Voting is mandatory. Penalties for skipping.

Australia has just gone through another election. A national one, this time. The entire thing was electronic,and the results were announced the same night of the voting ! Less than a few hours after voting closed.

Thats amazing(actually, not) in itself. But the real surprise  here is that it is mandatory for every citizen to vote. Its not just a privilege, or a right, its the rule.

So, what happens if a citizen does not turn up to cast their vote ? They have to pay a penalty.  The Australian government site says:

You will receive a letter from the AEC if, according to our records, you did not vote at a recent federal election or by-election. If you did vote, you should advise the AEC and provide details by the due date. If you didn’t vote, you will need to provide a valid and sufficient reason why, or pay the $20 penalty.

This has to be tagged under 'things that won't work in India'. This time some states had upto 80% turnout to vote in the national elections, it is never a hundred percentage. Here is an idea which the babus can..well,think about and throw later into the garbage.

The shwawarma

I can relate to this:

Technically called the “Shawarmah” by the locals it is God’s gift to the gourmand. Its something like a rolled up arabic bread with stuffing. Nowadays you get authentic Lebanese sandwich at every nook and corner. Back then you only got it in the old market at a few shops run by Iranians, or Indians. Outside each cafe-like setup, there’d be this guy sweating it out in front of a vertical grill. And sizzling away would be a vertical skewer of meat some 2 feet tall and a feet round. A huge chunk of it. The guy would deftly turn it around every few second so it would get roasted by the grill. “Thalatha Shawarma, Dejaj”. When Dad said the magic words, I died and went to heaven. Four sandwiches, chicken. Sweaty griller man would quickly pick up a huge knife and pick and shred off some grilled meat from the heavenly mega-kebab. The aroma still drives me wild…

Read the rest here.

Jet goes down

The trending news right now is: Jet Airways goes down. Its been on the news for a few months now, but no-one took it that seriously, I guess. Specially not the lenders. Now with billions disappeared, and thousands of jobs gone, neither the lenders nor the government has an idea of what to do next. And suddenly, everyone on the internet and on the ground is an expert. Doling out experiences and advice on how these billions can be recovered.

It reminds me of this article from years ago, when it was celebrated that Jet Airways had amassed half a million fans on Facebook. Alas, likes and fans couln't save the airline. Sort of how it is new when Indian movie trailers get millions of views and likes on youtube, and then the actual movie comes out and..tanks .

The only silver lining in all of this is that unlike Mallya, who absconded to the UK, Jet Airways founder Goyal did not just..fly away. He is still in the country and fighting it with the lenders.

This is just one more example of bad management. Companies go out of buisness all the time. Millions have and many more millions will. Employees and investors have to simply, move on.

So let's move on from this man-made disaster, and focus on more iimportant things.

Like the royal baby.

Cacophony

What a year ?! Election years have always been 'politically violent' in India. All of the top liars descend upon the masses, making up imaginary claims and promising even loftier ones in future. But lately the focus has shifted from development and progress to the nation's security and religion. And the poor citizens are receptive. It seems people would rather practise their religion , than worry about the next day's income.

This year , there is a third party in the political game. Apart from the two main contenders, the third party is the Election Commission. They too have now been affected by the virulent strain. Double standards galore. On one hand, they have been disqualifying independent candidates , but they also let major parties lie blatantly, and have failed to take action more than once.

And into this politically charged nation , comes nature's fury. Cyclone Phani ravaged parts of the country, killing some  and turning thousands homeless. Loss of life and property was minimal this time, but more details are sure to emerge.

The media is still actively churning out articles highlighting the incumbent party's multiple failures, the top two being demonitisation and GST. But this narrative is drowned by fake news running on social media. And the economy, is clearly slowing down.

We still have to wait till the end of the month to end this cacophony.

Please end. Soon.

Holiday Hangover

Oh gosh. Returning from a long holiday is really difficult. Horrible. Sucks all your energy out.

But on the bright (?) side, won't have to do to this very often. Gonna hibernate all through the winter.

Heres to the chilly weather.