Me the escape!

In the airport.

Pic taken using Integrated Webcam of Lenovo 3000 N100.

Blogged using wi-fi.

Vetti scene.

Its all in the game.

Tata Chennai. See you in Mumbai :)

Me into Politics

The number of political parties in India is simply phenomenal. New parties crop up every year which, even in a country where citizens do their night duty perfectly irrespective of whether they pay heed to other duties, easily outnumber the number of birthday parties. Karthik recently joined the list of actor turned comedians like Pandiarajan, Bagyaraj etc, when he announced his affiliation to All India Forward Block, which planned to contest in a mammoth 2 out of 232 seats all over Tamil Nadu. The party later withdrew from both the seats since the party members unanimously decided that the deposit money could be used to buy tea instead. Inspired by Karthik, I have decided to float my own party which will contest in the next elections.

The first task was to decide the name of the party. Since the party has its base in Tamil Nadu, I decided that it must incorporate Dravidian principle for it to even stand a chance. Dravida Munnetra Kazhakam, Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhakam and Desiya Murpoku Dravida Kazhakam were already taken. Even Karadi Kutti TR has a Latchiya Dravida Munnetra Kazhakam, the only possible latchiyam of whose members is to find out what lies inside TR's beard. So, with almost all the Dravidian names taken, I am going with the only name spared. My katchi will be called Rahul Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (RDMK)....

Being farsighted, I decided to release a ten point maifesto right away. They have been formulated with the sole aim of getting the poor people support. The rest can go to hell.

1) Free computer with matter CDs to all students who fail to make it past second standard. Provision of matter CDs makes this scheme a part of the "Suya Udhavi Kuzhu" thittam since they wouldn have anything better to do. So we keep you occupied.

2) Free cycle for all people who are below poverty line with one year International on-site warranty on the cycle chain. International warranty will be useful if your cycle faces technical problems on your way to Afghanistan (which we assume you wouldn be stupid enough to do). Note : Warranty void if your name is Cheran.

3) Free plasma colour TV for villagers, after they manage to a) build a house b)get electricty for it c)sustain electricty connection by paying the bill for one year. If not, doesn't really matter, I'll be campaigning for the next election by then, when I'll promise free house for all citizens.

4) Free 10 acres land for the poor landless farmer, for which you need to convince us that you really are poor and landless. (Fineprint, don't read : The cost of convincing us would be decided based on land prices at that time. And yeah lotsa conditions apply)

5) Free LG Microwave Oven and Jaadhika Badrinath's "Samachu podu di kasmaalam" recipe book for all poor housewives who manage to pronounce Microwave Oven without any mistake. If you have problems doing that, you get one month supply of LG Perungayam instead. Same brand, fair enough?

6) Free 10Kg Ponni Rice to all families below poverty line, provided Ms. Ponni agrees to part with her rice. If not, we are sorry, our government is committed to providing quality goods and hence we cannot give you low quality ration rice.

7) Free mobile phones for the poor under the "One Kuppam" scheme. Since people in the area speak at aaproximately 120 decibels, it involves the use of cutting edge technology to dampen these voice signals by pouring water from the top, to make sure the entire kuppam does not overhear you.

8) Free ceiling fan to all those who live in huts. Our team is already trying to figure out how this could be done. Once that is done, every family gets a free ceiling fan provided they have facilities to fix a switch board on the wall.

9) Free washing machine will be given to all poor families that have the habit of washing their clothes. This scheme will be implemented after approval from the Prime Minister, Finance Minister, Home Minister and the Chief Ministers of all states, just to make sure that the scheme is not implemented in 5 years. We take complete responsibility in blaming one of the above mentioned persons for the delay in implementation.

10) Add to the greenery of the state with the "Pothar valarpom, pin matter seivom" scheme.

I promise that I shall be committed and work towards the fulfilment of the above objectives. Seeya in five years time! :-)

Lok Paritran : The Impact

First, a BIG thanks to Incognito, Ramanujam and Archana who responded to my call in the previous post! THANK YOU!!

Well, I was actually gonna skip this post because of the odd feeling of making three back to back serious posts. But Archana, konjam kolgai ellam pesi, made me realise that I shouldn leave the supporters of Lok Paritran at bay by not talking about the issues discussed in the meeting. So anybody wanna scold me, please direct them to her!

Read on . . .

The Meeting

The Lok Paritran meeting at Mylapore was super effective, to an extent that when I went to that locality to distribute pamphlets the next day, a lot (including the local mass) responded positively. The way these youngsters spoke, their thoughts and ideas made a lot of sense amidst all the freebie garbage politics that is going on in the state. Tanmay Rajpurohith (the National President), Santhanagopalan Vasudev (Mylapore candidate) and Hemachandran (Secretary) were among the many speakers who spoke on stage. The crowd was larger than expected, around twenty rows of people, probably 200-300 in number, which was indeed a great number considering the fact that they werent paid to be there!

Apart from stressing their ideologies and stressing the need for a corruption free and efficient government, they frankly expressed the realistic capabilities, which left a mark on the listener.

"Take it down in writing today, we cannot give you even a single pin for free. But we will give you good governance for free. We will develop you to an extent that you wouldn't need anything for free"

"Every person needs to have an aim in life. Everyday can be lived with 50 bucks in hand, which some politician or the other might give you. You can pass your time watching a cricket match peering at TV sets outside showrooms. But do you achieve anything? Do you progress? Think and we will help you act"

"We cannot promise anything big for you. What we plan to do, what we mention in our manifesto are all what we can do with the 1 crore rupees that are allocated to every MLA. We promise all the basic amenities you need, nothing more"

"We hail ourselves to be the largest democracy. The government of the people. But, from what we observe, the government and people have always remained two different entities. Let that not happen again. Let the government come from you. We have been affected the same way as every one of you here. Lets join and form our government"

"We are the only party to not rely on star power. But we will soon become stars ourselves"

"You have so far had just two options. Now you have another. Give us a chance to prove ourselves. Please come out and vote. Please shed the thought that what difference a single vote going to make. The problem is everybody thinks this way"

"You will witness history being created in Mylapore when Santhanagopalan wins. But that's not our only aim. Go out and vote. Let the tunrout be 80% atleast this time. Then we will claim to be victorious even if Santhanagopalan loses, because our principles and idelogies have reached the people"

Very parctical and sensible, in my opinion. They did not prove to be just another bunch of politicians. A theme music was played at the end if the meeting, for which we were given candles to light and show our unity. The wind played spoilsport, but we still stood up and showed our respect.

Theme Music : Poruthathu Podhum Pondhi Ezhundhom (via Bharat)


************

The Campaign

Honestly, from the little campaigning I did, the response from people was a lot more encouraging than I expected. Many were appreciative of our efforts and wished us the luck. Some patiently gave us their thoughts on how to make the party better (to which we patiently listened! )

I campaigned on Thursday and Friday along with my college mates Raghav and Sudharshan distributing pamphlets at signals, temples, markets etc. People looked interested for the only reason that we were educated youth and took interest in reading the pamphlets. I was glad that this was not treated as yet another pamphlet for a computer course which assures you of a job with a mammoth salary of 4000 a month! There are exceptions however. One old man started of saying, "Naan evalo election-a paathirukkaen, enakku theriyaatha, ivanaala enna panna mudiyum, enakku kooda dhaan president aaganum aasai", to which my friend and myself politely replied, "neenga nenacha adutha President aagalam sir". We quit after he failed to get the drift

Saturday was the last day for campaigning. We had to stop by 5PM exact. So I decided to start off from 6AM in the morning by distributing pamphlets in Nageshwara Park where tons of people come for their early morning walk. Archana accompanied me here, and after we were done at about 7.30, she gave a brilliant suggestion of checking out Beasant Nagar beach for early morning walkers, coz that was some place which hadn't been covered. There were ten people in the whole beach (including us I think!). Her next suggestion was Arupadai Veedu Temple, which was incidentally out of the Mylapore constituency, and had one single bike parked outside the temple! So, that remained the last suggestion I asked her and will remain that way At aroun 10.30AM we started a super bike rally, with around 40 bikes (!) from the candidates house covering the entire Mylapore constituency, including slums. A 4 hrs drive at 15KMPH was exhausting! We got back around 2 PM and were supposed to go on another bike rally. No way I could go for another one in a matter of 15 mins. So Archana and myself distributed pamphlets near Kapaleeshwar temple paying special attention to AC showrooms!

One showroom-la one comedy. One guy saw our symbol (axe) and said, "Unga chinnam kodaali-a? Appo jeyicha ellarayum poattu thalliduveengala?". Hoping he wouldn take offence, I said, "Appadi ellam illa sir, jeyikkalaena appadi nadakkalam!" Nalla manushan, sirichuttae he said, "Aiyayo, appo ungalukkae vote-a podaraen!" Anyways, stupid me!

Stopped campaigning at 4.55 PM sharp. Appuram veetukku poi AC poattu bed-la kuppara paduthundaen. It feels so odd to be not campaigning now with elections tomorrow! Stupid election commision! But oru alpa sandhosham enna-na, me now have a Lok Paritran T-Shirt and an arm band to flaunt!

The overall reaction was pretty encouraging. Though some mocked at us in the slum areas, as expected, there were people who explicitly mentioned that they wanted a change in government as well. Our best chance is in Mylapore. If the turnout is 75-80%, unlike the meagre 41% last time, I feel we win for sure!! Else, we just need to continue serving people before we establish ourselves next time. Hoping for the best.

Whatever it is, DO VOTE. You don't need a Voters ID to do so. If your name is in the electoral list you can show ur college/office ID, ration card, driving license etc and still vote. Atleast O Podunga! (via Rajesh). CAST YOUR VOTE! As Ravages puts it, have it your way!

Lok Paritran : Volunteers Needed

I don't think Lok Paritran needs any introduction to netizens. For the uninitiated, it is a political party floated by ex-IITians. Not just a bunch of youth who have been inspired overnight by Rang De Basanti, but a bunch who really know what they are doing. Check out there Election Manifesto and their promo. There is also an interesting video uploaded by Sudhish Kamath which shows how sensible these people really are.

We badly need volunteers to help us campaign in Mylapore. Considering our limited resources and funds, we solely rely on such volunteers to help spread word. The campaign starts every day from CIT colony at 9 A.M. and finishes at 9 P.M during which we basically indulge in three main activities. . . .

1) Bike rally covering the constituency.
2) Pamphlet distribution at several junctions.
3) Door to door campaigning.

The campaigning ends on 6th May. So those interested in helping us on Thursday/Friday/Saturday please conatct Mr. Santhanagopalan Vasudev (Mylapore candidate) at 9381202545 or Harish at 9884470835. If you couldn spend loadsa time on this, just walk in, collect pamphlets and distribute it in your apartment or colony. If you don have the time to do that either, send an e-mail to pravunplugged@gmail.com (preferrably with ur phone number) and I shall try my best to pass it on to you. Or, worst case, the least you could do, spread word and check if atleast your friends could spare some time.

Besides, there is a meeting at Mylapore Maangollai on 5th May 2006. All are invited!!

I have uploaded the pamphlets here,here and here. Have a look if u know Tamil :-)

If you wish to campaign in your constituency rather than Mylapore, you can contact the Lok Paritran office @ 9283140810.

You people are more than welcome to copy paste this on your blog if you wish. Or perhaps use this as a forwarded message. We just need volunteers! Help!