Hats - Off - Mr Sharad Pawar. : Letter to Editor.

A topical write up for publication in Middlespace , letters or city mail as considered fit.

Sir .

It is very well known that Shri  Sharadchandra Govindrao Pawar  is one of the  , or may be the shrewdest , politician of the modern political history.In a political career spanning more than four and half  decades (Starting 1967) plus he has been Chief Minister of Maharashtra , an incredible four times. His name even made rounds to be the PM after assassination of Shri Rajive Gandhi. In 1996 after winning Baramati seat he left state politics and joined Central politics.  He was Defence Minister of the Union of India.He is the Union Agriculture Minister since 2004 . Prevailing supply situation in the country not withstanding,as policy maker he has been instrumental is deciding  when to stop and when to permit  import or  export of agricultural products like onions, sugar , wheat , cotton etc etc. During this long career it was inevitable that charges of corruption , giving protection to criminals and lot of misdeeds would be raised against him , series of allegations for corruption were made by  Deputy Commissioner of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, G R Khairnar against him . However it is testimony to his uprightness and honesty OR shrewdness , depending on your thinking you can have your own pick , that except for purchase of team for IPL his name has never been associated with any scandal   !!! His acumen has helped him to change political alliance and parties at the most appropriate time .After imposition of emergency, when popularity of Indira Gandhi was at its nadir he joined Janata Sangh and became the Chief Minister of Maharashtra for the first time .There after changes of parties or when that was not possible , creating a new party has been his modus operandii, all that has been possible due to his wisdom , detailed knowledge of psyche of common Indian and Indian political system.Mr Pawar's and Prafull Patels leaving the Government is the latest proof of this wisdom . All know that due to the events of the last couple years aam adami has become totally disillusioned with the UPA government and it is almost foregone conclusion that unless impossible happens UPA govt and the congress has no chance to win the forthcoming elections.This therefore must be the most appropriate time to leave the sinking ship.While doing so it is of great help to make the correct noises like , quote( from news paper report) " lack of coordination by congress with allies and governance in issues like excess food subsidy at the cost of funding water projects."  unquote . Again to quote( from news paper report) " The government should not go for excessively populist schemes at the cost of economy"unquote. What fantastic time for such announcements. This only goes to show the wisdom ,and acumen of  Mr Pawar , or his shrewdness . Take your pick.

PM Velankar, Nagpur.

Letter to Editor : Who is the better citizen !!

Sir.

Following may please be considered for publication in middle space or city or letter to editor , as you may consider fit and appropriate.

During my morning walks I have noticed a very interesting phenomenon .On my route there are couple of road crossings with traffic lights.At that time , around 0530 to 0600 hours , traffic density is very low and there are times when there are no vehicles at all to stop for "Red" or go through the "Green".With such low density of traffic , logically, one would not like to ' waste ' 45 to 90 seconds by waiting at the "red".However rules dictate that not withstanding traffic density, vehicles have to stop at " red". We Nagpurians,irrespective of what we own , a luna costing few thousand rupees or top of the line luxury car like Skoda, BMW , Audi or Mercedes costing few lakhs,  are very logical people. Being logical we zip and zoom across no matter even if the light is bright red and rules say to stop.Then along comes couple of heavy duty trucks. They are huge with 16 to 18 wheels , registration numbers may be from Kerala , Himachal or from West Bengal which would indicate that they have been "on the road" for may be couple of days.The light turns red , there is no traffic/ vehicles any where in sight, but lo and behold, the trucks stop !! Light turns green and the trucks proceed on their way .A owner driven Skoda comes from the cross road . Avoiding the trucks the Skoda zooms through the red light and is on its way. I have noted that the long distance truckers , almost all of them, sincerely follow the traffic rules . Generally the truckers are considered illiterate , uncouth and ill mannered .On the other hand the owners of super luxury car would be thought of as highly mannered, educated and leading light of the society.And this what I see during my morning walks  I consider as an interesting phenomenon.Then I wonder who is a better citizen the trucker or the social leading light driving a Skoda. 

PM Velankar, Nagpur.

It is after along time that I sat on the key board to write a post .So here is what I write.

Quo Vadis - Defence Services.Letter to Editor

Sir,

The Defence Services have always enjoyed the trust and esteem of 'aam adami' for its up-rightness, Honesty and Integrity . I am very proud to have belonged to one of the three arms of that Institution.It is therefore with heavy heart and extreme sadness that I read, with increasing frequency, the news of Serving Officers of Defence forces,(CSD & NDA)  being caught taking bribes.Even though it is a cause for sadness , the writing has been on the wall for quite some time . It is a true adage which says "a bad apple spoils the whole basket" . Unfortunately it is our great misfortune that  in case of our Country and the Defence forces ,it is a case of there being only "one good apple in the basket of whole heap of rotten apples" . It is only because of strong moral fiber and value based traditions of the Defence forces that has taken 60 odd years for this rot to set in .This should ring loud , very loud ,warning bells in the corridors of power, in the offices of political parties and the babus to clean up their act and uproot the corruption at the earliest.It is obvious to all the right thinking people unless the babus , the politicians do no clean up their act , Defence Forces can no longer remain unaffected by all pervasive disease of corruption .Godforbid that day when the one of the last bastions of clean image looses public faith . When that day comes even God may not be able to save this country. 

PM Velankar,Nagpur.