Finger-ing

Thane was among the 10 Lok Sabha constituencies in Maharashtra that went to polls today. And after missing out on the Corporation elections an year after turning 18, I was determined to vote this time around.

However, the party positions and choice of candidates led to an interesting predicament.

History: For the last 2 decades, Thane has been consistently with the BJP-SS combine. The rise of Anand Dighe thru 90's ensured that the Late Prakash Paranjpe won Thane comfortably in '96, '98, '99 and '04 (until his demise in Feb. 2008).

A few factors have completely altered the political equations this time.
1. The (engineered?) accident of Dighe, means Thane has no single organizational center.
2. Prakash Paranjpe was very loved for being a cultured and clean person in a populace dominated by Middle Class Maharashtrians. (He died due to Cancer in Feb. '08).
3. Following delimitation, the middle class voters of Dombivili, Kalyan were moved to Kalyan LS Seat. These were staunch BJP supporters but did vote for the SS candidate (given Paranjpe's image and so on.)
4. Raj Thackrey commands sizable youth loyalties.
5.

Come '09: I would expected to be dictated by Family, Social traditions to vote BJP-SS. However, I am largely satisfied by the UPA performance in the last 5 years and very happy that they had balls in the N-Deal faceoff!! The only major disappointment was Affirmative action.

However, I am not of the opinion that party affiliations should override the candidate's suitability when voting. And you too wouldn't want Dr.Sanjeev Naik to be your MP. His affidavit says he is 12th pass, but has no qualms about attaching a Dr. before his name. (Some unaccredited US group has conferred this degree.)

I don't even want to get started on the SS candidate.

The only gentleman-politician candidate with a real chance of winning was Mr. Rajan Raje from the Mahrashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS).
1. He is LLB from Bombay University - a farcry from both.
2. He figured 16th in the SSC Merit List (unconfirmed)
3. He has no criminal cases against his name - unlike Naik and Chaugule.

The clinching reason for me was the fact that while he might agree with the MNS philosophy he has never been associated with any rioting, vagrancy. So for me it came down to choosing between:

1. A good candidate belonging to a party with a off stream agenda or
2. A candidate with questionable character who would most likely bring the UPA to power.

Party vs Individual : What would you do? Let me know

--
Edit:-

The panwalla shop gossip indicates that MNS might play spoilsport and even trump SS in the Thane Assembly Constituency!

Pulp Fiction!

1. Notice the excitement run through your body
2. Feel the firmness of the pulp
3. Pull off the shirt in a single motion
4. Use plastic protection
5. Squeeze in rhythmic motions until;
6. Liquid froths at the tip
7. Lick the liquid and enjoy the experience!!

This is how a good boy has his virgin Alphonso :-)

A for Apple

The following was posted as a comparative analogy in the debate involving IIM A vs. IIM B vs. IIM C. Smashing read eventhough it might not make too much sense nor help anyone take a decision on the ground :) [Donno who the original author is .. but what the heck!!]

An MBA is like a marriage. You're happy and excited when you're getting married, but it doesn't take much time to realize you were better off as a bachelor.
So in that sense the institute is like your wife. You are stuck with it once you're married.
In this case... your spouse is always going to be more famous than you and as much as I hate to say this "you shall be using your wife to further your career!"

Continuing this analogy a little further... since most of you have met your wives not more than once or twice, this essentially is an arranged marriage for you. (The smart ones ofcourse believe in love at first sight),

So the people in this group are lucky enough to have the option of marrying A or B or C. My friend from IIMC compared these to Aishwarya Rai (A), Bipasha Basu (B) and Celina Jaitley(C). The choice is yours whom you want to marry. However there are a couple of small little issues:
1. You have to share your wife with 300 other people.
2. You can't marry all three of them,

But that essentially is the choice between A, B or C. You could marry Ms. A and introduce your wife as being world famous in India. One who is undoubtedly "the most beautiful woman in the world". One whose face is recognised throughout the world. Essentially she represents the Indian woman to the world. Or... you could marry a certain Ms. Basu with whom you could have a lot of fun! But you'd often end up saying "Well.. she's beautiful in her own way." Or... you could marry Ms. Celina. No doubt she's beautiful but one for whom you would have to say "So what if she can't act. She has the potential!"

WIMWI

My blog followers (all 4 of them) are treated to the good news that I converted my IIM-A PI call into an admission offer.

[ok! I know the above is too flashy for the usual me, but what the heck]