My Take on The Lokpal Bill Stalemate

Granting that for various reasons, Government has not done its bit as fast as it should have in getting a tough Lokpal bill passed in India, but what stopped the self appointed spokespersons of the 'Civil Society' in making it an election issue during the last General Elections and to exort people to vote for only those candidates/parties who promised to bring a Lokpal Bill in a reasonably short time. That would have been a neat following of the democratic process in pressing for change.

One of the doyens of Indian Industry, Shri Rahul Bajaj is known for not mincing his words and giving his own suggestions. His latest suggestion, which was a part of an interview on TV last evening shows his immense ability to think out of the box and find solutions.

Why make the inclusion of Prime Minsiter under the proposed Lok Pal such an issue, he says. Let us not deprieve overselves of the other good provisons of this bill by blocking it on the issue of PM. His suggestion is to let the P.M. be excluded for the time being, get the bill through , and one can review the positon after 3-5 years.

Minister Shri Kapil Sibal has also made an interesting statement yesterday saying that PM could be included after he demits office, but not while he is holding the office.

One would like to receive these statements with, what is called in the diplomatic circles as 'cautious optimism' and hope that things would get sorted out soon.

One must concede that putting of pressure by people is now making the process faster, but let no one derail it by unilateraly fixing arbitrary deadlines. Heavens will not fall if the process takes a few more weeks or months for wider consultation, and results in the passing of a really effective legislation.

The Train to Macchu Picchu

It had been a long simmering desire of mine to visit Peru in South America. What fuelled the fascination further were the lovely accounts of the ‘Lost’ city of Machu Pichu - nestled high up in the Andean mountains. The pictures showed the amazing ruins of an almost mythical city on top of the mountains, mostly covered with clouds.

This year I decided to make the trip before the age got the better of me. I joined a Group of 14 people and the trip took off from London. On reaching Lima, we were welcomed by a wonderful Peruvian young lady who was our Tour Director. The Group comprised of people of different ages and of various nationalities- French, German, British, Croatian, American of Chinese origin and Indian. We left Lima to visit various places in Peru. Visit to Machu-Pichu was towards the end of the itinerary. We reached the small town of Machu Pichu in the morning and boarded the shining blue coaches of Peru rail to take us to the entrance of the site.

We were happy that the entire Group got seats in one compartment and it was a great atmosphere. The compartments have, besides large glass window panes, glass paned sky windows near the roof to give one a fuller view of the area.

On the way the train stopped to give pass to the incoming train and we suddenly saw an old lady appearing on the rail line trying to sell her flowers to the train passengers. She was short, rather poorly dressed up in the local Peruvian long skirt. Once she started shouting to get the attention of the passengers we realised that she had no teeth- but a very endearing toothless smile. She gesticulated showing three finders indicating that she wanted 3 sols (approximately 1 USD) for the small. A British lady from the Group managed to put her hand out, take the small bouquet and give the money through the window with great difficulty before the train started moving again. The old lady was ecstatic and waved vigorously. Inside the compartment the lady who bought the flowers presented those to the young Croatian girl from the Group as it happened to be her birthday!

We all clapped for the old flower seller outside, the lady who bought the flowers and the young girl whose birthday it was....