7 Reasons why girls are better politicians

Women seems to be ruling the roost in world politics.The last baston of male dominance seems to be going away and women are all set to dominate the world.So in this world of democracy ..we set to find out,why women are better politicians than males.And heres the list of top 7 reasons.

So just for fun here is it all :

1)Open Ended Answers:A politicain never gives a definite answer..remeber how the party rounded off the guilt of the corrupt politicain...a girl doesnt even know how to answer straight...remember how you had to work with your crytographer friend to decode her no :P

2)Horse Trading:Politics is a game of dynamism..you need to switch sides and swith them really fast.The girl you loved who eloped with your friend when he became a multi millionire..can you beat them at the game

3)Preceptions:Politics is a game of preceptions.Its your preception and not your work that wins you elections.Oh yes the whole world thinks your wife manages the house while its your poor soul that cooks the meal and then sleeps on d couch every night :)

4)Emotions:Playing on the emotions is a politicains favourite play.Remeber how Modi won gujrat and how your gf gets you to do all she wants...u need more explanations

5)Atitude:Politics is a game of right atitudes...of being snooty yet open ..of being devil yet playing angel...the girl next door..makes you feel like a beggar while the case should be the reverse :P

6)Time Managment:Its been 8 years and the babus at south block have still not decided between Boeing and Airbus....it took her 3 days ..20 traffic jams and 25 km of local market walk to buy that pair of jeans

And this is the best

7)Power:The social servant changed the party for the position of CM....if your gf doesnt control you..she'll change you :)

DISCLAIMER:All views expressed are just for fun and may or may not represent the personal views of the author and contributors :P

Reengineering Indian Democracy

Consider these :

• China a communist country is all set to take over Japan as the world's second largest economy in the world
• Cuba under Fiedel Castro has one of the most efficient public distribution, healthcare and civil support system
• Venezuela under Hugo Chavez is one of the fastest developing countries in the world which has paralleled its commercial success with corresponding improvements in infrastructure

Now let us contrast all this with the world's largest democracy better known as India.More than 60 years after independence we continue to reel under thaws of poverty,inequality and corruption..the very things we wanted to escape after independence.The Indian Police is nothing more than licensed "mafia" force which has used its capability and resources to meet selfish needs of corrupt politicians, bureaucrats and other high profile citizens.The recent Ruchika Gehrotra Case where a high ranking police official used all his power to delay justice for more than 19 years is just an example of the above.

Whats more ,though our patriotism drives us to be excited over the fantastic growth rates we have achieved in the past two decades,the reality is some real growth indicators like poverty eradication rate and quality governance index have actually shown a negative or flat trend in the same time period.Whats more their is an increasing problem of trickling down the effects of growth to the masses of the country.

So though despite some splendid achievements during the past 60 years,some of the most important functions of a state ,relating to equality,reduced income gaps,protection etc seem to have gone for a ride in the Indian state.A question certainly arises whether the so called liberties of democracy have played a reverse effect in the country.As a proof of the fact;during the emergency period under Indira Gandhi rule,India was actually successful in tremendously increasing its growth rates and move back the economy on track. Therefore would it have been better to have a dictatorship or communist form of government....certainly not but what is required is to re engineer Indian Democracy to meet the current needs of the state.Time has come that we move on to becoming pragmatic rather than continue living in the idealist mindset on which the Indian Constitution is based. Therefore I think the following aspects of Indian democracy ,needs to be re engineered as soon as possible ,so that the Indian state .. doesn't become a failed state soon

• Abolish UNIVERSAL ADULT FRANCHISE:While it would be impossible to argue on idealistic grounds.as to why we should not have UNIVERSAL FRANCHISE,a pragmatic sense and evaluation of the Indian sense would certainly convince us that we need to do away with UNIVERSAL ADULT FRANCHISE.A rough estimate puts only 20% of Indian population to have attended complete primary schooling.One of the objectives of schooling is to develop rational political thinking to make the person a responsible citizen by providing him basic knowledge in history,civics and purposes of existence of government and states. Therefore we can conclude that a high school graduate is in a much better position to vote and select a government.However the irony of the matter in the Indian context is that an illiterate slum dweller who would easily sell his vote for a bottle of locally made booze has same vote value as that of a professor in political science.I am certainly not suggesting complete abolishment of UAF (Universal Adult Franchise),but we can certainly create a weighed voting system,which puts more value to votes of educated citizens .Some of us might argue this is against the basic tenets of equality,however the question over here is not equality but the exercise of a precious right which is important for the future survival of the Indian State.
• Recalculate Vote Values:The latest reorganisation of constituencies has made politics more of a strategic game than a duty of a statesman.Politically shrewed reorganisation has resulted in decreased vote value of many citizens.by vote value I mean ,the no. of citizens who get to elect an MP.So while strategically important states like UP,witnessed the vote value of their citizens going up,the less important states have faced a continuous decrease in their vote value.We urgently need to reorganise our constituencies so that each one has same vote value
• Presidential two party system:Over the past two decades,the Indian Federal Elections (Lok Sabha) have been reduced to game of local politics.The fact that a pool of MP's from different state have the power to form government,has resulted in converting elections being converted to a stage for wetting out local issues.An implementation of a Presidential two party system,where the de facto head of the state is determined by total vote count ,with a minimal of 40% of eligible vote would help in tackling the issue.moreover this would help in solving the use of cheap tactics like horse trading across the continuum .Moreover under the present system of announcing the coalation partners and PM after the elections is nothing more than organised dynamic dictatorship
• Implement Strict Political Parties Code:There is an urgent need to amend the constitution and introduce a Political Parties Code.The Code should ensure that representatives of the parties and its dignitaries at various levels are elected by democratic elections.Moreover the important party positions should not be held more than twice in a row.This would help in reducing the "family politics" prevailing in the country
• Increased independence of head of state:Like the US President ,the PM once elected should be made more independent of the Parliament.The PM should be allowed to introduce bills and acts of everyday nature,without approval of parliament.Attendance to Parliamentary sessions should be made compulsory and attendance through modern means like video conferencing should be allowed.This would help in successful debates and quick passage of important bills
• Compulsory Administrative Courses:All persons elected to work in important public offices in capacities of ministers should have to attend compulsory political course which would aim to train them in handling affairs of their departments.Also primary school education should be a necessary precondition for a person to stand in Federal Elections

Pragmatism is the rule of the day.In recent times we have seen the failure of idealist concepts right from communism to free market. Therefore if we do not become pragmatic soon..the Indian State might be added to the failure list above

Gross Domestic or Happiness Product

The small Asian country of Bhutan takes pride in the fact that it is the happiest nation in the world.The 2009 HPI Index confirmed the fact, putting Bhutan among the top 10 happy nations of the world.Bhutan has achieved what many liberal democratic world powers have failed .Under a monarchy system and with limited resources,Bhutanese are one of the most satisfied people of the world.All this raises a very important question ,whether time has come to relook the parameters that determine the efficiency and success of a state?

Traditionally GDP has been considered as the best indicator for measuring the performance efficiency of the state.However many countries with huge GDP's and high growth rates have actually been consistently ranked very low in the Happiness Index.For example consider China,analyst expects China to become the second largest economy in the world by 2010 end.However on the Happiness index China crawls at lowly 76th position with major accusations involving human rights abuse.

At the same time supporters of GDP are quick to point out the fact the Bhuatn along with being the happiest is also one of the fastest growing countries today.It grew by a startling 22.6% last year making it the second fastest growing economy in the world.So is the high growth really driving the Bhutanese Happiness. To answer this let us first consider the purpose of existence of a state:

1)To provide equal opportunities to all citizens for growth

2)To ensure basic necessities like food ,shelter and education to the citizens

3)To unify a group of people on basis of a common cultural ,linguistic or common goal

4)To collectively protect the basic rights of all its citizens against different external and internal predators

5)To set up a system which gradually reduces the rich poor divide in the country.This doesnt necessarily tantamount to socialism though

6)To set up a civil code in the state

The fulfillment of the above basic aims of a state will necessarily increase the happiness of the citizens. As we will see a high GDP and per capita income is necessary to achieve the above objectives. for eg would it be possible to provide basic food and shelter to all citizens with a low GDP..possibly not. However the trick lies in the part as to "what you consider as basic”. In US a car in every home might be a basic in necessity while in a poor African country a two square meal might be the basic necessity.

As I write this I am reminded of some lines I read a long time back "You are not happy because of what you have ,but you are happy because you have more than thy neighbour".This is precisely where Bhutan played the trick,For almost 50 years Bhutan kept its citizens away from the corroborating effects of modern televison,radio,internet and modern education etc.Scripting the future in traditional Buddhist style of simplicity ,teh Bhutanese monarchy made it a point to provide traditional education,cultural knowledge and values of simplicity to its citizen.The things so imbibed in every citizen that aspirations failed and Bhutanese have started enjoying whatever they have rather than aspiring what they havent.Blindfolding,political camapigning etc ..these are the words western political analysts use for all the above.But a closer analysis and whats wrong in it.In the bid of keeping its citizens happy Bhutan has achieved what many countries have failed.It is the most peaceful country in the world with no civil outbreaks in the world.Bhutan has achieved a high growth rate and yet prevented destruction of its environment,

Modernism has been introduced into the country keeping in pace with the economic achievments.Remember how sudden modernism played havoc with the USSR.

What’s the purpose of giving the junta the greed and hunger for a modern development when all it creates is greed,hunger,wars,new diseases and their new solutions. Perhaps time has come when nations start emulating the Bhutanese model of eco freindly and people friendly GDP growth. Aspirations may be the fuel to growth but overheating any engine kills it.So cool down and grow with the pace nature wants you to

2010 Whats so NEW abt it?

Its January and most of us must have just finished an annual ritual of new year parties,resolutions and remembering all good and bad that happened in the previous year.While all of us celebrate with ecstasy waiting for something new ,the subtle irony that everything would remain the same is all but evident.The yeo be 2009 was a "dud",2010 is going to be same ,theres hardly "new" I expect about it...

Do we expect our Netas and babus to start working in the shabby buildings they call government offices or do we expect the countrymen to be united once again irrespective of cast ,colour or religion.We do not expect Barclays and Deutsches of the day to stop giving their honchos less salaries than 100 times the salariesof average worker.Neither do we expect the West and the East to unite....the developed realizing the under developed is also populated by humans.Or do we expect Obama to win another nobel for making his speeches lees insultive.Afghanistan is certainly not going to become US or Iraq going to become the eace maker.Perhaps we are expecting Russia to become really democratic.Yes perhaps the newness lies in the fact that our Earth might become warmer by 1 or 2 degree centigrades.Or the tiger might get extinct from India.Perhaps all the awe is about another war about to start or a financial bubble about to burst.The Clash of Civilisations waiting to erupt is certainly going to make the new year more exciting.There are a few things that might bid us adieu in this decade.We might never see the Amazon rain forests or the numerous flora and fauna.The seven wonders might be gone...maybe humans could be gone after third world war in 2019

So this is all the newness all about it.I was wrong ...it calls for a celebration isnt it..Cheers :)