Advertisements are getting on our nerves

            In my opinion, advertisements have become a nuisance in our daily life. All the pages in newspapers are covered with advertisements. As soon as you switch on the TV, you are harassed with unwanted advertisements. Same is the case with mobile phones - unwanted messages are repeatedly received, every minute, on our mobile phones. In our cities and towns, both sides of the roads are covered  with huge advertisement boards and the beauty of the buildings are hidden by these huge boards. There should be some restrictions in the size and number of such hoardings in a city.

           In olden days  there used to be an unwritten convention that for any publication to be known as a  newspaper, it  should have 60 % of its space allotted for news items and 40% space only could be allotted for advertisements.  Nowadays this proportion of news and advertisements have been reversed and one has to scan through the pages, to find out some news items. We won't mind even if the odd number pages in newspapers are allotted for reading materials and the even number pages are allotted for advertisements. In  TV Channels, no advertisements should be included at least during the news telecasts. The same advertisement should not be repeated again and again, three or four times, continuously as is being done currently on some channels. The advertisements should be changed at least after three or months.

           Wouldn't it be wonderful to read a slimmer newspaper without so many advertisements - and save a few trees in the bargain?

Fate of Adarsh

While all the authorities are debating the fate of Adarsh building, here is my opinion on what can be done to this building - demolish it and use the debris to create an island in the sea, next to the Naval Golf Course land. On that a monument could be constructed to remind all of the shame of the people who tried to benefit from the Kargil war widows plight.

The land where the current building stands is currently claimed by various people to belong to the Defence, Maharashtra State, etc - instead of disputing, a park should be developed on this land that could be used by all people - Defence as well as Mumbaites.

This will solve the problem of benami holders of the flats and those who have tried to gain illegal possession of these flats and be a warning to future offenders that crime does not pay!

Writers have no right to opine on unknown topics

The recent remarks by Arundhati Roy about Kashmir and its future are absolutely uncalled for.

A person who knows something about Kashmir and its background, could put forth their opinions for decision makers to consider. However, just being a writer having an ability to write one book and a few essays, does not give her the right to pass judgment on the Kashmir issue - which at the best of times is a very complex matter, even for subject matter experts to deal with due to its manifold ramifications on India and the politics of the sub-continent.

I suggest that she should go to Kashmir, stay there for a few months/years with the common man and after having studied the problems firsthand, put forth her solutions. This may give her some credibility while making her criticisms against what has been done so far.

Dealing with an aggrieved people or becoming a politician is much more difficult than getting a Booker prize.

Minimum qualifications and retirement of Indian Politicians

In our country, certain physical abilities, age restrictions and minimum educational qualifications are laid down for all private sector and Government employees, teaching staff, defence service personnel, police and security employees. Even to get the job of an electrician, the candidate must have the prescribed minimum educational qualifications and should be able to climb an electric pole within the given time. However, in order to become a Minister, MP or MLA, only the support of his or her own political party members is necessary - even for the post education minister, the candidate need not have any specified minimum educational qualifications.

Even though all employees have age limits and have to retire as per rules laid down by their organizations, there are no age restrictions for the Indian politicians and only death can make them ineligible to stand for elections. Instead of waiting Yamaraj (death) to settle their ability to contine in active service, I am of the opinion that these leaders should voluntarily abdicate their high positions of leadership at a certain prescribed age. They could subsequently use their fame and skills to organize social work for the benefit of their own party and constituent communities.

Since politicians are being remunerated for their services, some permanent rules including, minimum qualification requirements, retirement benefits and age limits should be laid down by the Government for everyone getting any monetary benefits from the government.

My First Blog

This is my first blog - I am excited to be able to share my thoughts and ideas with various people and engage in fruitful discussions to find solutions to everyday problems faced by people living in Indian cities and other countries.



Let me first talk about the retired Defence Services Personnel.



A stage will come when thare are more retired Service Perosnnel than those serving in the Indian Army, Navy and Air Force. Some organized action should be taken to make use of their knowledge, experience and skills are for the nation's good. They could work as volunteers or consultants on various subjects in their domain of expertise advising not just the government but the private sector organizations as well. Currently so many of them are sitting at home and are not contributing for the development of the nation.



What do you think about this? Would an organized action be useful/acceptable or will these people be written off as Old fogies?