Accompanied my wife to the American Embassy in Delhi for an interview. It is on Shanti Path where most of the embassies are present. You have to go round the back of the embassy where the road is partially blocked off at both ends. Sadistic private guards armed with truncheons and shrill whistles prevent anyone from stopping on the pavement. Cars are not allowed to park. They take great pleasure in harassing Indian citizens in their own capital city on roads that the tax payers have paid for. This is overseen by Delhi police at their most rough and brutal. Delhi police's answer to terrorist threats is to treat Indians like dirt in their own capital city. There is no place to sit. People are made to stand for hours and herded into a line like cattle. My wife had to stand for three hours before she faced the official. She was given an appointment at 12.30 PM at which time it was lunch so most of the counters were closed with only two counters working. She finally got out at 3.30 PM and reached home after 4 PM completely exhausted. I wonder if our embassy in Washington treats natives the same way. I would like someone to let me know. Of course we are elated and eternally grateful that she was granted a multiple entry visa. If there was a God for American visa I would offer some flowers. 'Dogs and Indians not allowed' was printed outside Metro Cinema in Calcutta during British times. Independence? What independence?

Accompanied my wife to the American Embassy in Delhi for an interview. It is on Shanti Path where most of the embassies are present. You have to go round the back of the embassy where the road is partially blocked off at both ends. Sadistic private guards armed with truncheons and shrill whistles prevent anyone from stopping on the pavement. Cars are not allowed to park. They take great pleasure in harassing Indian citizens in their own capital city on roads that the tax payers have paid for. This is overseen by Delhi police at their most rough and brutal. Delhi police's answer to terrorist threats is to treat Indians like dirt in their own capital city. There is no place to sit. People are made to stand for hours and herded into a line like cattle. My wife had to stand for three hours before she faced the official. She was given an appointment at 12.30 PM at which time it was lunch so most of the counters were closed with only two counters working. She finally got out at 3.30 PM and reached home after 4 PM completely exhausted. I wonder if our embassy in Washington treats natives the same way. I would like someone to let me know. Of course we are elated and eternally grateful that she was granted a multiple entry visa. If there was a God for American visa I would offer some flowers. 'Dogs and Indians not allowed' was printed outside Metro Cinema in Calcutta during British times. Independence? What independence?

So Al Jazeera has started an English channel all over the world. I have been saying that India should have a free 24 hour news channel broadcasting all over the world. For years we have been fed with western propaganda masqurading as news by BBC, CNN and channels of their ilk. Their news stories are biased and they interview people who spout the answers they want and the questions are designed to get such answers. For instance after the Gujarat earthquake BBC was interviewing only white British aid workers who were minuscule in number, almost all the work being done by Indians themselves. Very sensibly the Indian authorities declined foreign help when the tsunami struck preferring to do without such stupid charade. So present stories on BBC show how the state has failed the victims of the tsunami. However the best example of propaganda on so called news cannels is the Iraq war where the correspondents were embedded with US marines. What does it mean? Was it a homosexual orgy on a gigantic scale or were women also in bed with the US army. Will there be videos of their carryings on on the internet like that of Britney Spears? Normally I am not interested in such things but this I gotta see. If we had a news channel broadcasting in major languages we could present our point of view on important events such as the reorganisation of the UN Security Council and the WTO. Unfortunately if we did so our slimy politicians and civil servants will have less excuse to take off for foreign climes with their fat, ugly wives and loutish children. We lurk behind a dark cloud.

A few days ago I drove from Dehradun to Delhi on so called National Highway 58. This goes past Roorkee and Deoband in Uttaranchal into UP where you go past the criminal triangle of Mozaffarnagar, Meerut and Ghaziabad. Three years ago there was one police check post at the botder of UP and Uttaranchal and one at a place called Mohand where the road starts to climb to Dehradun through very picturesque Rajaji National Park. Today, however, there are at least six additional check posts with police obstruction and long lines of trucks obstructing half the road forcing traffic to a crawl. I was told that to bring Rs 1000 worth of goods to sell in Dehradun you have to pay a total of about Rs. 2000 in bribes at the numerous check posts. As for UP it is the toile of India while Bihar is the cesspit. The road was full of pot holes which have not been repaired since the end of the monsoons. At two places workmen had blocked of half the road for repairs. Work naturally started after 9 AM which is the busiest time and was proceeding at less than snails pace. It took seven hours to get to my destination a mere 250 km distance which translates to an average speed of about 36 km/ hour. India imports 100 million tonnes of crude a year and it is easy to see the enormous savings that would generate if the politician, civil servant, contractor is smashed. A lot of foreigners go to Dehradun and Rishikesh along this highway of shame. Politicians and civil servants are proud of our progress.

That time of the year is here again when we start the yearly circus called thae budjet. This gives the finance minister to simper and pout in print and on tv. He is the star as chiefs of various industries come to him hat in hand for tax concessions. This is also the time for him to fine tune his instruments of torture against the citizen, consumer and tax payer. Every year sees a change in rate and nature of taxes. For instance one year capital gains will taxed at 10%, next year long term gains will become tax free while short term gains will pay 30% while the year after you may avoid taxes by investing in infrastructure bonds and so it goes on. The result is that the ordinary man is always confused and in a state of tension. It is impossible to understand the intricacies which keep changing and totally impossible to make any long term financial plans for retirement or children's education. It gives chartered accountants and tax lawyers a regular source of income but the biggest beneficiaries are the income tax officers. They resist any effort to simplify the tax structure because they can earn huge amounts in bribes by terrifying anyone and their lives unbearable. ' Scrutiny ' is a terrifying word for every honest citizen of this country. The rumour is that tax officers pay upto Rs. 10 million for a lucrative posting eg to Mumbai. If yearly budjet is abolished and their are easy uniform tax rates we would not mind paying but this gulag scenario is intolerable.

India has the highest taxes in the world. Direct taxes start at around 2000 dollars per annum and the highest rate kicks in at around 3300 dollars. Then there are a variety of indirect taxes such as excise duties, value added tax, central sales tax, octroi and many others to suck the bloodless citizens. What makes all this taxation unbearable is the fact that we get nothing for paying. For instance 60% of a car's value consists of taxes, petrol is heavily taxed and we pay road tax whenever we buy any vehicle. But there are few roads to drive. Roads are narrow and terrible condition so that we spend huge amounts in maintaing our cars. We pay property tax but water supply is so erratic that we have to buy water from private tankers at great cost inspite of paying water bills to the municipality. Electricity is erratic and voltage may swing wildly so every family has to buy voltage stabliser for each appliance and a generator or invertor to runs and fans. Any low level employee can decide to switch off electricity for upto 12 hours for repairs without any warning or consultation. If all the food in the fridge rots tough luck. Any appliance can burn out any time if the voltage rises suddenly so that stabiliser cannot cope. Manhole covers are left open and children regularly fall to their death. Built on quicksand the economy is growing at 8% and we are told that we have never had it so good. God help.

Poor Prince Charles who is visiting Pakistan with his wife and reduced to discussing religious tolerance and climate change instead of matters of the state and business. I think we are about the same age and where I had a tough life working in Britain, Saudi, Kuwait and India, learning new languages and customs, stuggling to bring up two children the Prince has been living in palaces all his life with all luxuries guaranteed. Unfortunately he has never been able to perform duties that he has been training for all his life because his mother will not let him. Like decrepit Indian politicians she hangs on to her gaddi refusing to alow her own son from doing something meaningful with his life instead of mucking about with dung in his organic farms and forever the butt of tabloid jokes. We Hindus believe that heaven and hell are both on this earth and I now understand what purgatory means. Poor Prince Charles.
On the subject of the Royals I do not believe that the Duke of Edinburgh arranged the death of Princess Diana as alleged by Dodi Al Fayed's father. I think the Duke would not have the wherewithal to arrange anything so complicated. Only a government would have the resources and the connections to carry out such a high profile killing without the slightest trace but it is hard to believe in such conspiracies. However I cannot erase an intriguing thought from my mind. Suppose Diana had lived, converted to Islam, changed her name to an Islamic name eg Fatma, married Dodi and had a couple of children. Now imagine the coronation of Prince William and his mother enters Westminster Abbey in a burqa with two boys wearing thobes and gutras. Knowing how instinctively racist and snobbish the British are I wonder what the reaction would be?