one of them to come out and say, "Let this be a good lesson for our children that no matter how much good they do, it can be undone by one rash act".

Most of these support and solidarity merchants are opportunists.  Heartless ones.  That's probably the bare truth of it.  They have everything to potentially gain, and nothing at all to lose.  They perhaps know in their own limited but scheming minds that every shot is worth taking, because nobody is going to question their incompetence or being not qualified.  They're just there!  Plus, who knows when they might each need the other's 'support'?

The disgusting display of disregard for the application of the law of the land, will continue because many of them have been brought up on a diet of insulation, imagining that what is true from their point if view is all there is to know about the truth of life, forget the facts of the matter!  They have arrived, wherever that may be!  And they have derived from that arrival, that whatever they did is what it takes and that they are fully deserving of it, and they pass this onto the wannabes.

We don't have to take any of that seriously.  But we can recognize what needs to be questioned, and adulation should be on that list.

- BSK

The audacity of being an Indian government official

The Khobragade affair needs very little by way of an introduction, to a nation and people that have been screamed at by its media on this issue.

Briefly - one of India's serving diplomats, Devyani Khobragade, was arrested in the USA, on a charge of visa fraud, which is a felony, and she claimed she was strip searched and cavity searched, thereby breaching her diplomatic immunity protection.  India screamed blue murder.

reuters.com

Page on Reuters

The USA is capable of much more heinous crime, like dropping bombs on unsuspecting and unconnected and absolutely peaceful people, claiming collateral damage in a "legally" sanctioned war, and its president can escape trial for war crimes, but in this case, there hasn't quite been so much crass violation as there has been carrying out of duty by its law enforcement agencies.

The reason is simple.  India's diplomat was personally responsible for an unlawful act under the USA's visa rules, in the hiring of a maid, who she paid below minimum wage.  Khobragarde was not doing a job assigned to her by her nation.  This is personal, not professional.  So India wasn't really required to press for her immunity from any kind of arrest.

But, this is India under the Congress Party's rule, and it hasn't exactly set the nation on fire with its accomplishments in this current term.  It needs to look good to its own people.  Add to this, Mayawati, the ex-Chief Minister of one of its populous states, added fuel to the fire by saying the central government is dragging its feet on this issue because Khobragarde is from one of the lower castes! 

So, India (I mean the Congress Party) sprung into action and claimed the USA had violated its trust and endangered its diplomatic relationship with India, and removed barricades meant to protect US embassies in India, and asked serving US diplomats in India to return their identity cards that granted them several privileges.  It went even further and asked for a full apology from the USA, and Salman Khurshid, India's External Affairs minister, said their diplomat's "honor" would be fully restored!

Devyani Khobragade case: US must do something, says External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid

What has been startlingly absent is an acceptance that Khobragade did something illegal.  No matter what fancy diplomatic language is used to cover up this fact, she did something unlawful in a foreign country, and expected her official position to cover for this.  Nothing can be more disgustingly obvious of the hypocrisy India indulges in, during fiascos like this one.

The USA also subscribes to several shades of hypocrisy, but in this case, it stands absolutely in the clear as far as the legality of the arrest of Khobragarde goes.  How better it could have handled this matter is debatable, and claims of regret over the handcuffing, strip searching and placing with common criminals in custody may or may not be convincing.  However...

The fact remains that the trigger for this cascade of events was Khobragade's wrongdoing.  Why is India finding it really hard to accept this and indeed, even mention it?  It's because most Indian officials, in any capacity, are wont to abuse their power in some way or the other.  Starting from using the state provided car for personal needs, like dropping off the family at the airport, to bending as many rules as possible when there is some small benefit to be had, with very little risk of getting caught, Indian officials, no matter which government they work for, are mostly guilty of many petty crimes.  So none of them feel Khobragarde did anything so "grave" as to warrant such extreme treatment.

Every message and every projection of the Indian government has been that the nation has somehow been wronged, and we, the people of India, must show our rightful indignation! 

"The fact is that (the) American authorities have behaved atrociously with an Indian diplomat. And obviously, America has to make good for its actions," said Manish Tiwari, minister for information and broadcasting.  As shrill as this sounds, it appears in an article about rowdy elements ransacking a business establishment using an American brand - Dominos Pizza!  Mumbai: Protesters attack Dominos outlet over Devyani Khobragade case

For some reason, India's inferiority complex comes forth at times like these, when it feels it needs to stand up to the big brother, the USA!  Well, if it needed opportunities like this, it could very well have stood up to the USA when Bush decided to attack Iraq based on its pretentious and highly dubious claims of Weapons of Mass Destruction and called it a bloody sham.  After all, thousands of Indians were working in Iraq, legally, I might add, and their interests had to be guarded at all costs.  But none of them were diplomats, or officials, and people worthy of protecting like this.  It is true Air India did a big evacuation of Indian citizens from Iraq, but what could have been a better opportunity than telling the USA, "India is extremely disappointed with the USA's decision to attack Iraq, and has decided to suspend all diplomatic ties in view of this dastardly and tragic decision"?  That would have been a show of national character, of belief in peaceful means of existence, of subscription to a high standard in international relations.

India could have told Hillary Clinton to mind her own business when she said she would like to wean India away from Iranian oil and gas, for India has excellent relations with Iran, no matter what the USA says about that nation.  India could be regularly playing up the damage drones are causing to its neighbour Pakistan.  But then, its media outlets, particularly English language channels, are owned by US interests!  How can this ever happen, except for some polite banter or debate?  It's balls that they lack, and this is a good representation of India today - shallow in character, big on noise.

Khobragade doesn't seem to have any stellar character to bulk up any dossier on her that might be forming this moment.  She owns properties that were meant for war veterans, and has other dubious connections.  All very common in India's bureaucratic circles.  It would appear that not only are most Indian government servants in power abusing their position, but indeed that they get into such positions for the express purpose of abusing the law to accrue assets and advantages they would normally not be entitled to or be competent enough to accrue on their own as private and legitimate entrepreneurs.

No matter what caste she comes from, and it really doesn't and shouldn't matter - Khobragade's behaviour indicates something low.  You don't employ a maid, a subordinate, and pay that person less than minimum wage!  Mayawati also comes from a lower caste, and she amassed wealth to an unprecedented degree when she was in power as the Chief Minister of UP.  There are any number of cases pending against her and people in her government.  This could be an indication of a mindset - when given the opportunity, rise at any cost to offset any feeling of inferiority on any front!

What has been lost in the process of this needless grunting from the Indian government is the opportunity to set the record straight and demonstrate that India puts lawful behaviour by its diplomats and representatives on high priority and ask the USA how it can assist in the process of resolving this issue.  What can possibly be lost in accepting the fact that one of its servants did indeed commit a crime?

Completely the opposite, India (read the Congress Party) has seen this as an opportunity to launch an all out offensive, in order to shore up its image as a failed, weak and unresponsive government, and has used its diplomatic capital to put pressure on the USA!  It has gone far enough to try and move Khobragade to the UN, which would mean greater protection and immunity for a wrongdoer, but the USA has stated very clearly that that sort of immunity cannot be applied retroactively.

The simple question is - when you commit visa fraud, you are committing a crime that common criminals do!  Why would you want to be treated any differently for the same crime?  Why should you expect to be allowed to be placed in some sort of luxurious custody, while your nation "figures out" how to get you out of a mess you created?  It is the expectation of the hypocrites, not the truth seekers. 

It is the expectation of those that have lived their lives mired in shady behaviour, who accept ambiguity as an ally, and unspoken rules as the guiding principles of their very existence.  Which bloody maid could be expected to complain against her boss of wrongdoing, that too in a foreign land?  Well, that's the whole high class versus low class attitude for you!  Khobragarde was wrong in assuming that all maids are indeed mute slaves.

What India has on its hands is an absolutely naked exposure of its hypocrisy and its unwillingness to come out of its murky labyrinth of government working class corruption, its compromise of all morals, its lack of humility and a striking shortage of national character.  This is the damage India needs to repair, not the damage that has happened to one of its errant ambassadors - someone it should be ashamed of, not protecting.

Why Modi?

The Congress and its allies must be delusional.  Their supporters must be even more so.  Or else how could someone who thinks there was no loss to the nation in the 2G spectrum allocation scam still be expected to show up in the media at all?  Wouldn't anybody with even a modicum of brain want to hide such a fool from the public eye?  

Yesterday, Finance Minister Chidambaram made a condescending remark about Narendra Modi saying it appears as if Mr. Modi is taking an interest in the economy of the nation.  An interest?  No kidding!  A man who knows nothing about the economy can actually reform a state and make it the most productive, sought after investment destination in the nation?  Really?  Where the hell does this attitude to ridicule come from, after failing in almost all economic tests?  Inflation, out of control!  Current Account Deficit, massive!  Imports, increasing!  Exports, no growth!  Savings of Indian people, going down!  Some record this!

Chidambaram had the gall to say he welcomes people taking an interest and hopes that they will try to learn, first by unlearning, and then learning anew.  No shit!  This great learning is what has caused India's coal reserves to be looted, its spectrum allocated to random parties with huge losses to the exchequer, labour shortage in agriculture, terrible schemes like the rural employment guarantee schemes in which nobody benefits while the nation becomes full of beggars waiting for the next round of freebies ... the list goes on and on.

There were real opportunities - to rope in a huge amount of energy security for India.  Venezuela was willing to sell oil at below OPEC prices to certain nations, and India was on that list.  Iran already had a great relationship and was even willing to purchase in rupees!  What did the bloody Congress do?  Refuse Venezuela and agree to "wean" itself off Iranian oil, because that white female political goddess Hillary Clinton thought we needed to be weaned, like fucking babies.  She is the same woman who once said Mahatma Gandhi ran a gas station in St. Louis, Missouri!  Can you believe showing this moron any kind of respect?  There wasn't one Congress member with any bloody spine that told her to shove it.  Obama would have understood - that's the way the Americans are.  If you're straight with them, they get it.  But these slave minds are bent, crooked, even to us, so of course they'd bend over backwards for a white woman from the USA!  What we need to wean ourselves off is dependence, and sycophancy.

Here is why I will vote for Modi and hope he becomes PM of India - the guy actually has a track record of growth, a model of development, and a showcase of work he is willing to do.  Gujarat is not a hot destination for nothing.  This guy actually thinks he can do that to the rest of India.  The idiots in Congress, starting with their puppy, think India needs to be on life support, and they are the heroes that will provide it.  Modi thinks India can do better and do much more, and we don't need condescending and insulting programs - and he thinks right.  He will make India work.  That alone will get me to vote for him.

Screw the Congress, screw being lethargic, and screw being stuck in rhetoric.

Rahul Gandhi says he would like to see young people in politics.  Hello!  He's young and he's a dodo.  What if more young dodos join politics?  That's not what we want.  We need able people to run the show.  Age is just a number.  Just because Manmohan Singh is proving to be senile doesn't mean age is the problem.  Being senile is the problem!  Rahul Gandhi is proving you can be senile at a pretty young age.

Kapil Sibal wants a debate?  Seriously?  What for?  For Modi to waste his time?  Is this the best tactic to weaken Modi - so he can be debating with this fool instead of campaigning for the BJP?  How much of a debate can you have with someone so hopelessly delusional?   I am sick of this Congress lot.  Just to get them out of the way I'd vote for the BJP.

The Congress is the best party to rule a nation that no longer exists.  It is the Congress that created that weak nation, and it is the Congress that needs such a weak nation, in order to further their unimaginative agendas, sycophantic dynasty, and retarded notions.  Despite their strongest efforts, India has managed to come out of the delusion, and is now taking a deep, good look at itself.  Indians are frustrated, not because of not having enough to eat, but because of being suppressed from reaching their true potential.  

We don't need free food.  We need a free nation.  A nation free from the Congress party's antics.  A nation free from Kapil Sibal and Chidambaram.  A nation free from the pseudo intellectual Delhi high society coterie imagining it can run a nation.

I'd vote for Modi - nothing political, nothing personal, just for the fun of seeing fools kicked out.

- BSK

What's the fuss all about this damn movie?

Vishwaroopam.

No matter what, the support for Kamal Haasan is extremely well deserved.  At the very least Kamal Haasan has tried to do something he believed in and he has pulled it off very well. 

Unfortunately, what he has tried to do isn't anything great.

The fact that this movie is being hailed as something great by some people is an indication of how pathetic the other movies around it are!

Kamal Haasan is an incredibly talented actor.  That's also because he has invested himself heavily for many, many years in that art and craft.  He has made no such investment in directing and it shows.  He still does better than many so called "commercial" directors and that shows as well.

Let's not set the same standards for Kamal Haasan as we would do for others.  His fans have every right to expect better, unless they have refused to grow up or are disrespectul enough to lower their standards for him.  If you've been around in the industry for over fifty years, and you've won national recognition, you need to get your shit together.  It's that simple, as far as I'm concerned.

This movie has a hard time deciding what it is.  It works quite well as a good guys vs. bad guys movie, without any of the pretentions of global ramifications, nations involved, plots that humanity should worry about, religion and all that bull.  For this film, it doesn't matter who the bad guys are.  They are terrorists and that would suffice.  But there are irrelevant elements that attempt rather childishly to take it to some other level, and fail miserably.  If this is Kamal Haasan trying to be "global" in his viewpoint, then I'm afraid he simply doesn't cut it as a storyteller.

The transformation from the effeminate dance teacher to awesome action hero that leaves the girl drop jawed was fantastic, even though we expected it.  A few seconds of action, and the switch was complete.  The moment the slow motion replay followed it, the whole effect was diluted and pissed away.  This is Kamal Haasan the director making sure, rather condescendingly, that we get it.  We sure got it, for expecting better.

An uncouth hero, who doesn't give a damn about any God can be just that, without picking any arguments with anyone.  He can just pretend as convenient, as needed.  In fact, that type of character would be a karma yogi and would be incredible.  Kamal Haasan hasn't reached for anything that high.

The physical obstacle course that the ageing protagonist puts himself through, all by himself, for absolutely no reason, really asks the question - "Why are we watching this?".  If he is such a superhuman operator, we know he must be capable of going through an obstacle course just like all other jihadis who're training for militancy.  This is Kamal Haasan's irrepressible narcissism gaining momentum.  It culminates (in this movie) with him sleeping with the girl.  Just in case we had any lingering doubts about his virility, since he has led her on so far to believe he's really married to her for convenience, and obviously for safe cover.

The conversation with the black immigration official is priceless trite.  Clearly Kamal Haasan the writer knows nothing beyond the stereotypes his front seat fans already have in mind.  Thankfully, it is in English.  Erm, American.

If anybody ever figures out why the Nigerian terrorist shaves his pubic hair before going out, and why we had to see it, please enlighten us.  Not that we're heavy with anticipation, but some lightening of the load of bull would help considerably.

This would have been a fantastic movie with Ultimate Star Ajith in the lead.  In fact, he would have had more fun with this sort of role.  Except that there is nobody who can write a script even this good for him.  Kamal Haasan the writer constantly supports Kamal Haasan the actor, but where is Kamal Haasan the visionary?  Certainly invisible in this movie.

The US military's soldier, uttering "shit" when he shoots a woman from his helicopter is ... what?  I seriously don't know why this movie has to lick up to the Americans, found as they are in the wrong countries fighting wars with people completely unconnected to those that attacked them! 

There are any number of dreadful lapses, but the humour survives!  I'm not sure why we would want to be humoured through so much labour to make us laugh, but this is again Kamal Haasan not knowing what movie he is making.  The actor in him easily takes on all the lack of congruence though!

The most annoying thing about the movie is its unformed world view.  The grey areas are great, but what's the defining conflict?  It's between a group of bad buys and good guys, with two chicks in the mix.  That's it.  What is the fuss all about?

- BSK.

Kamal Haasan is a Genius!

For all the hype surrounding his movie Vishwaroopam and the premiere show on DTH platforms, the controversy within the industry over this decision, and all the arguments, there is buzz too!  And the buzz isn't about anything in the movie.  Kamal Haasan is a genius!

The cost of the movie is 95 crores says Kamal Haasan.  Nobody knows if this is true, but if he says it is, it must be.  Not that anybody has come forward to buy it, but there are so many things nobody wants to buy at cost price, so if you're not able to sell the new house you built, you can always rent it out, or lease it out.  There are other alternatives, and Kamal Haasan is going after them, because he is a genius!

Here is his interview:

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/todays-paper/tp-oncampus/viswaroopam-will-hit-homes-first/article4188964.ece

and another article: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/industry-and-economy/marketing/airtel-dth-to-premiere-viswaroopam-on-jan-10/article4235220.ece

He has spoken about some people fighting a war against technology.  It must be some sort of amazing star wars technology if more than fifteen lakhs of Indians have been watching TV through DTH for a while now.  So, it must be a WAR out there against this "technology" if more and more people are buying DTH systems for their homes.  Wow!  Kamal Haasan is a genius!

All DTH systems in the country have been delivering movies for a long time now, but surely they will need a new set of microprocessors, software, upgrades and modifications if a movie has to be aired before it comes out in the theatres.  After all, this "technology" has to be "embraced", not just used, says Kamal Haasan, genius!

Kamal Haasan expects 40-50 percent of a target 15 lakh DTH subscribers, that's a good 6-7.5 lakh subscribers, to watch this movie one day before its theatrical release, by paying Rs.1000.  He also says there is no way this can be pirated, while humbly accepting that there is no way to really fight "technology".  There it is again!  But here is the recorder you can use to pirate it - http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/703341-REG/Elgato_Systems_10021040_EyeTV_HD_DVR.html.  But who knows?  Maybe it won't work when you and I connect it.  Kamal Haasan is a genius!

Kamal Haasan expects this movie to make 150 Cr. rupees.  That's the equivalent of every single resident of Tamilnadu, all 7 crore people, including children and old, poor and rich, shelling out 20 rupees each and then some coming from somewhere else.  How many of them want to see a Tamil actor in a film of "international importance", jumping, shooting, saying things like, "I'm the villain and the hero, both!", that keeps a serious, if fat, tired and sleep deprived face while saying so, is beyond some of us mortals in this population, but then, Kamal Haasan is a genius!  He must know.

The movie contains kamal haasan, guns, white guys, kamal haasan, muslims, kamal haasan, explosions, kamal haasan, a young chick, terrorism, kamal haasan, and some kind of plot involving all the above and Kamal Haasan.  It must be important to get the viewpoint of an actor from Alwarpet about these burning topics, because he is a genius.

The movie itself, of which there has been no talk, is billed as a spy thriller.  Here is the trailer - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rP3a-cQ19Og

And here is a trailer of another spy thriller, that came out years ago - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cD-uQreIwEk

And its sequel - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-HqyyfBbSo

But maybe you like Kamal Haasan's English accent better?

- BSK.

The Nucleus of the TN power shortage.

Kudankulam is hardly the root of the problem with the acute power shortage in Tamilnadu - it is corruption and rank inefficiency of the TN government and its politicians.

I was at a gathering in Erode, where grievances were put forward.  An industrialist with a sizable investment and hundreds of employees in his spinning mill made this request - "We know there is shortage of power and power plants are coming up.  Can you ensure you supply us the same 8 hours of power, but do so in one stretch, so we can be productive?  We have some machines that take 20 minutes to get up to speed, so we get only forty minutes per hour, if you cut off electricity every one hour.  How can we pay wages for 8 hours to our workers, when only 3 hours of work get done?"

Then came some revelations - Tamilnadu has been encouraging investments in wind power for sometime, and there were many takers, who put up windmills.  Their windmills supply power to the grid, and TNEB or what is called TANGEDCO is contracted to pay the suppliers.  Of late, nobody has got paid, and if you are one of them, and you asked for your payment, a bribe is demanded.

So, many windmill owners have decided to switch off their windmills, since they at the very least, don't have to incur maintenance costs!  So, even when there is wind, there is no production, because the government is unwilling to make payments without officials being bribed!

If you want to set up a new windmill, the going bribery rate for approval is 18 lakhs!  For your own willing investment of around 1 Cr., which is beneficial to the whole nation, a bribe is being demanded!  One can imagine why no new investments in wind energy are coming forth!

The Tamilnadu government recently announced some incentives for new solar power projects, with subsidies around 30%, which the providers will discount right away when you want to purchase the various components for your home or industry.  None of the suppliers have got any notification, so none are able to offer the subsidy.  It has been about two months, and considering this notification is only a piece of paper, one can bet some money that it can be "obtained" if a bribe is paid.  But there is no guarantee these solar providers will be paid for the units they put on the grid if they choose that scheme.

Maintaining the shortage is actually beneficial to the corrupt officials and politicians, because they can collect bribes.  In other words, denying a full supply of electrical power is a cash cow at various levels.  First, you have to bribe to get a new industrial connection.  Then you have to bribe to keep your supply coming reliably.  Industries are even willing to do this!  Since the government has promised uninterrupted power supply to twenty new industries that are investing in the state, one can imagine they must have paid bribes too.  Even if they did, those are the shining industries with brand value so they cannot be ignored.

The loss of productivity is compounded in several ways and is impacting the nation in so many ways.  Diesel is burnt by many to run their generators, and almost all of them are bigger in capacity than they need to be, simply because there would be no point in having a generator supplying less than required.  So, almost all of them are burning diesel needlessly, and producing power that is not used, because the excess power doesn't go beyond the captive unit.  It is simply wasted.

By forcing small and medium sized industries and institutions to invest in new technology like solar power, with or without subsidies, that money gets sucked out of their core activities, and contributes to more expensive products and services, reducing competitiveness.  Those that invested in wind power are severely regretting their decisions now, because they could have used that money elsewhere.  Money getting sucked out of the economy in ANY way is an illness, and the corruption and inefficiency cycle is exacerbating every single problem.

People are buying UPS systems for their homes in large numbers.  UPS systems do not provide power, they merely store energy in batteries, to release later.  There are latent inefficiencies in such systems, and all that is happening is an increased consumption when there is supply!  A UPS system draws power even when it may not be used on those miraculous days when there is no power cut.  These units are not cheap, considering how many homes are buying them.  More money sucked out of the economy!  But these are much smaller crimes compared to windmills that are not spinning even when there is wind.

Now the Chief Minsiter Jayalalithaa wants all the power from Kudankulam to be given to Tamilnadu.  If this happens, the rest of the nation is to be denied power from KNPP not because TN is suddenly needy from its incredible economic growth, but because it doesn't have its house in order. 

People who supply transformers to TANGEDCO have not been paid in several months.  If they choose to start a litigation, the ruling will undoubtedly be in their favour - to be paid all dues, with interest.  But since they have invested crores of rupees in their manufacturing units, they don't want to be unofficially "blacklisted" from future orders.  So they will not sue.

I spoke to an (AIADMK) Ward councillor at the same gathering, and this is what he had to say, rephrased only for translation - "No matter what we do, you're going to kick us out in the next elections, so why do you want to stop us from making some money?"

- BSK.

May all these VVIP helicopters crash.

It's been a while since something grabbed my attention and made me seethe with anger.  Considering this is India, that in itself is an accomplishment for both parties.

The VVIP helicopter purchase scam has come to the fore now, as if the other scams have been sorted out, reversed, done and dusted.  None of that has happened, and yet, this one is particularly disgusting, not because our VVIPs are involved, or in fact, an Army Officer is involved in a bribery.

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/army-officer-sought--5-mn-bribe-italy-probe/1022157/

None of this should surprise us anymore, as Indians, as the weasels of the world, as the scum of the earth, as the uncaring sloth filled silent murderers of anything that is sacred or sacrosanct like human dignity.

What should surprise us these days is if anything is devoid of some kind of corruption, some kind of illegality, of illicitness, or outright fraud.  No, India is not a great nation by any stretch, but we really don't have to compete to be the worst either.

Okay, so we need helicopters for our VVIPs.  Let's take a look at who these VVI pricks and pussies are in the first place - politicians!  About 95% of these helicopter rides are going to be used by the ruling class of India, which is unbelievably rich, wealthy beyond anything possible to imagine by most of us working in any enterprise.  I don't grudge them their wealth, if the wealth of the nation has not been stolen for this purpose.

Mother India has been raped, and is a constant rape victim, each time either an illegal mine is being dug or spectrum is sold at prices well below what is fair.  Our Mother is getting raped, because we, her children, participate in this act, willingly, and happily, to get some kind of out of turn favour.  As a result, we have cultivated an entire breed of rape specialists called politicians and bureaucrats, who think everything should belong to them, and basically NOTHING should belong to Mother India.

These helicopters were ordered from AgustaWestland, which is an Italian company, and at this point, we don't quite know if Sonia Gandhi or one of her cronies is involved.  We cannot point fingers to everything that is Italian and illegal and say she is a party to that.  That's not the point of this salvo.

There were bids from Kamov (Russia), Eurocopter (EU) and ostensibly a few others as well.  For some reason, the number in question is 12.  The figure available for this scam is around 3800 Cr rupees.  So the price for each helicopter is 3800/12 = 316 Cr!

Compare that to the Advanced Light Helicopter, made by our own Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, and it is cheap, since the ALH costs approximately 39.3 crores of rupees per unit.  So, at some level, this must be a convincing argument that we got a really bad deal, right?  Indeed, except that it hasn't registered yet!  We are stupid enough to believe in paying ten times the price of our "exceptional, world class" helicopter for an Italian one!

Buying all these helicopters from the HAL, and ordering any number of variants would have cost a lot less, AND the money is being put into our own economy - merely internal Central Government of India paperwork, ultimately.

We have already spent a lot of money developing the ALH, and many foreign countries have bought it from us!  But it is not good enough for our VVIPs?  Why not?  Because you cannot make money through kickbacks if you buy from Government of India FOR Government of India?  Who would pay a bribe to an undeserving vermin, piece of corrupt shit?  Moreover, these scum probably know the ALH, being made by their own corrupt brethren is likely to not live up to expectations.  In other words, the fucking thing might crash!


We were ready to throw a vast amount of foreign exchange at a foreign company that is ostensibly in competition with our own!  Bloody corrupt VVIP vermin!

Now, there is a finding that India changed the technical requirements in order to bring AgustaWestland into contention!  http://www.indianexpress.com/news/chopper-deal-kickbacks-india-changed-tech-requirements-to-help-italian-firm/1024929/

How far would we go to help out our Italian connection?  How far, when Ferrari's Formula One team has no problem "showing solidarity" with two of their sailors being tried in our legal system for murdering our fishermen in open waters?  It gets bloody hard to believe Sonia marrying Rajiv has nothing to do with this.

The absurdity doesn't end here.

When any Government of India employee goes on the paid vacation under the LTC (Leave Travel Concession) scheme, those that are eligible for flights are mandated to buy tickets from Air India, even though it is usually more expensive!  What is the bloody logic behind flying in a loss making carrier, that is usually shoddy with schedules and maintains its planes badly, where staff members are unprofessional and flight staff are likely to have fights in mid-air?  I wonder if the GOI will take kindly to an employee missing a day's work due to an Air India inefficiency and subsequent late arrival after leave.  After all, it wasn't the employee's fault was it?  Besides the point.

The real reason behind not ordering the helicopters from HAL, besides not being able to claim bribes, has to be that the GOI's VVIP pigs do not have faith in the ALH.  After all, it has had its share of crash landings and teething problems, and those things are better left to the military!  Who cares if some army brass or soldiers die in an ALH crash?  It is just a small news item.  Like this one: http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/iafs-dhruv-helicopter-crashes-in-uttar-pradeshs-sitapur/article6249690.ece?homepage=true

But if a politician prick crashes, the whole nation is agog with the sad messages pouring in, the marches on the streets, the processions, and news channels whining for a whole day about how exactly the damn thing went down.

A king would have some remorse at this sort of anomaly, because he was required to have a conscience.  Our leaders do not.  Now, why the fuck are we being programmed to accept democracy as some sort of decent option?

- BSK.