The LIC way of fooling people

LIC Jeevan Aastha is a new LIC offering which is open just for 45 days, meaning think less, get in quickly as time is the essence and in the process get duped. The following is what LIC site says and no LIC agent will explain to the Aam Admi.
A)Death Benefit: On death during the first policy year: Basic Sum Assured with Guaranteed Addition.
On death during the policy term after first policy year, excluding last policy year: 1/3rd of Basic Sum Assured with Guaranteed Addition.
On death during last policy year: 1/3rd of Basic Sum Assured with Guaranteed Addition along with loyalty addition, if any
B)Maturity Benefit: On maturity, the maturity Sum Assured along with Guaranteed Addition and Loyalty Addition, if any, shall be payable.Maturity Sum Assured shall be 1/6th of Basic Sum Assured.
C)Guaranteed Addition: The policy provides for Guaranteed Addition at the following rates:
· Rs. 100 per thousand Maturity Sum Assured per year for a policy of 10 years term.
· Rs. 90 per thousand Maturity Sum Assured per year for a policy of 5 years term.
D)Loyalty Addition: Depending upon the Corporation’s experience the policy will be eligible for Loyalty Addition on death during the last policy year or on the Life Assured surviving the stipulated date of maturity at such rate and on such terms as may be declared by the Corporation

Life insurance is is a contract between the policy owner and the insurer where the insurer agrees to pay a sum of money upon the insured individual's death to his/her nominee.

You need not be an IIM MBA to know that the probability of one's dieing increases with the increase in age.

This insurance product is perhaps the first insurance product in the world which gives a DECREASING cover that is as your chances of dieing increases with time your insurance cover decreases. Who benefits from such a plan, of course the company and not the Aam admi. So as an insurance policy LIC Jeevan Aastha is a very poor policy made with the benefit of insurance company in mind and not the insured person.

The advisors and agents of LIC are promoting this product as a 10% safe, tax free return. Again, it is nothing but making fools of people as the guaranteed 10% return is not on the basic sum assure but on the maturity sum assured and maturity sum assured is "Maturity Sum Assured shall be 1/6th of Basic Sum Assured." This can be better understood if you see the illustrations given in the LIC site. After 10 years for a 35 year old Rupees 48,975 (forty eight thousand nine hundred seventy five) becomes Rupees 1,00,000 (one lakh) which will be somewhere around 7% thus making PPF (as an investment) more attractive than this product as both of them are tax free and gets 80C benefit.

This product is nothing but a ploy of LIC to suck liquidity from the hands of Aam admi and using the proceeds to give loans to corporate India or shore up the tanking stock markets by confusing and pretending to be giving 10% return as well as insurance. This scheme has been kept open for just 45 days to make an impression that it is a limited period offer with unexpected benefits.

This product of LIC is a purely thumbs down both as an insurance and as an investment.

Pakistan; International migraine or cancer

Pakistan or Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a country located in South Asia. Pakistan is bordered by India in the east, Afghanistan and Iran in the west, Arabian Sea in the south and China in the North east. Pakistan has four provinces viz., Balochistan, North West Frontier Province, Punjab, and Sind.

The North West Frontiers of Pakistan is the hotbed of terrorist activity and it is here that the Head Quarters of the Al-Qaeda is located. It is in this part of Pakistan that most of the training camp of Al-Qaeda and its sister organizations brainwash people, run training camps, motivate people to become suicide bombers. It is also the place where most of the who's who of Al-Qaeda is residing. It is this part of Pakistan that the Pakistani civilian government has absolutely no control of.

It is the NWFP that some of the major terrorist attacks across the globe has been conceptualized, strategized, training imparted, and terroist dispatched viz.
1. The Pentagon, USA, 9/11/2001
2. World Trade Center, USA, 9/11/2001
3. Parliament attack, India, 12/13/2001
3. Cassablanca, Morocco, 5/16/2003
4. Madrid train bombing, Spain - 3/11/2004
5. London Underground train bombing, UK, 7/7/2005
6. Bali, Indonesia part I and part II - 10/12/2002,10/1/2005
7. Indian Embassy attack, Kabul, 7/7/2008
8. Mumbai, India 11/26/2008

In a recent interview Pakistan President Zardari commented "But at the same time, as the President of Pakistan let me assure you [that] if any evidence points to any individual or group in my part of the country, I shall take the strictest of action in the light of the evidence and in front of the world." This "my part of the country" perhaps says it all that President Zardari does not have control of all of Pakistan and his control is perhaps limited to a small part. The rest is controlled by Taliban, Al-Qaeda and Pakistani Taliban. It is these parts of Pakistan that President Zardari has no control and not his part of the country and hence his inability to take action against people based on these parts.

Migraine is a neurological syndrome characterized by altered bodily experiences, painful headaches, and nausea.

Ms Albright, a former top US official, recently said "My own sense is Pakistan has everything that gives you an international migraine. It has nuclear weapons, it has terrorism, extremists, corruption, very poor and it’s in a location that’s really, really important to us.”

Terrorism as being carried out from Pakistan in the other parts of the world is far from just being a painful headache and nausea (feeling of vomitting) anymore. These acts of terrorism carried out not just kills people as seen by the death toll but also makes children orphans, brings an entire family to lose livelihood, traumatizes victims who then may develop psychiatric disorders, there is a general sense of fear as no place is safe, people lose trust.

Cancer (malignant neoplasm) is a class of diseases in which a group of cells display uncontrolled growth (division beyond the normal limits), invasion (intrusion on and destruction of adjacent tissues), and sometimes metastasis (spread to other locations in the body via lymph or blood).

The Pakistan brand of terroism is a classic case of cancer wherin they are having uncontrolled growth (spreading all across the globe), invading and metastasizing to different locations and killing innocent people of all color, caste, religion and region.

Paksitan, is international cancer and terrorism spread out of Pakistan has no religion, but only one motive of spreading terror and the Al-Qaeda leaderships intent to rule (as they once did in Afganistan).

Cancer can be treated with surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, or monoclonal antibody therapy. The therapy choice depends upon location, grade and stage of the disease.

International terrorism too can be treated only like cancer. The Pakistan brand of terrorism is in very advanced stage and can be treated with combination of chemotherapy and radiation therapy (carpet bombing) followed by surgery (army marching in).

If thoughts like Pakistan has nuclear bomb are acting as deterrents for the International community in general and India in particular then the world will have to be ready for many such terror attacks and the terrorists will be happy sitting up there and planning their next target as they are sure nobody will ever attack them because Pakistan is a nuclear state.

Terrorism cannot be solved by diplomacy, hard talk but only by military action. With the Mumbai invasion, I think it is time for the Indian leadership and the World leadership to sit up, take notice, and take action before it is too late. Remember, even today no place is safe anymore because Moshe's father, Rabbi Gavriel Noach Holtzberg, 29, and mother, Rivka, 28, were killed in their own home by the terrorists. If one’s home is not safe then what is?

It is therefore the duty of the Indian Army to arrange a rendezvous of the Al-Qaeda leadership and their patrons (Pakistan Army) and god because “forgiving terrorists is left to god but fixing their appointment with god is our responsibility.”

Layoffs and the life beyond

You switch the TV on and the news channels are "breaking news" about some company laying off people or some company shutting down (3 days a week or permanently), be it Dunlop in Kolkata or be it a personal loan division of a finance company or some IT company in Bangalore. Finance minister has asked India Inc not to cut jobs and instead take a hit at their bottom line (although he will not reduce fuel prices or tax), chances are his dictum will not be followed, and the layoff process has just begun.

SECTORS LIKELY TO BE AFFECTED THE MOST:
1. Investment and finance.
2. Automobiles and ancillary.
3. Construction and real estate.
4. IT.
5. Textiles, gems and jewelry.

SECTORS LIKELY TO BE LEAST AFFECTED:
1. Pharmaceuticals.
2. FMCG.
3. Telecom.
4. Education (schools and colleges wont be affected but computer education institutes might be affected).

SECTOR WHICH WILL NOT BE AFFECTED: Government employees and politicians.

After a layoff one might get a new job, change career, or go back to school. The time for this change maybe a few days, weeks, months or even more and going through this process of transition might be hard and involves change.

The process of change involves 4 stages. Denial (job wont be cut, India will grow at 8.5%), resistance (not me, I am indispensable for the company), exploration (start doing background work) and finally commitment (it is coming and I have to get prepared).

Do Not Blame Yourself: The layoffs in this scenario has nothing to do with a person’s skill set or performance, mostly it is on the principal last in first out.

Plan For The Event: If a job cut affects you it is always better to be prepared mentally and keeping a plan B in place. Remember tough times do not last tough people do. Plan B might be changing career in a sector which is going to be least affected by the slow down or take a course where getting a job in those sectors becomes easy or get a higher education.

When you lose a job, you do not just lose the pay and the benefits. You also lose self-esteem, dignity, social status, and loss of control of life.

The stress of losing job is like losing a dear one from the family or even more. The best way to deal is perhaps the realization that it is real (although painful) and making a plan for the future (getting plan B into force).

WHAT A LAYOFF MAY LEAD TO:
1. Increased stress (symptoms includes anorexia, insomnia, depression, anhedonia etc).
2. Anger. Being frustrated by the pain it often leads to fights in the house and outside the house. Anger will make the transition to a new job even more difficult and one has to control anger and accept the truth.
3. Suicides. The feeling of worthlessness can lead to suicide.
4. Increased alcohol intake (to wash away the sorrow).
5. Taking your kids off from a premier school to cut costs.
6. Mental breakdown and admission to mental hospital.
7. Anger may lead to do some unlawful activity and thus lead even to imprisonment.

MAKE A PLAN:
1. Make a financial plan (6 months expenses should always be kept in bank accounts or liquid funds). Also, remember the LIC premiums and/or EMIs. Take a medical insurance if you do not have one.
2. Do not spend on unnecessary items and credit should be strictly taboo (although classical economist will say one man’s expense is another man’s sale and thus the best way of getting out of recession is spending).
3. Retraining or self-employment; make a plan.
4. When looking for a job stay persistent and present your experience in good light (remember packaging is very important to get the first look).

Sourav Ganguly was laid off from the Indian cricket team (on multiple occasions), he fought back into the team and so can you. Remember, when the going gets tough, the tough gets going.

Getting prepared will not save your job but will help you to control your life better and the transition to plan B easier.

Americanization

America and the Americans are in trouble today because of their habit of spending on credit. They generally spend the next week’s check this week (credit) on things that they mostly do not need. Most of the Americans spend their paychecks on servicing their credit. It is precisely this reason coupled with speculation (buying a house to sell at a profit) why the present credit crisis has started.

We as a nation were entirely different. We believed in saving (we still do) and hated loans. Our parents and grandparents did not believe in loans, Karz was strictly taboo. Times have changed though, now ask anyone in the cities in the age group of 25-45 and the chances are high that we are paying some EMI or other (servicing a loan on a house, car, Plasma TV etc) for things which were mostly not a necessity and we did not need (except the first house). We copied their lifestyle!

An ordinary American is almost never late for an appointment whereas an ordinary Indian is late for almost all appointments. On a rare occasion that an American is late for his appointment, he apologizes immediately on reaching and you can see the feeling of guilt on his/her face. Whenever (90% of the time) we are late, it is inevitably because of the traffic or reasons beyond our control and we are never apologetic. We did not copy their lifestyle!

Fifty years ago, half of India lived in joint families. Americans were always independent and wanted to live away from parents once they attained 18 years of age (or even earlier). Fifty years later, there are hardly any joint families left in India. We copied their lifestyle!

An average American uses the words “sorry” and “thank you” innumerable times more than an average Indian (like me) does.

Sometimes I sit and ponder why we could not pick up the good things of American society and I have no answers.

Suicide; ways to cope suicidal ideations

Suicide is derived from the latin word suicidium meaning, to kill oneself. Suicide may be commited for one or many of the following reasons including shame or guilt (having failed in an exam), desperation or financial problems (the loan agent running behind), anxiey or depression (as in many psychiatric conditions), and finally for pain from physical ailments (chronic ailments like bone cancer). People also commit suicide because of religious beliefs like Sati in Hinduism and some Japanesse cult groups.

There is another aspect of suicide which not many people take into account, the suicide squads of terrorist groups. Here, the people committing the terror act know well that the end result is his/her death, be it the infamous 18 of 9/11 or the numerous fidayeen attacks that are taking place across India and the globe. This class of people are commit suicide not because of any of the aforementioned reasons, but because they have been brainwashed by someone in the name of religion.

According to WHO, there is 1 attempt of suicide every 39 seconds thus making suicide one of the main reasons for death in the world.

The phrase “Suicide is not chosen; it happens when pain exceeds resources for coping with pain.” perhaps best explains the causes for suicide in most of the cases.

Suicide rates generally increases at the time of recession and/or depression as more and more people fail financially. This is because during economic crisis people lose their jobs, their livelihood, their home.

Coping with suicidal ideations (thoughts):
1. If you are worried that you might do some self-harm by losing control on yourself, the first thing to do is confide in someone close and always stay with someone so that you are not alone.
2. Keep the house clean of objects that can be caused to self-harm, i.e., razor blades, knifes, pills (phenobarbiturates, benzodiazepines etc), guns.
3. Develop a safety plan and write the plan and keep it in your wallet as suicidal thoughts are generally very strong and the urge seems to last forever. The plan might have points like doing some yoga to calm down, calling a friend, reminding self the reasons for staying alive, go somewhere where you will be safe. Whenever there are negative thoughts, this safety plan should be adhered.
4. Do things that you enjoy.
5. Think of the personal goals and things that you have to achieve.
6. Never take any intoxicants like alcohol as they are central nervous system depressant and will only enhance the negative feelings.
7. Seek medical care, preferably psychiatrist.

Lizard Syndrome

Nobody is indispensable, however good he/she maybe. This is a fact of life that we have to believe as we believe that no soul is immortal. There are many people who live their life participating in a rat race and work for 12 hours a day or even more. One might be having a high paid job or a flourishing business and hardly spend any time with one’s family leave alone participate in childrens curriculum. One might be stretching and thus overtly stressing himself/herself day in and out, attending meeting after meeting, entertaining clients, never ending tours. Each time you might be thinking that this project can be done only by me, and hence the 12+ hour work schedule. If I do not put the extra hours the company will fall just as the lizard on the ceiling feels that it is holding the ceiling if it moves away, the ceiling will fall. Does the ceiling fall if the lizard moves away? The project will still end in time if you do not put in 12+ hours a day as the company can put one more employee in the project.

So get out of the rat race and get your life back.

Oh Doctor!

According to the Medical Council of India, the allopathic doctor to patient ratio is 1:1634 (actually is still higher as not all registered physicians practice medicine). The doctor patient ratio actually also varies from case to case; it depends on various factors type of ailment, type of specialization, etc. The doctor patient ratio comes down significantly if one takes into account the other systems of medicines (i.e., Unani, ayurvedic and homeopathic) to 1:870. This doctor to patient ratio does not take into account the relatively more number of doctors in the urban areas, which essentially means the availability of doctors are even less than this pathetically high number in the rural areas.

Globally, the ratio depends on which part of the globe you are. Most of the sub-Saharan African countries have a high number and very low in countries like USA or UK. Cuba has the lowest ratio.

This number definitely needs to improve, more so since we Indians are multiplying at a much faster rate than the medical colleges are churning doctors. According to the MCI website the maximum annual intake for the first year course of MBBS is 31,298 in 289 colleges across the length and breadth of the country. India has a population of roughly 1.3 billion with a growth rate of 1.606% which means the doctor to patient ratio will worsen with time.

This gloomy scenario can be changed, albeit it has to be a continuous process and will take time. The first step obviously would be to increase the number of colleges offering the medical courses. But alas, the governments of India is not taking sufficient steps towards it (be in NDA or UPA).

India boasts of world class engineering colleges i.e., the Indian Institute of Technology. India has 7 IITs that are producing world class engineers and 8 more are coming up, but no such luck for medical colleges. India does not have any such medical colleges in the lines of IITs or IIMs. Although common sense says health should be of higher priority than engineering, the Indian think tank perhaps thinks otherwise. So the first step according to me should be setting up of more AIIMS in the lines of the IITs and IIMs.

There are many doctors (holding MBBS degree) who pass out from government colleges (hence subsidized fees) and take up professions other than medicine, i.e., IAS/IFS. This practice should be discouraged by having a bond at the beginning of the course (MBBS) of compulsory medical practice (for a minimum of 5 years or more) or payment of full course fee (the subsidy amount).

In USA, there is a concept of physician assistant. Physician assistants’ practice medicine under the supervision of physicians and surgeons and in rural areas independently. PAs are formally trained to provide diagnostic, therapeutic, and preventive health care services, as delegated by a physician. Working as members of the health care team, they take medical histories, examine and treat patients, order and interpret laboratory tests and x-rays, and make diagnoses. They also treat minor injuries, by suturing, splinting, and casting. Physician assistant education programs usually last at least 2 years and is full time. Then there are the nurse practitioners who are nothing but registered nurse who has completed masters in nursing and training in the diagnosis and management of medical conditions.

The concept of PA is somewhat similar to what we have in engineering, certificate (ITI) or diploma engineers. If a system similar to PA is encouraged, the number of practitioners can increase in a short period of time and many an Indians would be saved from the hands of quacks who are flourishing in the country side (even the national capital of Delhi has a thriving number of quacks, especially in the areas of Shahpur jat, Madangir, Tughlaquabad).

These steps could help in bringing the doctor patient ratio to saner levels and thus ensure that Indians do not die as they are today without treatment.

Al Qaeda and the credit crisis

The following is a piece of news item that appeared in the site of fox.news.com on October 4, 2008 {An American member of Al Qaeda pointed to economic troubles in the United States as proof that "the enemies of Islam" face defeat, in an English-language video released Saturday. In a half hour video message, California-native Adam Gadahn urged Pakistanis to unite against their government and U.S. forces, and taunted Americans over their economic crisis, relating it to their military interventions. "The enemies of Islam are facing a crushing defeat, which is beginning to manifest itself in the expanding crisis their economy is experiencing," said Gadahn, in a clip of the message distributed by the SITE Intelligence Group, a Washington-based monitor of militant Web sites. "A crisis whose primary cause, in addition to the abortive and unsustainable crusades they are waging in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iraq, is their turning their backs on Allah's revealed laws, which forbid interest-bearing transactions, exploitation, greed and injustice in all its forms."} This leads me to think who really is behind the credit crisis that is pushing the world to the brink of economic collapse. We all know that the US investment banks (like Lehman) fell because of subprime woes. Basically loans, subprime, midprime or prime were packaged and sold as asset-backed securities (ABS) which were split into “tranches” and re-sold. The low-rated tranches of ABS were pooled together to create collateralized debt obligations (CDO). Similarly midprime and prime housing loans were also pooled together to create CDOs. All of these instruments were rated by rating agencies (but then nobody knew which “tranch” contained which mortgage). Then there were the CDS or credit default swap which is nothing but insurance on debt (this CDS were the reason behind the failure of AIG). Once the property market went bust, more and more mortgages were foreclosed, leading to loss on the ABSs and CDOs which in turn led to failure of AIG. The European banks were affected too and Iceland is on the verge of national bankruptcy. The stock markets all around the world are reeling, investors are suffering zillions of losses around the globe. IF Tuesday, 9/11/2001 could have been orchestrated by Al-Qaeda (sitting in the caves of Afghanistan) then they (AQ) sure must have had insider people in US Government Agencies otherwise an event of such a magnitude could not have been carried out just by 19 renegades. If they (AQ) had the connections then they sure have them now (after 8 years), so if 9/11 was the handiwork of AQ why not 9/29 (the biggest single day fall of Dow Jones as a result of the credit crisis). Now, the unanswered question about the ABSs, CDOs? CDOs. Did any one knew (or for that matter know today) what is the exact underlying security of these instruments (I mean which particular mortgages). How could the rating agency rate these products as high as AA without knowing the exact underlying assets? What were the Risk Management Team at the Banks doing? (one team might be lousy but not so many, remember almost all the big and mighty fell) Is the financial crisis just because of the “greed” of the investment banks of the capitalist society or was there a bigger plan which just took advantage of the greed of the capitalistic society and the Investment Banks just walked into the trap? I do not have answers to these questions now neither did I have the answers then (how 19 renegades took on the might of Uncle Sam to such a precision on 9/11) but what I definitely know is Lehman Brothers survived 9/11 although it lost its headquarter and one of its employees but 8 years later lost its very existence.

Balkanization II

I talked about how the politicians are giving precedence to regionalism and castism over nationalism to gain votes and thus power. Over the last few days, I have read quite a few articles denouncing Raj Thackeray and his party MNS (including mine). I received a mail from one of the readers (of Balkanization that appeared in MSN) asking me a few simple questions. If ethnic cleansing of Kashmiri Pandits could not be resisted by the Indian Government why go gung-ho over Raj? If Tamil is encouraged in Chennai why not Marathi in Mumbai? Didn't our cities lose their cosmopolitan nature after being renamed Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru or were they renamed because they lost the cosmopolitan nature?

Then I started thinking? Is Raj a problem? Is he doing something for Marathi manoos? Or is he just doing what other political leaders are doing? After much pondering I feel the answer is Raj is doing exactly what other politicians are doing (albeit differently), i.e., divide the Indians amongst themselves.

Why cannot any Indian (nonKashmiri) buy property in Kashmir and yet buy property in Mumbai, Patna or Kolkata? The reverse; however is not true i.e., any Kashmiri can buy property anywhere in India. Why does an Indian need an Inner Line Permit (ILP) to enter Arunachal Pradesh when nothing of that sort is required for Pune, Bengaluru or Hyderbad? Why a child born to some particular tribes or castes (OBC/SC/ST) get preference over other Indians? (TN has 69% reservation)

Sixty one years have passed India got independence from the British, do we still need quotas? Do we still need article 370? My guess is reservation and article 370 has more to do with vote bank politics than upliftment of any community.

Today, it is Raj Thackeray. Tomorrow it might be someone else. Today, it is Mumbai (60% of the population in the city is non-marahati) tomorrow it might well be Bengaluru (more than 50% population is non-kanadigas).

The solution to this problem is not Raj bashing but to give equality to all Indians. If there can be quotas based on caste, creed or religion then why not based on region? Is it not sheer hypocrisy to have article 370 on one hand and blame Raj for asking something on similar line for Maharashtra. Either remove article 370 or let it be for all states and union territories of India, give all Indians a level playing ground.

Government money should not be spent to give interest free credit (oil companies providing 90 days credit) to Jet Airways and Kingfisher Airways (owned by the most flamboyant and extravagant Indian ever) but to build infrastructure and job opportunities in the remotest parts of India, so that people need not go to cities for jobs (I guess given the opportunity people would stay at home and earn rather than go to an alien city for livelihood).

The solution to prevent Balkanization of India according to me is threefold:
1. Government should abolish all quotas and article 370 and thus treat all Indians equally and none should feel alienated.
2. Government should try and spend money and create infrastructure and jobs in the poor parts of the country so that no one needs to migrate.
3. We the citizens of India should vote for a national party and avoid the regional parties as a national party will be answerable to all of India and MAYBE will not promote one region over the other.

Balkanization

"Balkanization is a geopolitical term originally used to describe the process of fragmentation or division of a region or state into smaller regions or states that are often hostile or non-cooperative with each other. The term has arisen from the conflicts in the 20th century Balkans. While what is now termed Balkanization has occurred throughout history, the term originally describes the creation of smaller, ethnically diverse states following the breakup of the Ottoman Empire before World War." This is how Wikipedia describes balkanization.

The 1991 break down of the Soviet Union into 15 countries can be called as the "balkanization of the Soviet Union."

India is the seventh largest country of the world. India has 28 states and 7 union territories. India is a diverse country where parts of the country are very poor (little or no opportunity for getting work) and part of the country is affluent (more of opportunity to get work).

Bihar is one state which is underdeveloped, lacks infrastructure, corrupt government officials and much of Bihar is economically underdeveloped. Biharis are found everywhere in India. A great percentage of all manual workers across the length and breadth of the country are Biharis. The great Bihari migration has lead to lesser opportunity for the local people or cut in wages (demand supply theory). This has lead to racist hate crimes towards the Biharis, be it in Assam or Maharastra. Biharis are not alone as far as racial crimes are concerned, non-Kanadi software professionals have faced the ire of hate crimes in Bangalore (although rare episodes). There have been instances of Bengalis beaten up by Assamese in Assam and Bengalis versus Tripuris in Tripura. In the entire northeastern part of India it has generally been the Bengalis who have been in the receiving end (historically though Bengalis had taken advantage of the tribal people but then 2 wrongs do not make a right).

Today, on October 19, 2008, rod yielding MNS supporters have beaten up examinees in Mumbai and other parts of Maharastra demanding only Marathi speaking people get jobs in Maharastra. If indeed this continues then a day will certainly come when Marathis outside of Maharastra will face the same royal treatment. The problem is that none of these hate crimes are being committed spontaneously (not that then it would be applaudable), but most of them are being provoked attacks by political parties (MNS being the prime) for vote bank politics.

Even religious vote bank politics are playing a big role, which indirectly is fuelling hatred between the several communities (Jammu and Kashmir - Amarnath land row) in India.

Then there is the caste politics which is creating hatred, a child born to a Brahmin peon will have less opportunity in education and/or jobs than a child born to a OBC, SC or ST IAS/IPS officer (although I do not understand why we do not have 49% reservations among the ministers for SC, ST, and OBC.)

If the politicians do not mend their ways, India is headed the way USSR went.