Music for Peace - Kerala apologises to martyrs

The " Dog quote "from the shameless man.

- Music for Peace ! is the way to go.

Love you Yesudas - For these actions as well as the songs ;).

Why E Sreedharan deserves Indian of the year Award?

I was very happy when I saw the above scene on TV . Yupz , E Sreedharan is CNN-IBN Indian of the Year 2007. Pamban Bridge , Konkan Railway , Delhi Metro - Three great things that improved the quality of life for people in various parts of India .If he doesn't deserve then who else deserves this award.

No wonder , the choice was unanimous by all the judges.


Anybody like me who has participated in the mad rush for Mumbai Local trains or had a taste of various modes of transportation in Kolkata will appreciate Delhi Metro . It symbolises a new India , an India which is clean , efficient , where everything happens on time , people are friendly and helpful , where every thing is working and processes and punctuality rule. What makes it unique is not only the extensive use of technology which has permeated through the system (It should be one of the best examples of how technology can be used to improve the life of masses) but the attention that has been given to the details to make sure that the project will be a grand success and not a white elephant.


I was in Delhi when Delhi Metro was being constructed. Any manager would have been amazed at the planning behind the construction of metro because not at one place the traffic was ever disrupted that too in a country like India where the traffic gets disrupted when any politician is on the road . It was so efficiently managed. The debris was cleared away in the night at the construction sites and was also totally obstructed from the general view.One cannot actually make out that construction was going on at such a large level and at such a hectic pace.The way they made bridges overhead for the elevated tracks of metro was particularly impressive ...without any supporting structure...a scene I“ve always fascinatedly watched in hollywood movies and which I could see in front of my eyes on those cold Delhi days.

Then one day it was opened to public and travelling in metro was an experience in itself.The use of smart card...it is a prepaid card for various denominations which enabled all the regular users a discount and also saving lot of time. Otherwise buying tickets is also a pleasant experience with many counters at the crowded stations and helpful staff. How often have you seen those dirty looks when you say that you dont have change from people behind the counter.Stations were state of art experience and all sticklers for cleanliness and user frinedly(also to physicaly challenged persons) .Escalators is a permanent feature with help close by and lifts at underground stations are also operative for old people who have difficulty in climbing the steps.



The best part was low fare and punctuality , something that may be alien to most parts of India and Indians.Communist and Socialist friends in Delhi University were happy when they see no demarcations for classes . Whole of it is centrally air conditioned and open to all walks of society , another aspect away from middle or lower classes may be one of the reasons due to which communists in Kerala are vouching for a metro in Kochi now.


When metro was being constructed , I was attending a usual cribbing session with one of my MBA classmates.

CM: You Know X , he wrote in his final placement resume that he went and did such and such in CRY
Me: Isn't that true? So What ?
CM: You know , X went to CRY only to get a bullet point in the resume.
Me: It doesn't matter
CM: How come yaar? When people do things like this with ulterior motives , we should not encourage it
Me: But yaar , Whatever is his objective he did some real good work and it really helped CRY , is it?
CM: Yupz , but still when people are doing it without genuine concern .........blaaahhh ................blaaahhh
Me: Yaar , Both of us also got chances to work for CRY , we didn't go .I was busy with doing "*****" and you were busy with "s***ping". He went and did some real good work and whatever was his objective he was able to bring about change and it helped the children in CRY , So we don't have any right to criticize him or his objective.



Whatever be it , there are people who tries to make change , but people who really bring about change are less and an example may be persons like Elattuvalapil Sreedharan . , the chief architect of Delhi Metro and who has also just been awarded the honour bestowed by CNN IBM. He has been in lot of lists along with Ratan Tata, Mukesh and Anil Ambani, Azim Premji, N R Narayana Murthy and Nandan Nilekani, Sachin Tendulkar , Rajnikant and Shah Rukh Khan and so on. It is a debatable question how many of those people would have really contributed and changed something that has helped and improved the life of so many people .Many people got an automatic rating because of their acting or sporting prowess or say on how they grew the wealth that they got from their family ethically or unethically (?).

Personally .the journey to CP from Delhi University campus was real hell before the metro came . and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh summed it up aptly in his inaugural speech to launch the DU - Kashmeere gate lane of Delhi metro.

I have spent many hours of my life traveling on these roads, below which this Metro rail will now run, sitting in a bus like so many of our fellow citizens on my way to work. As a member of the faculty of Delhi University I recall commuting by public transport to work. At that time, Delhi was not as big and crowded as it has now become. It was easier to commute by public transport and my family and I did so without too much difficulty. However, over the years, this city has grown at a faster pace than the public infrastructure, than the Government and the city’s authorities have been able to provide. Today I believe it is a nightmare for many to commute, be it by personal transport or public. Indeed, the inadequate provisioning of public transportation has further contributed to the congestion caused by private transport.

I am truly impressed by the quality of the new infrastructure we have built here today. I congratulate Shri Shreedharan and all his colleagues. They have set an example for all of us to follow - that India can do it, howsoever difficult the task. This is an attitude, which should isnpire all of us in place of the ‘Chalta hai’ attitude. I do hope that other cities will learn from the experience and the example of Delhi Metro and that we can replicate this model elsewhere. Having just travelled on Delhi Metro, I do think we now have a service that can compete with the best in the world and as a nation we must have the ambition to compete with the very best in the world. We cannot be satisfied with the status quo, or the way things have been run in the past. To ensure this, every one of us who uses this service must make sure that it is maintained well and runs efficiently. I am sure the citizens of Delhi will greatly value and cherish this new service now at their disposal.

Before metro came crowded buses or haggling autowallahs was not the problem , it was simply the time that had to committed to reach and return from Connaught Place .Twenty minutes in Delhi Metro from University to Connaught Place changed all that and soon metro journeys became an experience that everyone looked forward to . There were people who took joyrides just to travel in metro. Nobody could have imagined how successful it would turn out to be when metro was envisioned. Where I stayed,in Delhi University, the transition the whole area has experienced is just amazing.It has today state of art lightening system,which only Belgium and UK support so far. The visibility of the pedestrians crossing, to the vehicles is as far as till two km afar. The roads are broad and extremely well lit.( DMRC also overtookroads construction to support its network all around it) The lightening system is photosensitive to the natural light.as the sunlight dims,the lights switch on and then switch off automatically as the sunlight gets enough.Delhi Metro has made life more livable for people in this burgeoning Mega-City .

These days many people who has experienced Delhi metro quote from how we should all learn from Delhi Metro be it from IT Implementation , Local Economy Boom to Customer Service . Delhi Metro is an epitome of what technocrats like E Sreedharan can do and why they are needed in this country. There was another technocrat called V J Kurian who constructed the Nedumbassery Airport in Kochi which is one of the best examples of what can be achieved through private public participation.Successful projects of this scale will inspire us all to think big about the future of the country and hope more people like them ie people who really bring about change will come up and revive the system.

The IAS story of the Iyer Swami from Changanacherry

This is the The IAS story of the Iyer Swami from Changanacherry. Life....Live ...


The script almost looks like a masala Malayalam movie from Shaji Kailas. For a change in this script , the hero is not an IPS officer but a honest IAS officer with high calibre , qualifications and integrity.

First Rank in State in Secondary School Examination , Kerala State
First Rank in Plus Two , Mahatma Gandhi University
Tenth Rank in IIT JEE
First Rank in IIT Computer Science , B :tech

He gets a scholarship from the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA . Instead of going there he writes the Indian Civil Service Examination and two more things in his profile.

First Rank in IAS Entrance Examination
First Rank in IAS Training Institute.

Some of you may remember the story in the front pages of Malayalam Newspapers way back in 1989 when a small frail guy from Kerala topped civil services. There was a complete supplement in Manorama on a Sunday tracing the academic journey of the iyer swami from Changanacherry who wanted to give back to the nation.Moi remember that even now because I felt it strange to read that somebody had topped all exams that he wrote in his life.

It is interesting to check the career of Iyer Swami after this. Just take a wild guess on what would have happened ?

13 positions in 15 years from Kasargod to Thiruvananthapuram.

Once in a while a controversy appears in Malayalam newspapers which involve Iyer Swami but it has been proved beyond doubt that he is a man of high integrity and honesty.

One of those brilliant minds which would have been used in Silicon Valley being wasted in Kerala Civil Services.

Here is an excerpt from the Indian Express report

This middle class Iyer from Changanassery, known for taking on political and other heavies like few IAS officers would dare, has remained a pariah for most parties in Kerala’s two political halves. The brushes soon came to a point where he took on his father-in-law, a big-time contractor, who wanted to block off a public road to a poor neighbourhood of Scheduled Castes to wall up land for himself.

“I requested my father-in-law not to misuse my position as the local Sub-Collector, but he wouldn’t listen. I invoked the Criminal Procedure Code and served orders on him, called in the police and carried out the demolition,” recounts the man who once led a raid on the home of one of Kerala’s politically influential liquor barons who wouldn’t pay up the Rs 11 crore that he owed the government in taxes, and seized his belongings. A minister rang up, asking him to lay off and return the seized stuff, Narayanaswamy refused and was on the political hitlist yet again.

Controversies, and trouble, have always been with Narayanaswamy, the topper of the 1991 IAS batch — he topped the SSC exams as well — and a topper at IIT Chennai’s computer science department who turned down an MIT scholarship to enter the Civil Service. Nine years ago, he bulldozed the sides of an important Thrissur road to widen it, hitting businesses with clout who pulled strings to perpetually harass him. Five years ago, he had a run-in with a prominent north Kerala minister in Kasargod. Narayanaswamy refused to recommend sanction as the local District Collector, to turn a hospital that the minister owned into a private medical college, without prescribed infrastructure.

Now , all his controversies are not like this . After reading this and another controversy about his car when he was the Thrissur Collector, I always wondered what he was doing. May be the articles would have been framed by someone to tarnish his image . It seems highly unlikely that Iyer Swami would have been a culprit in all these cases.

May be Iyer Swami is over qualified and a person of his caliber should not have witten the civil services exam. Civil Services need only tail wagging "YES" men who has rubber spines who will bend according to the wills of corrupt political bosses.


There is a huge hue and cry when people from elite institutes leave this country in search of better pastures . Iyer Swami is a living example of a brilliant mind with honesty and integrity that is being wasted in a system which has so much bureaucratic hurdles , nepotism and corruption. Everyone cries about the corruption in the country and people laments that this country will go to dogs . When someone takes the responsibility he finds himself sans of any support to him/her from the political bosses or common man who anyway doesn't have a voice in the decision making of this country.



May be the careers of many civil service officers like Iyer Swami , T N Seshan , Alphonse Kannanthanam , G R Khairnar etcc shows that IAS officers cant take free decisions above the illiterate and selfish politicians / political parties in India and you can't blame the young generation for leaving this country for better pastures.


But I hope a million officers like Iyer Swami will stay back and clean up the system and make it transparent for common man.

My heart is like an open highway
Like Frankie said I did it my way
I just want to live while I'm alive 'Cause it's my life

Better stand tall when they're calling you out
Don't bend, don't break, baby, don't back down

Good Luck , Dude :)

Onam Special - Kerala Congress Onathallu in Kerala

"Kerala Congress is a party that splits as it grows and grows as it splits" - No Wonder K M Mani once defined his own party in his own achayan terms and his own party members are making sure that the definition of their leader is correct.The Kerala Congress has suffered severe divisions and several parallel outfits have emerged through the years fitting or not fitting Mani's definition.

Kerala Congress (Mani)
Kerala Congress (Joseph)
Kerala Congress (Balakrishna Pillai)
Kerala Congress (Jacob)
Kerala Congress (Secular)

The splitting has not affected the growth of the party since the main vote bank of the party is the farming community in Kottayam, Idukki and some other districts of Kerala dominated by Christians and the votes are governed by individual loyalty rather than development agenda . The connections are so strong that most party leaders know each and every family head by his surname so typically there is a solid base for each faction in each constituency where Kerala Congress exists.

However if you are outside Kerala you are missing the great fun that these parties give every year during Onam.

Last Year Kerala Congress (Secular) sponsored the Onathallu and made sure that Kerala Congress (Joseph) resigned from the cabinet . They are promising a sequel this year may be due to the huge success last year and here are the main actors and other stakeholders in the traditional Kerala Congress Onathallu.

Kuruvila Getting Ready for Onathallu by tying his Mundu properly Courtsey :Manorama

Direction & Story Line: P C George ,Kerala Congress (Secular)

Hero : T U Kuruvilla ,Kerala Congress (Joseph)

Supporting Actors : Son & Daughters of T U Kuruvilla ,Kerala Congress (Joseph) , Opposition Parties in Kerala , Other Kerala Congress factions may emerge for Thallu after Onam

Umpire : V S Achutanandan , Chief Minister - Kerala

Live Distribution Rights : Indiavision , Asianet News , Surya TV , Manorama News , Kairali TV and other channels in Kerala.


This show is only available if you are celebrating Onam in Kerala. If you are celebrating Onam outside Kerala , then you are missing the great fun.

The onathallu will restart after Onam.

Celebrate Onam and watch the rest of Onathallu.

Happy Onam , Everyone :)

May the good God bless you and fill your heart with joy & happiness. May the color and flowers of Onam fill your home with happiness and joy.

Please don't forget to see the rest of Onathallu.

Comrade Achu - CIA Journalists & Chikungunya outbreak

Comrade Achu has added one more quote to his golden quote collection by discovering the CIA links of Kerala journalists.

Last golden quote was on how the out break of chikungunya . Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan has blamed the previous Congress-led United Democratic Front(UDF) government for the outbreak of chikungunya and dengue and other dangerous diseases in the State's health scenario. The conclusion that we can derive for the chikungunya quote was that the virus was dormant in the UDF regime and became active in the LDF regime.

Unfortunately there seems to be a problem in concluding what comrade intended on the CIA quote unlike the chikungunya quote.

Classical Marxism postulates that when an idea ( Karl Marx calls it thesis) clashes with an opposing ideal ( the anti-thesis) , what emerges is not the victory of one over the other , but a synthesis which combines the best of the both world views.This synthesis is the result of class struggles ; but over time , this becomes a new thesis , clashes again with the anti thesis to form new synthesis.This process carries itself till a perfect society , the so called Marxist - Utopia (What George Orwell called it in the book 1984 ) , emerges .


Left - Wing Scholars from the two monolithic red parties in India in cluding C M Achutanandan say that , India is far far away from this (supposedly) ideal state of existence and as a result the class struggle against the bourgeoisie have to carry on.

In this context CIA is an imperialistic agent which is opposing the class struggle ( since it is against American imperialism)when communists like Achutanandan are trying to achieve the blissful state of Utopia in Kerala .



Unfortunately there seems to be a difference in the way in which Classical Marxism postulated about the clash of ideas and the resultant synthesis and the way in which it is being done in Kerala by Comrade Achu and gang. I am not saying that CPM should preach and practice classical marxism but they should least be doing is stopping gimmicks and hullabaloo over chikungunya agents and CIA journalists in Kerala. This is a party that has always opposed change irrespective of the chnage being constructive or destructive.They have not only opposed computerisation in 1980's but also have opposed the tractorisation of farms in 1970's and even asked Microsoft to log out of Kerala recently.The quintessence of communist ideology is embracing change for the creation of Utopia while in Kerala it is more about opposing any change (without considering the whether it will be progressive or destructive) by being the first party to call for a bandh or hartal whenever a change occurs.The primary parameter for any decision for CPI(M)(or for that matter any other party) is the effect on vote bank and voters and I find the diatribe of Comrade Achu about CIA journalists in Kerala ridiculous and silly.

Not only that , CPI(M) is one of the biggest capitalists in Kerala if you consider the assets . It has an amusement park , a television channel and several other assets spread over the prime locations in the state.Obviously the reason that you can state is that Without capitalism, you cannot bring about socialism in a feudal society and for that party itself turned into the biggest capitalist in the state.

Human nature is essentially selfish and "profit" appeals to be the instinct that drives any transaction and for people like comrade Achu and parties like CPI(M) more value creation come through attracting more people to their archaic ideologies . It does not matter how communism is followed in the state , what matters is periodically reminding the people that they are communists by blaming journalists as CIA agents and asking Microsoft to log out of Kerala.

VS {Comrade} Achu- # 3 best CM in India

One of my favorite memories in the last vacation in Kerala was about the metamorphosis of VS {Comrade} Achu from being the "outcast" in the Communist party to the "CM" in the last Kerala elections. I was never bored about discussing how he managed to change his image from being an old world communist ideologist to someone who is being crucified for no sin of his own after giving 110% of his life to the party .I discussed this endlessly over pegs of smirnoff/toddy with fish curry and tapioca to anyone who cared to listen till everybody around me got bored. It somehow was ironic since as a capitalist Keralite with a communist heart usually I put the blame for Kerala’s lack of job opportunities , aloofness from the IT boom and industrial marginalization even in the India Shining Boom squarely on the militant trade union communism which comrade Achu always seemed to represent and champion.


However it doesn't come as a surprise to see VS {Comrade} Achu being ranked as the third best CM in India in a CNN - IBN Hindustan Times Poll.See the list below.




In a balance sheet the development index of Kerala under CM Achu is almost nil.

Smart City is still Smart City on paper because Achu wants more stake for government

It is Bye Bye time to Vizhinjam Port.
Highcourt Order and a criticism for LDF Govt on the new education law.
This is in addition to so many things like asking Microsoft to logout of Kerala state and banning "Imperialistic Western" Colas with in the state (which was also later revoked by the court)

However VS has evoked a tinge of empathy and sympathy because of the troubles that he was facing from the rival factions with in the comunist party in the state even among hard core anti communists propelled by the umpteen comedy and mimics shows whihc always portrayed VS as a victim of so many transactions and bad people.This seems to have been carried over in this survey to rank the best Chief Ministers in India.What a pity that some one like "Smiling Budda" was shunted down due to the Singur Controversy while "Comrade Achu" is climbed up ?

Films, songs, business schools , sexy people, beautiful cell phones , terrible songs , worst movies; top 10 lists exists these days for everything and anything. There are news channels and websites that provide top ten news of the day, magazines like Forbes and Newspapers like ET publish a 50 Most Powerful list. The craze with lists goes on and on and getting into any nice sounding list is a parameter of social and professional success for many people .

Now if we see the list above, Chief Ministers who have implemented populist measures are ranked highest and instead of the development factor the human face projected in media seemed to have scored highest in the rating.The idea behind any list is benchmarking the success there by helping us to choose in the middle of so many options. In doing so, the absolute status and power of a Chief Minister and whatever he has done gets converted into one tickmark in a sample survey; dependent on its survival in the sample memory on his likes and dislikes. The parameter of success is forgotten in the hullabullo that follows the euphoria created from the rank in Top 10.In a ranking of Top 10 list of Chief Ministers in a country like India if VS is ranked as the #3 best Chief Minister , the only response from anyone who has watched him for the last six months is same as expressed by A K Antony below.



P S: Forget Antony ,Take a deep breath you communist Comrade , Comrade Achu is a very nice Communist Comrade in the Kerala Context and a very nice human being , who needs all the sympathies for all his crusades within and outside the party.

UDF caused chikungunya and dengue :O

Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan has blamed the previous Congress-led United Democratic Front(UDF) government for the outbreak of chikungunya and dengue and other dangerous diseases in the State's health scenario

The conclusion that we can derive is that the virus was dormant in the UDF regime and became active in the LDF regime. How Intelligent?

Some body who have the same traits of intelligence is former U S Vice President Al Gore.
" I created Internet " - Al Gore in 2002