Girish's Blog

I distinctly remember the case of two Mira Road residents accusing their father of rape – on reading the article then I had a feeling of revulsion as to how a father could do what he was accused of doing. This case I had discussed with friends and the general feeling was one of abhorrence at the act. The mother was also made a party to the case and was a co-accused for abetting the crime. At that time the two girls were just 15 and 12 years old. The father, Manoj Patel, spent more than a year in jail! The girls were apparently tired of their father putting restrictions on going out in the evening with friends and the final straw came on 31st December 2007, when their father told them they could not go out for a New Year bash. That is when they decided to “teach their father a lesson”. The sad part is the case was converted from molestation to rape at the instigation of a local NGO who convinced the girls to file rape charges against their own father. It has now been proven in court tha...

I have been reading with concern the extended print media coverage on swine flu. I am sure the visual media will be milking this for all it is worth asking inane and heartless questions to victims families such as how do you feel, was the treatment right, etc. Instead of being responsible and presenting a balanced and rational view on H1N1 – we have all kinds of negative publicity doing the rounds. Politicians have now stepped in and are using the SMS service to give their two bits on how to avoid getting the flu! Questions asked by the visual media just help in fanning already insecure minds into rushing for H1N1 testing to already over crowded and inadequately manned testing centers. Our population is such that only large numbers will be generated – more people die on the roads than of swine flu. Out of a populace of nearly 1.25 billion people just a thousand odd have got the flu – and a few have unfortunately died – this does not mean the whole nation goes into a panic and states li...

The expose carried out by the MNS showing how easily a bogus ration card can be obtained nails the lie of proponents who insist that the ration card is a valid document for proving residence and identity. It is a known fact that politicians and builders connive with the rationing officer and the collector’s office for issuing of bogus ration cards. Every election sees a spurt in the issue of fake ration cards for obtaining voter identity cards. Builders connive to get bogus people into the list of people entitled for flats under the SRA scheme by using fake ration cards. Since 2001 the RBI and the central consumer affairs ministry have discouraged the use of ration cards as documents to prove residence or identity due to its easy procurement by paying a price. The Chief Justice of the High Court in Mumbai, Mr. Swatanter Kumar was shown a ration card issued in his name with a Shivaji Park address by the MNS representative! This was genuinely issued by the rationing officer for a price, ...

The flu Pandemic officially named “new H1N1" was first identified in India in April 2009. In simple terms it is called “Swine Flu”. It is a global outbreak of new strain of influenza virus. It covers many areas of India and many people suffered from swine flu. The areas which are mostly affected by swine flu include New Delhi, Pune and Hyderabad. The swine flu showed its virulent effect and a small innocent 14 years old girl died because of swine flu. A Pune girl Rida Shaikh died on Monday August 3, 2009 because of swine flu. She was the first victim who died because of swine flu in India as a result of multiple organ failure. Rida first consulted a local doctor when she reported symptoms of swine flu on July 21, 2009. After two days she recovered and again joined the school on July 23, 2009. But again on July 25, 2009 she felt fever and was admitted to a private hospital – namely Jehangir Hospital - on July 27, 2009. After admitting when her condition worsened she was shifted to...

There is a raging controversy going on with regards to subjecting our cricketers to dope tests. Doping is the bane of all competitive sports and the world sports bodies have agreed to accept the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) compliance requirements. The question is whether cricket is a competitive sport or it is a game played by a few select nations. It is a pretence at competition because large amounts of money involved because of the clout of the BCCI and the cricket fanatics in India. The money drives the so called spirit of competition – ask any cricketer who stands at third man or long leg all day long with the ball coming to him maybe once or twice in an entire innings whether he was physically stressed! If the cricketing community thinks theirs is a competitive sport then there should be no objections to be tested for drug abuse. The only reason these guys may be objecting is because they may be taking life style drugs for stress relief – who knows! There are enough cases of...

I have been asked by quite a few friends as to why I have stopped writing – apparently they are missing their daily fix from reading the blog – this is quite encouraging, hence I have decided to write again, but try and give a positive spin to whatever I write. This is because whatever I wrote ended up in criticism of the system with my thoughts for improvement thrown in. The first thought which came to my mind was to write about the current two controversial shows on TV – “Sach ka Saamna” and “Rakhee ka Swayamwar”. I have not watched either of these shows, but I have my views on them, for better or for worse. At the outset let me say that the program “Sach Ka Saamna” attracts people who derive vicarious pleasure in seeing strangers squirm in the hot seat. My view is that this copy of the American show “The Moment of Truth” is nothing but a crude attempt at buying participants with titillating or sensationalistic question-answer sessions by awarding prize money to the participants. I a...