Yesterday the Speaker of the Lok Sabha switched off the lights inside the chamber because of the unruly behaviour by members. Seems that the opposition were raising slogans and then staged a walk out. One expects the communists and regional parties to indulge in loutish behaviour but for the BJP it is totally unacceptable. If the party wants to project itself as a credible alternative to the present government it will have to behave with dignity and convince the people that it cares about the problems facing the country. Raising slogans and behaving like hoodlums does not inspire us with confidence. The party should lay out its position and plan of action to bring down inflation and avert impending meltdown. If the Congress steals its proposals so be it. It should also vote with the Congress to pass the nuclear pact with the US. The BJP can then take credit for rising above meanness and working for the good of the country. As an added bonus it will create a massive rift between the Congress and the communists. The communists are traitors and the BJP should use every trick to wipe it out. In any event the communists will never support a BJP government so wiping out this bunch of vipers will help the party later. Once this is achieved it the Congress will lack support and will then be ready for the taking. Unfortunately politicians are only interested in filling their pockets. No sharam, no izzat.

India is holding the IPL which is a cricket tournament in the twenty twenty format. Teams are owned by rich industrialists and film stars. The game is played at a frenzied pace and millions of people are hooked. To increase entertainment cheerleaders of the Washington Redskins have been brought over by the organisers. Unfortunately, like everything in India, it was too good to last. Now politicians and other assorted hypocrits have started criticising their routine as obscene. These liars claim that they object on moral grounds but actually it is because they are unable to control their lust. Had these young ladies been Indian they would have probabaly been approached with lewd suggestions or even raped but these are Americans and no Indian politician would have the guts even to touch their shoes. Some also claim that they are against women dancing for money because that is exploitation of women. Last week a woman was refused admission in a government hospital because she had no money. She delivered on the road outside the hospital and both mother and baby died. Two days back a Delhi Police constable and friend raped a twelve year old girl in a car and through her out unconscious. Have not seen any politician rushing to help. No sharam, no izzat.

Now that Hillary Clinton has won Pennsylvania the race for the White House goes on. Who gets there in the end is not only important for the US but also for the rest of us who have no vote but will certainly feel the effects. US mismanagement of Iraq, the stupidity of the subprime mortgage crisis and the subsidies being given to the production of fuel from corn are some of the more obvious policies that are having enormous repercussions on the whole world. We could only watch when Bush stole the election from Al Gore and then attacked Iraq, on pure lies about WMDs, after talking to God. Then we look at Africa and can find not a single leader who is even a little honest or is interested in the welfare of the people. Nelson Mandela is the only name that comes to mind from an entire continent. Somalia is a mess as is Darfour. Kibaki stole the election in Kenya as is Mugabe doing in Zimbabwe. Even in relatively prosperous countries South Africa you could be shot to death in downtown Johannesburg in broad daylight. A lot of coutries in Asia became independent from colonial rule at about the same time as African countries but are now way ahead economically. Are Africans incapable of governing?

The papers are regularly full of how the government intends to build new airports and upgrade existing ones. Two new ones have been recently opened at Hyderabad and Bangalore. Delhi and Mumbai are being upgraded. All this is being done by private companies which will then make their profit by charging passengers for use of the airport. Already air travel in India is exorbitant compared other countries. For instance it is cheaper to go from Delhi to Bangkok than it is to Kerala. This is because politicians and kleptocrats are determined to keep air travel out of the reach of the aam aadmi although they themselves regularly travel by air. Taxes on aircraft fuel, ATF is highest in India. Every ticket carries a very high tax burden. For example a ticket to New York will cost about Rs. 57000 of which about Rs. 15000 will be tax. On domestic routes taxes are fixed so if an airline offers a cheap ticket for Rs. 100 the passenger will have to pay Rs. 2000 because the amount of tax is not reduced. Private airlines are forbidden from serving alcohol. Partly this is to protect the state companies, Air India and Indian Airlines which are poorly run companies with very poor service and enormous corruption levels so that they almost always run at a loss. The other reason is to force people to travel by rail so that upper class passengers are used to subsidise travel by the poor in inhuman conditions. Not much point buiding airports if we cannot afford to fly.

Hindu vegetarians in India seem very proud of their diet. When asked they seem to puff out their chests when proclaiming loudly that they are pure vegetarians and would not touch meat or fish. Their pride comes from a feeling of being purer than non vegetarians and being somehow holy. They will indignantly deny drinking any form of alcohol but admit to drinking lots of milk and eating milk products. Unfortunately alcoholic drinks are pure vegetarian products and all bottles carry the green dot certifying them as such while milk comes from cows and has cow protein in it which means drinking milk is similar to eating beef. When we invite a vegatarian we make extra vegetarian dishes and make a special effort to avoid any contact with animal products but when we are invited by vegetarians we are served some leaves and paneer which I do not like. They can easily get a caterer to serve chicken or fish separately but this would cost money. Of course they never serve alcoholic drinks which means that I have to come home and eat. Would I be wrong in thinking that vegetarianism is a cover for mean minded misers?

Last week Mr. Aiyar, an economist writing in the Times of India, said that people in India do not default on their home loans because fifty percent of the price of every property is paid in cash or black money. The cost of the property is officially the amount paid by cheque and on which stamp duty has been paid. Therefore Indian banks are relatively protected and are sure that creditors will continue to pay off their loan regardless of how high the interest rate is. The reason people choose to pay in cash is because states charge whatever they like as stamp duty and registration charges. People hate paying because they know that most of the money will be looted by politicians and kleptocrats. State governments and municipalities are even more corrupt than the Central government. It is not uncommon to read that some low level municipal employee has been arrested with assets of billions of rupees. The citizens and the establishment are enemy camps. The people, quite naturally, want to keep their hard earned money and do not want filthy crooks to loot it while politicians want to loot as much as they can before they are booted out in the next elections. Will things ever change? It will take an economic catastrophe to bring about meaningful change but an awful lot of people will have to suffer.

Do we have a right not to be born? The answer to this question is urgent because people, especially women, seem to think that having a baby is a birthright without regard for consequences. To question this is to be accused of eugenics and of being a nazi but noone is talking about the right of babies. A woman in Australia has knowingly had a baby with her own father. A woman in the US took treatment to look like a man but retained her womb and ovaries. He/she then married a 'normal' woman and has now become pregnant probably by artificial insemination. It was grotesque and nauseating to see a creature with a full beard and in a state of advanced pregnancy. In India poor people have lots of children they cannot afford to feed so that they can send them out to work and live off their earnings. It is not because they are naive or helpless but as a deliberate act to live off their own children's labours. Politicians pander to this by giving ever increasing handouts in the interest of getting votes. Also having a huge uneducated underclass dependent on the mercy of politicians makes them easy to exploit. The end of the world, if it happens, will not because of ideological difference over 'isms' but because we might be traumatising the next generation so much that they might just want to end the whole rotten mess once and for all.

Recently India's footballer, Bhaichung Bhutia, has said that he will not run with the Olympic torch for what is happening in Tibet. In response to this many people, including well known film stars, have said that they do not support this view and will run with the torch. According to these people the Olympics have nothing to do with politics but is about all nations competing in a spirit of friendship and brotherhood. These people are not naive or stupid but are intellectually and morally blind. For the Chinese the Olympics are about politics and nothing else. The Chinese leaders want to show the power of their country and to show themselves in a benign light. For this they will kill as many as necessary. They have forcibly moved people from their homes to build hotels and to beautify Beijing. They have diverted river waters to build the rowing course. They want to take the torch on top of Everest to show their power and they will kill as many Tibetans as necessary to make sure that the torch passes unhindered through Tibet. That they have banned foreign journalists from Tibet shows their muderous intentions. The Prime Minister, Wan Jao Bao, or whatever the hell he is called, called the Dalai Lama a criminal. This from a man who is part of a government that routinely jails and executes human rights activists and then allows organs to be sold for transplants. The Chinese leadership is a bunch of vicious, murderous thugs but world leaders fawn on them for trade. Will these leaders show the same courtesy to the Capos of the Cosa Nostra? If not why do they show such consideration to the Chinese leadership? For once let us show some moral courage and boycott these Olympics.