Chicken: India's new National Bird

It is rumored that current UPA Government is seriously considering to adopt the chicken as India's national bird. The senior leaders of the Government are of the opinion that National Symbols should be a reflection of national psyche and Peacock, the current national bird is considered too aggressive to symbolize India.

India's official response to various issues's  ranging from the Taslima Nasreen's controversy to current uprising in in Tibet - can best be described as chicken hearted.

Moreover, The Secular brigade lead by CPM has taken strong exception to India continuing to adopt "Peacock" as national Symbol. The secular Brigade is of the opinion that Peacock is too closely associated with Hindu Religion. Its considered vehicle of Lord Murugan and even Lord Krishna's Crown always has a peacock's feather. Due to this Peacock,  donot comply to the strict standards adopted by the UPA on matters pertaining to secularism. Chicken is considered a far "secular" bird considering almost all the religions eat it without reservation. Some pockets of reservation from religious veget arian Hindus can be ignored as they are too few in Numbers afterall you cannot please all with such decisions.  Communist leaders has taken a strict stand on this issue . In Last Party conference, They have passed a resolution

Change National Bird to Chicken or we will withdraw our support

In view of this, Madam Sonia has written a letter to PM Singh and has instructed him to constitute a commission to sanitize all the national symbol and make sure that they are secular. It is rumored that even national emblem will be reviewed because it has lotus in it!

inspiration from

Technorati Tags: India. Humor,Secularism

Like Kerala, USSR Commies also had closet Christians

Mikhail Gorbachev, the last Communist leader who oversaw the collapse of the Soviet Union, has admitted for the first time that he is a Christian.  The Communist leader was quoted as saying.

“St Francis is, for me, the alter Christus, the other Christ. His story fascinates me and has played a fundamental role in my life. It was through St Francis that I arrived at the Church, so it was important that I came to visit his tomb.  I feel very emotional to be here at such an important place not only for the Catholic faith, but for all humanity,”

This interesting considering the long held belief that it was "Coke and Pope" who were primarily responsible for Downfall of USSR!

Technorati Tags: CPM,International Relations,Communism

Congress have learnt nothing and forgot nothing

French diplomat Tallyrand's scathing criticism of the Bourbons - "they have learnt nothing and forgot nothing" - is being particularly apt for the ruling party at the Centre. In 2005, it was Jarkhand, In 2006  it was Bihar, Now it is Congress's "misadventure" in Meghalaya, where D D Lapang was sworn-in as CM but could not face a trust vote, paving the way for an NCP-led alliance to wrest the mantle. 

This is the fourth instance since UPA came to power,  Raj Bhawans being used blatantly for manipulating government formation.  Not only has Congress learnt nothing from its previous experiences, it does not seem to be shamed by the embarrassment that it has repeatedly faced

This also the second successive setback to the Congress in the northeast. Not too long ago, the Congress high command was persuaded of the merits of placing Nagaland under central rule only to see the ousted regime of Neiphiu Rio come back to power through a popular election.

Technorati Tags: Congress,Corruption,Politics

Taslima Leaves India, Secularism stands Betrayed Today!

After being kept in virtual house arrest for last several months. Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen has finally given in to the pressure of Indias "Secular" crowd. She has decided to leave India for good!

Before leaving India Taslima Nasrin said the treatment meted out to her by the Government of India was nothing less than "cold-blooded state terrorism to drive her out of the country"
Relieved that her "house arrest in a free country" was ending, Taslima
said 

"Fundamentalists do not torture you to death. They just finish you off.  But the Indian Government slowly pushed me towards death. My terrible experience has shattered all notions about a secular and democratic India,"

Is this the same country who was home for opressed all over the world!  We gave home to Jews when they were persecuted all over the world! When Zoroastrians were persecuted and driven out of their country India gave them abode and safety!

My head hangs in Shame today!

Technorati Tags: appeasement,congress,India,secularism

Tourism or Voyeurism at its worst?

Move over Taj Mahal or Trip to Gods Own Country and enter Dharavi or bylanes of Paharganj, The new face of Incredible India!

Two hundred rupees to see how wretched someone's life can be. Yes, you read that right. That's how much tourists pay to be taken on a guided tour of some of India's poorest slums. The trips, organised by local NGOs, tour operators and inter-national human rights organisations, are gaining popularity among foreign Tourists.

The idea behind such tours is supposedly to give foreign tourists a picture of the ‘real India' and create awareness about the plight of its less-privileged citizens. It is claimed that the money collected is used to better the lives of slum and street dwellers. 

The tourists often  arrive unannounced, barging into peoples' homes and capturing them on camera without their knowledge or consent! In an Article published in New York Times, David Fennell, a professor of tourism and environment at Brock University in Ontario asks

“Would you want people stopping outside of your front door every day, or maybe twice a day, snapping a few pictures of you and making some observations about your lifestyle?” 

According to him, The real purpose of these is to make Westerners feel better about their station in life.

“It affirms in my mind how lucky I am — or how unlucky they are,” 

Some of the tour operators are

Salaam Baalak Trust : Apparently, these guys specialise in "showcasing" Street Children! According to their website,

They  provide "Salaam Baalak Trust City Walk" for

Salaam Baalak Trust, has developed an exciting city walk through the enchanting streets of the inner city of Pahargunj and the New Delhi railway Station area.

What is the purpose of the walk?

The city walk aims to sensitise people to the lives of street children. It’s a unique way of engaging people in the lives of children in distress. The walk also provides an opportunity for the young people to improve their communication and speaking skills. All proceeds go directly to the trust to enable more opportunities to be made for street children so the walk is 100% non-profit making.

Reality Tours and Travel: These guys specialize in "Slum Tours". According to their website:

We are a unique tour and travel agency, based in Mumbai, India, that specializes in guided tours of Dharavi- Asia's biggest “slum”- a place of poverty and hardship but also a place of enterprise, humour and non-stop activity.

Chris Way, A British man who is one of the owners of Reality Tours and Travel has vowed to put 80 percent of his profits back into the Dharavi slum. The catch, though, is that Mr. Way’s company has yet to earn a profit on the tours , for which he charges anywhere between 300 - 4000 rupees. In fact according to them, The company made a loss of Rs 111,166 for the period ending 31 March 2006. 

Ogling the poorest of the poor isn't tourism at all. It's voyeurism. These tours are exploitative and have no place on an ethical traveler's itinerary. THIS MUST BE STOPPED!

Please send your protest to

Joint Secretary,
Ministry of Tourism
Government of India

Room No. 123,
Transport Bhawan,
No. 1, Parliament Street,
New Delhi - 110 001 (India)
Telephone: +91 - 11 - 23715084
Telefax : +91 - 11 - 23715084
E-mail : amitabhk@nic.in

Technorati Tags: India,Tourism

Crown Prince with his Praja

The Smaller Boy: Guess Election is near..... enjoy while it lasts ....

The Bigger Boy: Damn the Democracy! and People say its simple to maintain Dynasty Rule..... Anyhow.... This is great once back to Indraprasthi I will ask Manmohan Mama to do this for me

Technorati Tags: Social,Rahul,Congress