Idiot: One who doesn’t cast his vote
A person who doesn’t cast his vote is sarcastically called an ‘Idiot’ which in a sense is true as people have no right to criticise govt policies when they themselves have enjoyed a holiday on voting day when others stood in huge queues to exercises their franchise. The voting percentage in Mumbai in the last Lok Sabha elections were dismal at 53 per cent which speaks about people’s attitude towards democracy when they want good governance without being part of the electoral process. It is the poor and the less illiterate who show respect towards democracy by participating in elections religiously and this should act as a lesson for the rich literate to emulate.
Every citizen should exercise their franchise and government too should reward and punish those who participate as well as show disrespect to elections respectively. People who don’t exercise their voting right should be marked absent at workplace and their entire one week salary should be deducted and used for a social cause. Those who vote should be rewarded with incentives like free lunch coupons or monetary benefits which induce them to vote. Education too is the need of the hour to create awareness among citizens to vote as the future of the nation depends on the leaders we elect!
S.N.Kabra
Relevance of Rotary’s ‘Four-Way Test’
Rotary International is ideally known for being a service-club with motto ‘Service above Self’ having a four-way test ritually read at the start of meeting in Rotary Clubs worldwide. But it seems that with a change of times, this four-way test is losing its shine when many Rotarians are themselves a failure when put to this four-way test.
Many Rotarians, especially from the ultra-rich elite category, are crossing all limits of decency in Rotary events overlooking the difference between entertainment and vulgarity. Rotary clubs in India have become societies to exhibit and compete in richness. There are Rotary Clubs in India which have even turned intellectual regular meetings into whiskey-parties to ensure adequate attendance in front of guest-speakers. Sensible Rotarians are mute spectators to all such ugly happenings in name of Rotary because of their being in minority amongst ultra-rich society now having taking control of Rotary Clubs where the money is spent like water even in elections for posts of District Governors.
It is time that Rotary International may seriously look into the matter to save Rotary movement from becoming an ugly show of richness and vulgarity. Even the Indian Government has a duty to save turning of service-clubs turning into venues of ugly happenings.
Subhash Chandra Agrawal
Cast your vote to right candidate
It is very worrying in a democracy like India that the Indian Prime Minister did not throw any press conference or any political interview in his all period of five years. He kept visiting all over the world and now when the Lok Sabha election is going on in all over India suddenly he shared with people a non-political interview which consists of some jokes and some illogical questions. The most ponderable question is that why our Prime Minister is escaping himself from questions after completing his time. People want to know what about the high promises that he has done in the last election, now it is time to answer not to make himself busy in entertainment like programs. It is needless for a Prime Minister to entertain people because there are endless lists of actors and actresses who can entertain people in a better manner. These all dramatic and unexpected acts by a responsible person do not sound good along with they are smacking of diverting people’s attention from the core issues which were more likely to be questioned. It is a high time for people to be not fooled for long and cast their precious votes for the party who is in favour of the development of India.
Md Azim
Modi-interview with Akshay Kumar
It refers to much talked-about TV interview of Prime Minister Narendra Modi with film-star Akshay Kumar which though being non-political yet gave a big political signal in case of need where Prime Minister was in full praise for West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for personal cordial relations between them to the extent that Mamata Banerjee still now regularly sends Bengali kurtas and sweets to Narendra Modi. Otherwise, political bitterness between the two is evident from their speeches in rallies for poll-campaigns.
Unfortunately, such artificial public-exhibition of political bitterness tends to create personal bitterness between supporters and cadres of politically rival politicians. Time has come to induce a touch of cordiality in poll-campaigns and in Parliament between political rivals.
There was an era when Parliamentarians like Piloo Modi used to sprinkle much-needed humour to cool down bitterness if created between rival political parties in Parliament. The then Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri sent a set of dhoti-kurta to veteran Parliamentarian Prakash Vir Shastri as symbolic advice for sticking to national attire while on his foreign trip abroad. Atal Bihari Vajpayee whole-heartedly complimented the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi for her leading the nation to a great victory in 1971 Indo-Pak war.
Once Atal Bihari Vajpayee as opposition-leader challenged the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi for an open public-debate at Ramlila Ground at New Delhi making Indira Gandhi to comment that Hindi of Vajpayee was very beautiful! However, in turn, Atal Bihari Vajpayee put complete House in laughter by counter-comment that Indira Gandhi was herself beautiful.
Madhu Agrawal
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
