Madame President?

Vasu Reddy from Chicago
vasureddy@aol.com

It is the end of February 2016, and the USA presidential elections are in full swing.  Unless something extraordinary happens Hillary Clinton will be the Democratic Party nominee and Donald Trump representative of the Republican Party.  Although the presidential elections are not until the end of 2016, the candidates from both parties (those who still remain in the race) have been hard at insulting each other.  The democrats in the race, Clinton and Sanders, although mostly civil so far, are beginning to get animated in their positioning in the Democratic Party, while the republicans are not addressing the issues but simply insulting and bashing each other.

Although the initial directives of each party were directed at one another’s party, now the insults are only at each other in their respective parties, this has been mainly in the Republican Party.  We no longer hear policies and progress, its insults and personal attacks.  One has to wonder how one of these men who aspire to represent the United States will become the statesman that will lead the world’s most powerful country.  The republican debates have become WWF contests with guys in dark suits.  Instead of fist cuffs the republicans trade choice words against each other, and they are no longer civil to one another.

At the end of the election cycle these men belong to the same political party (their politics are very different in the Republican Party).  Although Trump is new to politics his current platform is the Republican Party, and one has to see what happens in both scenarios; if he is the Republican Party’s nominee or he is not.  The Republicans have a huge political climb with or without Trump in the mix, as their message to the public is not being heard in the saber rattling between the current candidates.

While Hillary Clinton’s electoral performance to date has been as expected with its own challenges, she does look like the presumptive Democratic Party’s nominee, while Donald Trump’s political ascent has really become an anomaly that the political pundits have yet to understand and untwine.  Trump’s political ascent with such rapid trajectory is a phenomenon that the USA has yet to see in its political universe.  Trump wants to build a great USA-Mexico border wall, he wants to deport 12 million (a number that’s thrown around) undocumented and illegal aliens, he did not spare pope Francis, he says he wants to bomb the hell out of ISIS (this might be one issue where his support is exponential to anything else), stop Muslims from entering the USA, has issues with the Chinese, Japanese, Indians and anyone else who has a trade surplus with the USA, and the Europeans for various reasons, and just about every community that he can arbitrarily speak of, and every time he adds to his list of people he will go after, his support within the republican party seem to only go up.  Nothing seems to impact his politics and his supporters.  He sounds quite cavalier (almost from the old Westerns) and makes loud and brash statements about anything that comes to his mind.  The slogan make American great again, is distressing as the USA is the number one nation on earth in every which way, while it has many issues or economics, race, income and life inequality, trade deficits and certainly deficit spending.  It is unlikely anyone outside of the USA will pay for anything or will return any favors that are not in their own interest.  But when Trump says words, they seem to attract at least a section of Americans that like to listen to him.  The first thing that his audience forgets is that no one nation can dictate terms of engagement with any other, and today’s polices are a practice that is put in place with successive governments and initiatives, and to make changes to them nations will go thru economic, cultural and traditional changes, not just one nation deciding it’s going to let everyone else pay.  Trump to a degree is correct in the position that other nations are abusing the USA in many instances and USA has nothing to show for its commitments.  Yes, the country can take a better look at its military, economic and human resource planning and development with the rest of the world, and yes USA should focus on nation first and its security first.  Yes, that the rhetoric sounds good with sound bites on we are going to kick the shit out of some one, but do we really believe that the current government and the past governments are not engaged in steps to protect the county from terror and trade?

Everyone likes the idea of protection and safety.  Yes, building a barrier to protect against illegal immigration is a good idea, as USA has a great immigration policy that legally allows citizens from any country to migrate legally.  While Trump and just about all the candidates want to control illegal immigration and also protect against terrorists from infiltrating into the country, no other country really cares about how USA does it, nor will anyone pay for it.

One thing that Trump is right is how he can build something quick and cheap.  USA just like every other democracy has an enormous delay in any policy implementation, and huge budgets that balloon into gigantic budgets for any work to be done.  We probably need someone who has the political acumen and also the business savvy to do things quickly and cost effectively, and still maintain the positive diplomatic relationships with other nations.   One of the major issues for a leader is what punitive actions other nations will take if a country acts without consideration for others?  It is possible that they will also act with equal vigor.  The UN, WB, OPEC, G8, or any other organization that represent nations and trade practices, are all the work of nations looking for common ground.  If a country, however powerful it is starts to make decisions to impose its own will on others, then the world will go back to the days prior to the WW, and become more destructive.  This doesn’t preclude each nation from acting in its own self-interest.  So, building a wall to curb illegal immigration, checking the people entering into the nation to weed out terror, and economic cooperation that are mutual is all wonderful text book ideas, and if affordable to any nation should be implemented.

Let us suppose that Clinton and Trump go head to head in elections in November 2016 representing their parties, and one of them will occupy the white house in January 2017.  Today it certainly looks like they will be fighting each other for the job, unless something out of the ordinary happens.  This election season has been out of the ordinary just looking at Rump as a leader of the Republican bunch.

The electorate is divided as in every prior election; democrats and republicans with their party affiliation, and the independents as swing voters who will probably sway the elections.  As with successive elections, this election is also more polarized than the previous one, and party affiliation is undeniable.  As amazing as Trump’s early primary performance, the general elections will present a divided electorate that doesn’t sway from party affiliation, and only the independents matter, and more over who will get the voters out to the polling booth to cast their ballot?

If we look at President Obama and his reelection, the country’s working class and minorities had no issues with him.  He was reelected.  While Trump has his rhetoric and certainly his lifelong business back ground, the conventional wisdom of the voter’s needs prevails in democracies.  The USA is a reflection of a huge minority population and a large immigrant population.

If all the black, Hispanic, Chinese, European, Asian, ME and Muslim, and all other minority communities that are a part of the US fabric vote with democratic candidate, then it is a difficult election for anyone to go against these vote banks.  Minorities also care about their issues and their voting rights, and certainly will be more energized to get out and cast their vote.  If the entire community gets offended, especially by opposing party in a general election, the voters will be more motivated to get out and cast their vote.  That is all that is needed by Hillary Clinton is to get the democratic base out to vote.  People will always put their families, friends and communities first, and it takes a lot of effort to make them forget anything that is voiced against them as a community.  People always will put their family and friends first, and not confrontation and conflict.

Trump’s rhetoric sounds great on television, and to the listening audience, even to the listening minorities.  The reality is that even if he gets elected as the next president, his advisors will be doing the country’s work to align with the Republican Party’s agenda.  His electioneering will disappear as quickly as he gets elected.  The President has the executive powers to act on a slew of issues but when it comes to money and budgets, he certainly needs the congress to back him, and the congress seldom does anything that is not to its party’s advantage.  The president might be new to his job, but the congress is entrenched and housed to listen to the needs of anyone.  Even if Trump gets elected as president, he will not be able to execute to half the promises he is making, as the congress has set priorities that it will act on, and combine this with a party’s agenda and overall national and global agenda.  The age old practice of deliberation and debate will take precedent over rhetoric.

The world doesn’t work in isolation or in a vacuum, rather as a big enterprise constantly making adjustments and corrections.  It does take time to govern, communicate and adjust to the overall needs of the environment, but takes time due to the ever changing priorities and the vast differences, but it does act in time towards one common good.  The world depends on nations to work together, sharing brotherhood and common purpose, and opportunity for all.  However powerful, no single country can work and be in isolation and even if it wanted to it doesn’t succeed.

This entire election process has defied conventional and political wisdom.  The wisdom of the collective population has not been put to test yet, which is always focused on the society and its needs.  The United States has always been a great democracy and a great enterprise, and always had its share of hiccups that are integral to principals of a democracy.  The nation is also the most diverse in its representative population, which continues to become more and more diverse.

There is no doubt that the country will choose its next president who will represent its best interests for the next 4 years, probably for next 8 years.  This election although higher in rhetoric, is no different than any other, and also in keeping with the times.   The voices of concern should also entice people to get out and exercise their right to vote, and if the democratic party with its larger profile with minorities, immigrants, workers and unions, and people who look for the government to be proactive in managing the country, and the generations that have already paid their dues, young and old all of them together can influence the selection of the next president.  All of them care about their own future, but also have the respect for their fellow citizens and the global brotherhood.  The beauty of the election is that it is definitive and is in line with the people’s choice.

Voter Empathy

Vasu Reddy from Chicago
vasureddy@aol.com

The 2016 presidential elections in the USA are in full swing.  It is a long process that takes more than a year (every four years) to pick the candidates representing the two major parties and then finally a general election to pick the next president.  The beneficiaries of the protracted and prolonged election process are not the politicians who are aspiring to become the president nor the public who are subjected to the election process who really get carpet bombed 24/7 by the wannabe presidential candidates, but the media outlets, advertising agencies, staffers and memorabilia makers.  The candidates spend hundreds of millions bashing each other (everything but fist fights) and spending money that is unimaginable in promoting what great low life everyone who is competing against them.  Hundreds of millions go into the election simply to tell people that everyone competing is such a worthless and indecent human being who is not capable of a normal life let alone governing the USA.

No matter what is said and done, the long election season only two candidates gets picked by their parties with the right to compete with each other and spend millions more in the general elections and only one will eventually get to be the president for the next 4 years.  The record of late demonstrates that the incumbent president gets reelected for the second term, but the election process is still equally expensive and protracted.  Even the sitting president is not spared in the election sloganeering on competence and character.

If one has to wonder if the expensive and energetic political process can be diverted to public works or other process that can benefit the public at large. If a billion or two is spent on each presidential cycle by the candidates, that amount of money can do a lot of good for the public good in any year.  Although it is wonderful to think of money going to good causes rather than personal bashing, it is not going to happen in the near future.  Neither the candidates nor the donors are that much interested in resolving real people issues.

Imagine that a presidential candidate can raise a billion dollars to campaign and run for the presidential office.  What If that money is spent on improvements in public works in the city/town of domicile?  100% of the money goes into doing good works for the benefit of the people.   The media will cover such good deeds as they do other nastiness anywhere in the world.  Yes, no spending money on anything but public works and projects of public interest, and simply use the media to project the plans and activities if elected president.  At least one candidate should try this, and even if not elected as president the work will remain forever with people, and perhaps will even fuel future elections to do the same.  It would be wonderful to see money spent on people issues.

The president’s job is only available every four years, and definitely the most powerful job that pays a salary and comes with unimaginable perks.  So, anyone who is qualified and aspires to become the president, and have the ability to compete for it will certainly invest the time and money (other people’s money) and most certainly will make every effort to win the job.  The method to presidency is no longer written or even in any mode of comprehension; just do whatever it takes.

When the president was asked last week about the current election cycle, his response was classic.  He said that the American people were smart enough to elect their leader who will best represent their interests.

People are aligned with the politics of their representative parties, be it democratic or republican, each party with its own set of issues, solutions, policies and above all beliefs.  When in power they push their party’s agenda and certainly feel they are in the right, and the opposing party is wrong.  The president while in office drives the political agenda that brings the presidency.  Each president certainly drives the party’s manifesto and election promises that align with the political preferences.  When the president and the congress belong to the same party it makes it easier to drive the initiatives, and if the president and the congress belong to different parties the administration gets paralyzed, as none of the parties yield to other’s initiatives.  The only thing that people are being left with is ever widening budget deficits and crumbling infrastructure.

Why can’t the wealthiest nation on earth and most innovative people on earth solve the budget deficit once for all and resolve the political bickering into public benefit.  If the issues that confront the nation and its people become the agenda of politicians then congress and the president can definitely work on issues that are important can be dealt with.  Here is where the public’s empathy comes in place.  The day to day issues are much more close to the people than the elected politicians.  The citizens understand the issues and also how to deal with them.  People certainly try to push for a balanced power in politics.  People look forward to vote for progress and every four years and exercise their right to forecast and look forward to a better future.  They always do.

Social Media and Public Pronouncements

Vasu Reddy from Chicago
vasureddy@aol.com

The ability to communicate, document, share and express; all democratic tendencies that all people like to embrace, appreciate and more over participate and utilize are now a part of the global life cycle.

There are billions of mobile devices that help us with not just call each other, but also have become vehicles for documentation of every nuance.  It won’t matter if we like it or not we are under constant vigil, with someone or something is always watching us.  Be it by our actions voluntarily or involuntarily we are under surveillance.  Anything we write, email, text, browse or any mode of communication leaves a digital foot print that will be forever documented.  If we speak to a gathering, work with a group, express an opinion, just about anything done with one more person is probably being filmed (more than just documenting).  It is not simply a picture of a few words, but what we say, how we are saying and in what context.  We are no longer innocent of anything we do or anything we say.

It doesn’t really help that the politicians make it a habit of abusing every opportunity they get in doing and saying absurdities as a habit and to attract attention.

Certainly there is interpretation of the words and context.  But spiteful and/or specific words and provocative language that leads to sedition cannot be retracted.  What sometimes was said in private no longer private, everything gets captured, documented, shared and somehow or somewhere in stored.

It is somehow the norm these days for politicians to constantly blabber nonsense and often at the opponents (perhaps gets worse by the day) and also with the continued advancements in communications and their reach to the general public.   It is really hard to imagine that any of these folks are aware of what sedition means.  With anyone with access to a simple mobile to blast out opinions, is all that is needed to blurt out opinions.  Personal attacks, wild allegations, accusations, stories and concocted details are really become a practice to get attention albeit for a short duration.  Whatever the opposition does is simply blasted as anti-democratic and anti-something.  Ignoring the national interests and democratic principles people simply latch onto every idiotic issue and make a huge public spectacle about supporting anything that will gain them a couple of minutes of screen time.  We really have forgotten that country comes first and national interest is paramount, not sedition and personal agenda.

Every time a nation gets put down the democracy gets trampled.  Guys who have a mike or a mobile phone start making statements that are of absolute inconsequence to the reality, rather they constantly attack someone else.  There is no need for probes or investigation or SIT or whatever terms that cost time and money to public and yield more animosity.

When someone says something in public it is on tape recorded and easily available.  Why not just put it out in public to listen to what was said?  Is it that difficult to face the truth?  Why anyone has to make comments on things that don’t need any context.  Just get the tape out in public, and if there is sedition that let the courts and police act on it.  There is no reason for anyone to target their opposition for the sake of making some comment that really disparages the availability of a mouth piece.

What Have We Learned?

Vasu Reddy from Chicago
vasureddy@aol.com

Democracy is precious for people to live, express and prosper in life, along with the freedom to learn and choose.  Looking at a very small sampling of time of human life on earth and its experience with democracies, since the American independence in 1776 thru India’s independence in 1947, and years since than the dynamics of democracies can be best described as politics allowing people not only have the respect to self-governance and self-determination, but also what people make from the freedom that comes with the democratic societies.  In the last 100 years the world has a vast reservoir of experience with democracies and politics of nations otherwise.

Although India was a bit behind to achieve its independence from the British, the time after being the largest democracy (and somehow continues to survive as a democracy), the country really has not been able to learn the value of being a democratic society.  It is however a five year term that keeps people waiting for the next savior, and so far everyone who was given the mantle to lead India has disappointed in actions to lead the country into prosperity.  Seldom had we had a leader in India who put country first and its people first. Barring Lal Bahadur Shastri, who did not survive in the office very long, everyone we have had as independent India’s leader has failed to lead the nation in a completely progressive and forward looking manner.  If we take the lessons of democracy from the USA, both India and USA are not only far from each other in distance, but the practices of democracy and handling of its citizens and their needs is really quite a distance from each other.  India has not learned to use its freedom and expression without fear of oppression.  Granted that the first few years of planning the national development right after 1947, the country has never really caught on to making use of its people, history, resources or anything else to the betterment of the nation.  It has been caught in a time warp of politics of destruction, classism, bigotry, and every human behavior which we really don’t personally want to engage in, but allow the Indian politicians to foster the same.

India has the people (population) and the intelligence, and by and large the desire to do well.  The country still has the family as a nucleus and age old traditions still drive the society, and every family wishing and doing the best for its children to do better than the current generation.  Indians certainly wish for better future in every stage and work to foster their young ones to look forward to a better tomorrow.

India keeps expanding both demographically and economically.  At the same time it continues to breed politicians that don’t seem to be learning from the most precious status of life; democracy, along with the ability to be free.

With each passing year and each passing election, both at the national and state level the focus of the elected and want to be elected continue to (each time get worse) focus on politics of division and polarization, most definitely based on personal benefit.  Politics in India and family hierarchies have become synonymous.  From family to caste is also constantly played up to vote banks.  USA has its own politics of polarization, but India is 100% based on polarization of people based on who they are.  It is so crazy that 100% of the country can be called backward class so no one is complaining daily to be categorized as back ward class of people.

The public also gets burdened with massive scams with each successive government, adding to the continued fanning of the caste system, and sectarian hatred keep people polarized no matter how much the country can plan for development and future.  Politicians will keep fanning the hatred rather than forward looking plans for peace and prosperity.  Politicians simply want people to worry about the most absurd thing in a democracy, fear of success, and keep them in a time warp of hatred toward their fellow beings.

The country has never learned from centuries of occupation by invaders, who divided the population based on the same issues as current set of politicians.  The great Indian nation suffered for centuries and was exploited where its own people acted as armies that killed and fought its own people, while the invaders enjoyed the national wealth.  Despite being independent and democratic nation since 1947, the country has yet to learn the value of making a choice.  A very few individuals and families across the country hold the country down and make it lag behind in both development and excellence.  Indians are to blame for the failure of the political system, as it does hold free elections every five years, but democracy stops right there as the next set of elected politicians simply follow their predecessors.  We have learnt nothing from being free; simply call our self a democracy.

Jai Hind.

Thali

Vasu Reddy from Chicago
vasureddy@aol.com

There is no mistaking that there is a thali for every type of cuisine.  Non-vegetarian thali is equally popular and is famous.  Before we delve into my favorite food thali (unlimited variety or the great American Buffet) first we acknowledge that just about every country has a variation of the south Indian vegetarian thali.  To start with vegetarian and non-vegetarian thali (one of the best in the world outside of the five states of south India) is in Singapore, which is famously based on the old Tamil Nadu migrants serving food in lungis and with huge serving of rice and variety of dishes, both vegetarian and non-vegetarian.

There is a little bit of a mix in referring to Thali (can be a limited one serving of assortment of dishes served with rice and chapatti or puri, or unlimited servings of food which keeps coming until one is fully satisfies and can’t eat anymore).

The meals are served in different settings depending on where you are or live or visit the restaurant.  Typically a thali is a round plate, with an assortment of small dishes accompanying with the thali with different varieties of food items served in the middle with chapatti or puri followed by rice.

The dishes served vary from region to region, most times even district to district in every state.  Much of the catering is to the local customers, and trying to keep with local nuances and tastes.  A typical Indian thali includes rice, dal, roti, papad, curd/yogurt, seasonal vegetables, rasam, sambar and small amounts of chutney and powders along with ghee, and the daily sweet dish.

Much of the Indian customers are creatures of habit.  Their preferences in food habits are typical to their native place, although they love food much of the Indian population prefers to eat their local cuisine with local flavors.  With the modernization of the country and people moving from place to place due to work and business, the food is also becoming mobile.  All major cities and towns now have assortment of restaurants that cater to just about all regional tastes, thus giving the touch of local tastes to folks who have to relocate, and also provide a taste of different parts of India to the locals.

The wonderful concept of unlimited serving of food (full meals as I know from South India) is a concept that is world over.  The great American Buffet (can be from any nation in the world) is a popular concept and a popular destination for the ever hungry Americans.  Hundreds of dishes (our local Chinese buffet even has Pizza and fries and fried chicken) are laid out and absolutely no restrictions on what you can eat and how much you can eat all for a few bucks.  The South Indian full meal sort of translates into the western buffet.  Many of the cities in USA have Indian restaurants with Buffet that claims Indian, Pakistani and Bangladesh all in one buffet.  One can’t really tell which is which, but the choice of food is enormous so you can simply pick and choose what you like and still amounts to a great value for the money, and you can eat all you want.

Indian itself has been evolving with its restaurants and tastes.  Every major population center has restaurants that cater to all regional tastes of India.  In fact just about every nation with sizeable Indian populations has Indian restaurants that have buffet, which covers most of the regional Indian cuisine.  Although home and local restaurants are far away, there is no time to miss the food from home.  While the touch of nativity is missing, the taste and sound of food from home is delivered just about wherever we are.

Any kind of thali, South Indian, North Indian (any state of India), Nepalese, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, and every national and regional buffet is ready to help us sit down and chow down, all for a small price, and nowadays available in just about every place on earth.  Go out and enjoy the Thali (buffet) all for a small price and bringing the taste of home away from home.

Finding A Way

Vasu Reddy from Chicago
Vasureddy@aol.com

Doomsday scenarios have always been a topic for discussion for mankind.  For mythological followers the world has always been in danger of apocalypse and coming to an end.  But the human kind has always found a way to survive, rebuild and even flourish.  Most times a combination of habits, abuse and indifference, all of these manmade that continue to plunder the precious ecosystem that we all share and live in.  Perhaps we should never expect human beings to be respectful to anything.  The biggest issue human beings have is the “me” syndrome.  We are creatures who put “me” ahead of anything and anyone.  For human beings the good earths, its nature, our surroundings, everything in life only come after “me”.  Living life revolves around “I”, “me”, “myself” and everything else doesn’t really matter.  Almost all the time there is nothing that matters except self-interest.  For earthling with this highest intelligence (as we know) we human beings are also inherently selfish.

Destruction of earth’s natural, limited and precious resources in the name of development has been so quick and furious.  In only a hundred years, the destruction has been so furious for the nature to have a chance to regenerate and replenish itself.  Adding to the destruction and constant abuse of nature, humans have also been multiplying exponentially, putting additional burden on earth.  Earth doesn’t have infinite resources and has taken billions of years to create what we call natural resources.  There is no way regeneration of what we are destroying can happen in relative time lines to the accelerated consumption, and most times wasted and destructive attitude to our surroundings.

Countries being wiped out, cities and their people completely destroyed and displaced, ethnic cleaning (if this was even a human process) and atrocities towards our fellow human beings, abusing women, children and older citizens, war in the name of politics and religion, plundering someone else’s wealth (simply greed and strength), color and race; and every other negative connotation that has ever existed have been constantly used to destroy not just fellow humans but their life and habitat.  We have become experts at killing and looting and plundering fellow humans, and we have not spared other living beings and habitat we live in.  As quickly as we think and create, we are also masters in using our own intelligence and inventions against one another.

While much of our energy is spent on the “me” only  syndrome and a lot of focus going into religion and color, while attacking each other, the same can be in parallel to our imagination for a better world.  While we are destroying the environment we are also looking at sustainability for future.  We can do it by turning the human energy into creating solutions for sustainability.  Wind, solar, nuclear energies can be transformed into sustainable energies that will protect the environment and don’t leave us in a depleted planet.  Reusing and recycling and avoiding plastics and dumping everywhere (one of the surveys says we will have more plastic in the ocean than fist by 2050) and consumption with reason and limits can begin to sustain us.  We must remember that the last 100 years have seen science and innovation that is unparalleled (really the Indian mythology of communications and transportation form thousands of years past has come true) and every single day we keep discovering ways to better communicate, better transport and better build, and just about better everything we do.  The worst part of the better we do things also is bringing the better we fight, better we hate and better we differ as people.

We can find ways to coexist and we can invent and reinvent our own space and enterprise to reinvigorate the earth.  We have the intelligence and we have the reason to find a way to sustain and support earth.  Moreover we have a reason to find a way to protect earth and protect each other.  There is no other place for humans like earth and there is no other place that we now know which will sustain our life as we know it.  There is absolutely no way that we can believe that there is no future to look forward to.  We can find a way to keep earth habitable, perhaps even reverse the exaggerated destruction of our habitat, and simply start nourishing our environment one day a time, and for sure we will find a way to keep it sustainable for the human race as long as we inhabit the good earth.  For sure we are smart enough to find a way for our own sake.

Motor Mouths

Vasu Reddy from Chicago
Vasureddy@aol.com

Politicians are no longer gentlemen.  With constant media, internet and instagram accounts available to make them wild and agitated at every opportunity they get to opinion on just about everything.  Long gone are the days of idealism and nationalism.  Today it is simply wilderness of imagination on attacking everything.  Granted that democracies allow anyone to have opinions, but the same democracies and available media attention (media also gives particular attention to wild allegations not facts. They simply sound better).  But the wildest allegations, repeating false statements and staring to sound as if they are the verifiable truth, abusive language, disrespect; all of which are a norm these days from politicians and people looking to become politicians.  The world’s largest democracies both India and the USA, have both (along with every other country) have become quite burdensome to the general public.  There is no escape from the angry and impolite voices constantly bombarding the airwaves and the internet.

To start with the leaders of the nations; Modi is only the 14^th Prime minister of independent India and Obama is only the 44^th President of the USA.  Both men are in the most elite of the politicians to hold their respective office.  No matter what they are and who they are getting elected to these positions is simply one in a billion kind of happening and for a long time to come, they both will be in the most coveted democratic circles.

Obama is a second time president (more elite than just a onetime USA president) and this is his last year in office.  Modi on the other hand is only in his second year of his first term as the Prime Minister of India. Both men are followed by millions of people on instagram and also command a great audience when they make public appearances.  While the USA has presidential press conferences, India has its own public appearances by the PM.  Both men come from humble beginnings, although belonging to worlds apart and both have community work in the beginning of their careers.  Both are great orators, and both are men of obvious and esteemed accomplishments which have put them in the political stage they represent.

Their habits of reaching out to public are a bit different.  Obama uses his POTUS accounts sparingly and to simply keep his followers and the world updated on his office and whereabouts.  For Obama this is the highest office he can hold and he has no further need for new titles.  He will be addressed as Mr. President the rest of his life.  As the history shows, once the president of the USA retires his aura only increases and his contributions to the public good can continue the rest of his life.  As Obama has no more political theater to act in he doesn’t have to react to anything thrown at him, he simply needs to follow his agenda for the last year in his office.  In fact he can be more aggressive and assertive in pushing his political agenda in his last year in the office.  Criticism has little bearing on him as most of it is coming from politicians vying for his office.

Modi on the other hand is in the exact opposite position as Obama.  Anyone can simply accuse him (his party along with him) and he has to defend himself and his actions.  It is not that Modi doesn’t attack his opponents, but at this time he is the target of everyone in the nation, sometimes from his own party men.  There is no escape from anything thrown at him as he occupies the PM chair, and the motor mouths are constantly having a field day everyday with Modi, his office and his every action.

The classic examples of individuals with absolute indifference to what they say or type, often offensive and self-serving statements one from each nation; Kejriwal in India and Trump in the USA, both of them are personification of motor mouths.  Kejriwal, elected in Delhi and Trump aspiring to get the republican party nomination to run for the US presidential elections at the end of 2016.  Both men are well educated, and well accomplished in their professional fields.  When it comes to politics and their style of communications, they simply forget themselves and always have a way with words, often filled with wild allegations and personal attacks.  Even when confronted with the truth they simply counter attack or come up with wilder allegations on the same, to add to their original theories.  Public has to suffer and listen, and continue to suffer and constantly be subjected to the same innuendo and they have mastered the art of repeating the same again and again.  It is simply what they accuse others is in their mind the truth – by far from being real.

Letters, I Wrote

Vasu Reddy From Chicago

vasureddy@aol.com

In the age of texting, chatting and email, we are quite used to sending quick messages, or responses, often with common abbreviations.  Much of our responses are in symbols and emoticons.  It really doesn't matter if we are busy or simply idling, we try to shorten the responses as much as possible and just hit send.  Gone are the days when a sentence started with "My dear" and ended with "Yours lovingly".  The letters we wrote were long and detailed, often written with impeccable styling and language, and often detailed much of what happened since the last letter.  Each letter had no mistakes, no corrections, no bad words, no abbreviations; there was nothing written but great communications.  It really did not matter who you were writing to, as every letter was a matter of heart and soul as communicating was in long hand and covered the distance and longing.

Often the letters were written in detail and in wonderful prose and hand writing, unlike the shortest responses we text today.  From romantics, to friends and family, looking forward to receiving the next letter was simply the time worth waiting.  The letters were nothing sort of documenting life in pieces, with emotions and commentary, and often speaking the mind and soul in long hand.  Letters were well written short stories, and never abbreviated words of today.

A whole lot of industries were built around letter writing; paper, ink, pens, envelopes, stamps, books and magazines along with many a famous personalities publishing their letters.  Many of yesteryear's personalities have collections of their letters published, for the rest of us to get into their minds and their thinking, and provoking our own thoughts on what they have captured so eloquently.  One can always wonder about the frame of mind and context of each written letter, and no matter how much time has passed, it never takes the context away from the writings.  From great love stories, travelogues, history and culture, requests, proposals, threats, life in general and any other subject matter that mankind can think of, was captured in letters written by folks, one to the other.  There is a great deal of history and learning from each era of letter writing, and we continue to be fascinated by the discovery of letters and their content from yesteryears.

My personal recollection of writing letters was to my home, typically to my grandparents, parents and sometimes to my siblings and cousins.  Living away from folks in a residential school, often allowed you the habit of letter writing as there was no phone (not in your room and was expensive to make calls), internet or mobile at that time.  I had many friends (still am with the same) who I wrote to often and in great detail; travel, school, reading, sports, others around me, and often the letters continued from the last one.  I also had a great number of pen pals (a term foreign today, can be equated to facebook/Instagram friends, which my not be the best comparison).  These pen pals were from various parts of the world (souls similar in interests specially letter writing) who were more of each countries cultural ambassadors. Pen pals kept you updated on their respective countries, cities, location and also their travels, family and friends, habits and sometimes their life and activities.  One of the side effect of having great pen pals was post cards, which were also fascinating to their locations, and added stamp collection from each of your friends.  You rarely had an opportunity to meet any of your pen pals in person, but you for sure got to know them very well.  As you got older and moved from place to place and moved on with your life, your pen pals, were doing the same.  It was hard to keep tracking of the changes in address and place, but the memories of the letters remain.  In the age without a mobile phone, internet or instant communications, the letters and post cards made all the wonderful memories.  The friendships were not instant and fleeting, they were full of effort and longing.

Today everyone has a long list of contacts/friends on email, phone and a slew of internet exchanges, all of which have taken over the old handwritten address book. We have evolved and connected our self with every aspect of daily life.  We are in an impossible situation with no escape from anyone or anything.  We are connected with so many things and so many people, we really don't have the time to make a personal effort to write even a few small sentences, thus the short and abbreviated responses to anything we need to.

It is great to reminisce and think of messages in long hand, well written and well intended, and mailed from a long distance, and also waiting for the mailman to arrive each day carrying stories from far away.  Past so perfect.

Imagine

Vasu Reddy from Chicago
Vasureddy@aol.com

When the II world war ended in 1945 the European nations and the USSR were not cohesive, the Germans just about invaded or fought with all their neighbors, and the Russians formed a block of Eastern European nations as communist controlled USSR block.  When you turn to 2016 there is no USSR, or Eastern communist block of countries, and now exists a massive European Union which includes Germany (East and West together now as they were until the Berlin wall was torn down).  Just imagine what people were staring at when the second world war ended and the destruction that was bestowed upon them; communism, nuclear bombs, rebuilding, concentration camps, and whatever was the leftover impact of the war.  It is really unfathomable to think people would think of EU as a block with common economic structures and common people goals.

USA and Japan were at the opposite ends fighting a war, and war only ended when USA nuked Japan.  Today USA and Japan are best friends and partners.  Be it EU or USA and Japan; or any other adversaries who fought against each other, many of these countries have fostered economics and people, rather than old war wounds.  No one has forgotten the WW or other wars, but countries went on to look at the benefits of working together, trade, innovation and knowledge sharing as a better path to move forward.  For a while after the war, the old USSR and the communist nations, really were not willing to become a part of the advancements of the rest of the developed world, but with the formation of EU and dissolution of USSR, many of these countries have quickly converged as democracies and have become partners in the EU. Language, religion, color or creed or any other philosophical or political differences are overshadowed by democracy and common sense.  Whatever each of these nations represent, the overall people issues have been taking precedence with governance.

While much of the world got tired of war after end of WW II in 1945, and formation of EU, many trade and economic blocks, many instances of reason and need taking precedence to anger, there is still a lot of animosity and anger in the world.  It really doesn’t matter what fosters the hatred, but it exists and constantly crates unstable environment all around the world.  It really makes no difference to the hatred, as it can attack anywhere in the world.  It is no longer just war, but terror has become a way to disrupt and discourage populations.  Just imagine genocide in 2016?  It is happening in more than one place and nothing can stop it from happening.  We kill and hurt our fellow beings, and whatever reason it is simply not human.

The Indian subcontinent got divided just after the WW II, in 1947 and got further divided in 1971.  There has never been peace in the region since the division when the British were forced out of India.  The terror and infiltrations and anger and disenchantment with each other is like having a snack in the subcontinent.  Happening all the time and constantly being plotted.  There are elected governments, but no one is controlling the terrorists.  The focus on being bitter is by far outweighing the reasoning of national development.  National development, human growth and peace are far from being a reality, and nothing is being learnt from the lesson of the war and the aftermath.

If we use EU as an example, much of the infrastructure was destroyed by the end of WW II.  Europe did not miss a beat in rebuilding and continuously remaining a leader in world.  Once the soviet bloc was dismantled many of the lesser developed nations did not miss out on development and joining the EU to foster their economic engine and trade.  None of these nations or people have given up their identity, religion or way of life.  They simply embraced the way to foster development and trade, wand what was best for the nation.  It proves and demonstrates that it really doesn’t require a lot of time for nations to rebuild and get back on track of development; if the people, policies and government wants to put people first.

With history of Europe and nations coming together, rebuilding and never lagging behind in growth and development, there is no reason for Indian subcontinent not to do the same.  In reality the Indian subcontinent has a lot more in common than the EU, and also a lot more to gain in coming together, rather than countries spending time on military and terror and negativity.  They really have a lot more in common with people, language, food, habits and boundaries than most places on earth.  More than anything else they have more common need with infrastructure, education, human training, medicine, agriculture and poverty.  The money spent on military (at least most of it) and terror and egging each other, can be spent on human development and civilian needs.  Just imagine the EU like situation with the Indian subcontinent, where people, religions, languages, food, traditions, economics and more over peace, all of it working together for all people of the region.  It would be a blockbuster every day.

As the Beatles sang, “Imagine”.

All Life Matters

Vasu Reddy from Chicago
vasureddy@aol.com

The Christmas week has once again become a police verses community headline for Chicagoans.  2015 has really been an active police and politics and community challenge for the residents.  It’s not just Chicago, Ferguson, Baltimore and many other places in the USA, you will hear the slogan “Black Lives Matter”.  This year and this slogan have been synonymous with each other.

To start with the slogan should be “ALL Life Matters”.

With either the police using their power to protect or power to execute, perhaps using their guns with a bit more aggression than needed.  There is also constant aid of social media encouraging the public to record everything they see, and 24/7/365 media coverage providing launch pad for the eager attention needed and the drama of personal and political nuances that follows every tragedy.

It is to the public’s dismay that the law enforcement doesn’t have the equipment (cameras and voice recordings on the car or and on person) to clearly record and document these incidents.  While the public somehow has a way to record just about everything, police and law enforcement somehow can’t document what they do.  While the consistently spend excessive to their available resources (including the ability to borrow) and spending limits, along with underfunding education and basic infrastructure.  The elected governments appetite for waste, misuse and mismanagement never allows for spending public’s money as it should be.  Ill equipped police force is not a single city phenomenon, rather it is a national issue.  Also police vs the community is not an isolated issue to one city, rather a nationwide problem.

First, we need to give credit to the law enforcement for doing a good job or maintaining law and order in general.  USA is by and large a peaceful and law abiding society, and with very little big brother handling, we are a country of peace and quiet.  The value of the police to the society is enormous by simply being a part of the community and making the people realize the rule of law.  Do policing sometimes profile people based on who they are and how they look?  The answer to that is, Yes!  There is no question that the law enforcement profiling citizens based their experience with each member of the community.  It is in fact human nature to use experience of life to profile and form opinions.  There should be no prejudice in profiling, simply a matter of fact based on experience and how to react to each instance if that happens in real life.

Before we point to the police and their actions, the community issues and its participation in the overall impact to the city should be more in focus.  If you take a large city like Chicago and its suburbs, where do the police get the most 911 or emergency calls?  What are these instances of distress, medical emergencies, civil issues, accidents and or any other law enforcement related issues?  Where are the police most vulnerable to the risk of confrontation and violence?  What are the areas where the city experiences crime the most?  There are so many variables to respond to and what the police has to deal with in each call they have to respond to.  The perspective of the danger to life and the relevance of history of the neighborhoods, is very real for law enforcement.  Race or religion has nothing to do with danger to life and to the law enforcement.

If a city has a diverse population and it also has diverse law enforcement team.  The responsibility is to have equal protection under the rule of law.  It is a fact that statistics and history of each neighborhood is available to law enforcement, and how they plan their actions to support every neighborhood.  The police are no different from any other human being, and they will do what they can to save and protect life and also their own life in doing their duty.  For sure they will fear for their life as any other human being would be.

Communities can police themselves against unruliness.  The huge metropolis has hundreds of neighborhoods and majority of them live without incident.  Most of the population live in peace and follow the law, and thereby not putting themselves and also their neighbors in harm’s way.

All we need is very little investment into each person in law enforcement while they respond to crisis.  Record the events and make them public immediately.  Let the police be constantly trained on crisis management and how to deal with each instance when they really are walking into danger.  The duty is to protect everyone and every life, including their own life.  What will be an impossible law enforcement issue is public and community guessing the actions.  Perhaps police should have body cameras that work and public should follow the law, rather than continuously be disruptive and confrontational.  If everyone follows the rule of law we should have no accidents and violence and killings, simply peace and quiet.  It is impossible to serve and protect, if society doesn’t want to follow the rule of law, and communities don’t embrace the law enforcement.  At the same time the police show restraint in handling everyone.  Finally, the community should support and invest in the safety, security and equipment needed for the police to do their job.

Netas as Netizens

Vasu Reddy from Chicago
vasureddy@aol.com

Active involvement and easy accessibility to internet has made us global netizens.  Distance, Language, race or color, country and wherever we are (including the space station) or whatever we are doing, all we need is an internet connection to instantly share with the rest of world.  The very good (or bad) thing is anything we put out there is easy shared with anyone else on the net, making an instant statement on just about everything.

India has the second most mobile population (second only to China).  There are approximately 997 plus million mobiles in use in India compared to 1,276 million in China.  Added to that India has (a little user less density) approximately 375 million internet users compared to 668 million internet users in China.

The per capita income for China is $13,224 a year which is 86 rank in the world verses Indian’s $5,808 a year which is ranked as 125 in the world.  Neither countries are in the top 25 countries in the world in per capita, as they are with population, mobile users and internet users.

In the last decade communications have under gone a new paradigm across the globe.  Television. Satellite, telephone, mobiles, internet and every way we communicate has become cheap and available to almost everyone.  Communications have also made people quite accessible to each other, irrespective of where they live (barring a few countries with restrictions).  Internet has been especially instrumental in instant communications to millions, and the medium is being constantly used for blabber whatever comes to one’s mind in every available language.  Context, logic, research, reality, truth, and any human beliefs have become a matter of history when someone gets a chance to type into the internet.  No one seems to care as the old five minutes of fame has now become 5 seconds of fame, and the abuses keep coming as quickly as one can type.

Focusing on the Indian Netas (politicians and bureaucrats), mostly focusing on the folks in Delhi and the northern Indian states, the internet has become a place for mockery and stupidity on a regular basis.  We have cases of politicians simply typing tweets that are borderline lunacy.

After the last nationwide election in 2014, and the time after with a lot of new faces in Indian politics, Indians have been inundated with a lot of netizen netas.  Indian public is subjected to their relentless stupidity, simply because they have access to the internet.

Starting the observation with Modi and PMO, which provides updates on a regular basis, we get to see the daily dose of Modi’s whereabouts and his schedule.  This in today’s time and date is a good way to see what the highest elected office is doing on a daily basis.  It is in tune with any other democratically elected government and heads of state in the world.  The mostly generic information and pictures of PM, his schedule and meetings keep us informed of his office and activities.  The Indian PMO since Modi took office has been doing a good job of sharing his schedule and activities.  Where the PMO lacks is updating the public of the announced government programs and their status.  It would be a phenomenal change to the Indian politics if the PMO were to place every program announced by the government and where each program stands with implementation.  Modi will instantly become a leader par excellence if he is able to be transparent.

Many of the Indian parliamentarians, state and local level politicians are also active on the internet.  With the ability to write and post in local languages, these folks are ready to type away (with instant translation available to the rest of us) in whatever language and whatever they feel like (mostly crap) and at every opportunity they get, to attack their opposition.  It is unbelievable that these folks get elected, and many times several times to public office.  The language they use, the animosity, the illogical accusations and mostly venting on someone else in political office, typically with someone they have either worked together or will have to work together.

If we thought that these outbursts are limited to illiterate politicians (India has an abundance of them), it is not.  Lately we have had new politicians who are well educated and severed in high level civil services of the country before becoming politicians who make statements on the internet, which will be edited out on TV and the movies.  The simple access and no editor makes them go wild and type obnoxious statements.  India has forgotten its decorum and respect for public at large.

The choice of language and words spoken or typed have become so personal in attacks, children and women might not want to see any TV or get on the internet to follow these folks.  This is just because of the availability of the internet and the unedited ability to say or type.

It is perhaps the time to demand accountability and respectability from politicians.  We elect them and we also should be able to force decorum into the political process.  The offensive and antagonistic attitudes don’t add any value to the democracy or governance.

2015 Wish List – Five Things On My List for Santa

Vasu Reddy from Chicago

vasureddy@aol.com

There is no particular order on my list of five wishes for Santa.  I really think they can be delivered.  Santa is in every one of us, so these can be delivered, particularly as if we all behave nice, there is no stopping the Santa in us.

Here is my list:

1. World Peace
2. Seasonal Weather
3. Opportunities
4. Clean Environment
5. Happiness 

1. World Peace – It is probably the most difficult wish to ask for.  We may have never had world peace ever since our existence.  But, I still want to wish for it.  As I get older, the more I worry about what is happening to the world. It’s just not people killing each other, but constantly finding reasons to go against each other.  People have really forgotten brotherhood.  “World Peace might be a lofty wish, but what do have to wish for more than world peace”.

It is really not wishing for much; just to travel without violence or fear, go to a restaurant without getting shot, drive without looking sideways, go and pick-up the kids, go to the bus stop, enjoy a movie or an evening out, go to an office party; most normal day to day stuff which we have gotten used to, and now all of a sudden worry about mass murder.  The stuff we thought as routine in life, for some reason or the other have become violent instances, where innocent life is taken for no reason or rhyme of the victims.  Refugees in millions, destruction of resources and property (in cases entire countries), targeting civilization and killing in the name of something.

World peace in on the top of my list to Santa.

2. Seasonal Weather – It is the middle of December 2015, and in Chicago we are have 60F weather and raining.  It’s crazy weather as we should have snow and freezing weather at this time.  Christmas is coming and there is no snow on the ground.  We are reporting record high temperatures in Chicago, the high in temperatures we have not had in more than a 100 years.  The only saving grace might be the rains that are keeping the moisture in place.  The same in Chennai in India.  They have had rains in December that they have not experienced in more than a 100 years.  There is a 10K mile distance from Chicago to Chennai, but the weather that had not been seen in a 100 years is happening in both places.  I really want to go back to a normal winter in Chicago; snow, very cold and very windy, and no the 60F temperature in December.  I am also wishing for a more seasonal rains in Chennai.

Hey Santa! You really can’t ride your sleigh in rain, can you?

3. Opportunities -  When people work they are busy.  Even small jobs lay focus on one’s mind to do things, be it routine or challenging and everything in between.  When at work or at school, or just having something to do, keeps a person occupied and away from idleness. Simply having the opportunity to work, study, volunteer and participate in life helps to be away from negativity, thereby helping the entire human race to be productive and positive.

Santa – Definitely you need to work on opportunities for everyone to do positive things in life.

4. Clean Environment – Cleanliness is next to godliness; the old saying.  We all like a clean home, clean clothes, clean surrounding (clean mind), why not we work on a clean earth.  Why not we develop a sense of belonging on earth and it is the only known place to foster human life.  We will have no place to live if we destroy the good earth.

Santa – Clean and green earth should make people nice, thereby deserving of your generosity.

5. Happiness – Oh Yes! Happiness.  It is really a state of mind.  Perhaps Santa can’t gift happiness to people.  We must make an effort to do this on our own.  We can certainly start with being happy with what we have and by simply being comfortable with who we are and what we do.  May be it is asking too much to do this, but we certainly can do it. 

We really don’t need Santa to do this for us.