He is brilliant...has another side also, but who doesn't have!?! I believe he is the best functioning cabinet minister for a decade or so (may be even more)..
He shouldn't go to State politics and be in Central - he will be used much better.
It isn't a small achievement to be the right hand man of Jaiprakash Narain! This guy is brilliant.
Only a crook knows the ways and means of bilking money..no wonder Lalu has been able to cut down on a lot of things in the Railways...because he's been abusing the Railways all these years for his own good...talk about railway contracts, railway mafia in that part of the country, etc.
What a sad state of affairs that this guy abuses tax payer money to bring his family members too to visit IIM-A campus. And this is the guy whom we are supposed to admire! He's nothing better than a circus clown.
I think you are being too harsh on him. Agreed he has been the epitome of corruption in the past, but what the heck!! Give the guy another chance. He has acheived far more than any of the earlier Railway ministers and we have to give that to him.
The way we have fawned over this guy (very similar to the way we put Sania on a pedestal) is sickening (sorry to be using such harsh tones). It sounds very patriarchal that the tax payer has to pay for this guy's family's soiree to IIM-A. Their security, boardinga nd lodging is payed by taxpayers like you and me. They have NO business being there. The IIMA Profs and students, instead of sitting there amused by Lalu, should have thrown some curveball queries to whom -- are we concerned at all that our hard earned money is being squandered away by politicians and bureaucrats shamelessly? We need to change our thoughts about abuse of tax-payer money by govt officials. This is completely unfair that we are paying for these guys to maintain their respective fiefdoms, no mattter what party they belong to. I guess this was a rant against Lalu AND the sarkar-mai-baap culture he represents and embodies.
To be fair to Lalu, at least he is not in short supply when it comes to jest and riposte. Some of his speeches in Parliament make for the heartiest of moments, when he rips apart his opponents in his typical rustic, manner.
He is brilliant. He "has the capacity" to do something. He has done something also.
These cannot be said about lots of ppl who are up there in New Delhi. Including Sonia (we are yet to see her in any way!).
All you could come up with against him is "It sounds very patriarchal that the tax payer has to pay for this guy's family's soiree to IIM-A" and few more?!! Sounds like a cliched thought process of "I hate this guy...so, will continue to do it whatever happens"..
Anyways, u hate him, that's your call...I am happy that there are ppl who do recognize the contribution he has made in putting the right ppl in the right place and enabling an environment to deliver...whether it is in Freight or Passenger segments.
he's had good results with the railways and deserves the accolades!
here's what he's supposed to have done exactly :
=============================== Refused to hike fares. Shored up earnings by carrying more passengers and freight.
Increased the load carried by a goods wagon from 81 tonnes to 90 tonnes. This gave an additional earning of Rs 7,200 crore.
Upgraded tickets if seats were going vacant in the upper class. So, waitlisted passengers could be allotted seats.
Maintained passenger profile so that bogies could be taken off or added to trains according to seasonal demand.
===============================
~A : I cannot argue with you on a gut feel that says Laloo's not the brain behind those implementations..
it's been achieved in his regime and due credit should go to him..
but please don't call a guy who sits down non chalantly in a public meeting when the national anthem is played : brilliant!! pretty please please!
he's impressive and I agree that he should have a portfolio in the central ministry on similiar lines as the railways..: he's got this ability to get things done...! i'll give him that
Suit yourself that you don't mind getting ripped off when your hard-earned money is burnt for personal trips and pleasures by elected officials. It is exactly that attitude that enables these people to get away with anything and everything.
Plz read this interesting article that should, at the very least, moderate our reaction and not be over-the-top (note to Rajni: the similarities to how folks are reacting to Lalu and how they reacted to Sania's success last year are chilling):
http://ia.rediff.com/money/2006/sep/20guest.htm
Lalu is just riding the wave of a burgeoning economy. However, folks are big suckers for anything 'feel good' and now have anointed him as a 'doer'. Plz......
There is nothing cliched about a person who has routinely abused the power of the state to form his personal fiefdoms, bilk the state treasury of hundreds of crores and has done everything in his capacity to promote casteism and prevent education/empowerment of his own people. I don't think there is anything 'personal' in my rant, bud.
I really don't want to judge him in comparison with other elected officials. It's like stating someone is "partially pregnant" and not "fully pregnant". Corruption and nepotism is what it is in Lalu's case and every other politician's case, irrespective of degree. I'd rather have had the bright minds of IIM-A quiz Lalu on the specifics, ask him some hard questions on safety and cleanliness of the Railways, query him on the dismal facilities to the Railways cricket team (despite being Ranji champs), what his plans are to prevent further bomb attacks (I say this, because if I'm not wrong Mumbai's metro comes under the auspices of Western railway). Instead we choose to fawn/remain in fear of elected offcials and you say, me asking such questions is "cliched"?!! Huh! I guess you's rather we kiss his behind!
I think that our expectations from the politicans should be hai and we should compare to some standard instead of comparing between diffrent railway ministers. Till date, where does railways stand in customer satisfaction...????
1. Completely agree with you that our expectations from our ministers should be high, esp since they are managing money that WE, as tax payers, are paying THEM. It is NOT their money, in the first place.
2. On comparing diff railway ministers and so on, my point in doing this was to deflate the argument of some postings on this blog that Lalu is some kind of a miracle man. My emphasis was on two points -- that this "good" work had already begun before him and that the booming economy (GDP gains of 8-9% per year!) have helped the railways, since they are such an intrinsic part of the economy. So, to treat him like ke was a magician like PC Sorcar was a bit uncalled for, in my opinion. Forget us ordinary guys, even the brilliant IIMA minds were fawning over him and that is what I did not like.
3. Continuing from my earlier point, you have mentioned about customer satsifaction at the end of your post.That is an excellent point you raise. Why didn't the smart-alecs at IIMA think about that basic question? Why didn't they challenge him -- out of fear or awe or what?!
If we have to have high expectations from our politician, then we must be PROACTIVE enough to make them more answerable and transparent? We have a very intelligent populace. What we need is a populace that is gutsy and commited to ask teh tough questions? Maybe I'm being idealistic BUT if the best minds in India cannot ask Lalu some basic questions, then what about average Joes like us, man? And one of the posts on this blog called this guys "brilliant"?!!! I pray to God that that comment was joke only.
That comment wasn't a joke...and I don't believe (or disbelive) in God :-)...
>>>> I cannot argue with you on a gut feel that says Laloo's not the brain behind those implementations.. it's been achieved in his regime and due credit should go to him..
It is not Laloo's brains - I know whose brain it is in the background. But that brain existed for long and never used. Not sure whether to give credit for Laloo - But I am sure there is nothing to discredit Laloo. If you have read what I had written, I am sure you'd have come across "there are ppl who do recognize the contribution he has made in putting the right ppl in the right place and enabling an environment to deliver".
>>>> Why didn't the smart-alecs at IIMA think about that basic question? Why didn't they challenge him -- out of fear or awe or what?!
How do you know he was not challenged? And, which customers are you talking about? Can you point me to some "mass" survey done which clearly demonstrates that customers are not satisfied? I'd be glad to know that information.
>>>> but please don't call a guy who sits down non chalantly in a public meeting when the national anthem is played : brilliant!! pretty please please!
Well, wearing ones footwear when our anthem is played can also be deemed as "nonchalance". I just was part of such an experience during August 15th in my work place. I noticed that none, including myself, in a professional gathering removed our footwear. I don't think we, in any possible way, showed our disprespect to our country.
In general: My point is, he is better, intellectually and courage-wise, than most of his peers. He might eat "my" money or not. But when everybody does, I am not going to dwell on it too much. I am not going to compare present day politicians with Kamaraj and the like - they are a different breed - comparison is futile. He is brilliant, he has the ability, he has the guts. If you know his history, you can very well see that he started of with noble intentions like others (like you and me and any "normal" tax payer). We hvn't gone much farther in life to know whether his deviation from his "noble" intentions is normal or not.
>>>>>Well, wearing ones footwear when our anthem is played can also be deemed as "nonchalance". I just was part of such an experience during August 15th in my work place. I noticed that none, including myself, in a professional gathering removed our footwear. I don't think we, in any possible way, showed our disprespect to our country.
looks like you have a one point agenda to defend Laloo. So it's sorta pointless. I don't know how a political leader sitting down in a public ceremony for a national anthem can be compared to people not removing their footwear at the workplace. As long as we stood up and respected it , there's no qualms. The army jawans have their footwear in place when the Anthem is played but they have the utmost respect reflected from their body language..
You say he's not the brains behind the schemes yet you call him brilliant and intellectual.
I do agree that he's put the right ppl in the right place..(proabably), or this could have been just a mere reflection of a booming economy where the railways was exercised more and laloo happened to be in the right place also "contributing"..
I really dont understand, Give me a an example of his brilliance ?
His brilliance?? - Watch parilament live, in Doordarshan.
I never said he isn't a crook or he is the epitome of "goodness". I believe he has changed a bit for good - this is just a opinion based on watchin him over these years...but anyways, I don't remember saying that he is good man or whatever.
I maintain what I said, he is brilliant, he has the balls.
Again, brilliance has nothing to do with sitting or standing or keeping the footwear on (ofcourse, as long as he doesn't miss out on the election vitory because of that!!).
Army doesn't follow civilian notions in almost everything - it is martial and period.....it is certainly apple and orange when u talk about Army and us. I have no qualms about wearing footwear or anything...i am just saying that it not necessarily reflect what we feel about the anthem. Sitting - as well ("non-chalantly" - he always is...and attaching that attribute to that moment may not be correct - but that's beyond the topic).
>>>>>His brilliance?? - Watch parilament live, in Doordarshan.
I have and your point is ?
he has the balls could be one way of looking at it or the other way is that he doesn't know of any other way and that comes out as 'courage' someplaces and stupidity in most others..
Here are the literary definitions of brilliance :
- The quality of being magnificent or splendid or grand
- Unusual mental ability
If Laloo has to have either of these, then the world should be full of jacka**es
I agree that he's got something going for the railways but brilliant he's not..
I just gave the army example to say that footwear is not a wrong thing to have during an anthem.. What is wrong is total non chalance towards it being played..
I agree it is beyond the topic though and I agree that if we look at things objectively, he's achieved something few others have under his realm..
17 comments:
He is brilliant...has another side also, but who doesn't have!?! I believe he is the best functioning cabinet minister for a decade or so (may be even more)..
He shouldn't go to State politics and be in Central - he will be used much better.
It isn't a small achievement to be the right hand man of Jaiprakash Narain! This guy is brilliant.
Only a crook knows the ways and means of bilking money..no wonder Lalu has been able to cut down on a lot of things in the Railways...because he's been abusing the Railways all these years for his own good...talk about railway contracts, railway mafia in that part of the country, etc.
What a sad state of affairs that this guy abuses tax payer money to bring his family members too to visit IIM-A campus. And this is the guy whom we are supposed to admire! He's nothing better than a circus clown.
Sriraj
Sriraj,
I think you are being too harsh on him. Agreed he has been the epitome of corruption in the past, but what the heck!! Give the guy another chance. He has acheived far more than any of the earlier Railway ministers and we have to give that to him.
The way we have fawned over this guy (very similar to the way we put Sania on a pedestal) is sickening (sorry to be using such harsh tones). It sounds very patriarchal that the tax payer has to pay for this guy's family's soiree to IIM-A. Their security, boardinga nd lodging is payed by taxpayers like you and me. They have NO business being there. The IIMA Profs and students, instead of sitting there amused by Lalu, should have thrown some curveball queries to whom -- are we concerned at all that our hard earned money is being squandered away by politicians and bureaucrats shamelessly? We need to change our thoughts about abuse of tax-payer money by govt officials. This is completely unfair that we are paying for these guys to maintain their respective fiefdoms, no mattter what party they belong to. I guess this was a rant against Lalu AND the sarkar-mai-baap culture he represents and embodies.
Sriraj
I don't think he is the only minister taking his family to official trips.
Thankfully, unlike the rest, apart from these family trips, he excels in his job too !!! There lies the difference !!!!
Rajni,
To be fair to Lalu, at least he is not in short supply when it comes to jest and riposte. Some of his speeches in Parliament make for the heartiest of moments, when he rips apart his opponents in his typical rustic, manner.
Sriraj
He is brilliant. He "has the capacity" to do something. He has done something also.
These cannot be said about lots of ppl who are up there in New Delhi. Including Sonia (we are yet to see her in any way!).
All you could come up with against him is "It sounds very patriarchal that the tax payer has to pay for this guy's family's soiree to IIM-A" and few more?!! Sounds like a cliched thought process of "I hate this guy...so, will continue to do it whatever happens"..
Anyways, u hate him, that's your call...I am happy that there are ppl who do recognize the contribution he has made in putting the right ppl in the right place and enabling an environment to deliver...whether it is in Freight or Passenger segments.
brilliant ?? really..
he's had good results with the railways and deserves the accolades!
here's what he's supposed to have done exactly :
===============================
Refused to hike fares. Shored up earnings by carrying more passengers and freight.
Increased the load carried by a goods wagon from 81 tonnes to 90 tonnes. This gave an additional earning of Rs 7,200 crore.
Upgraded tickets if seats were going vacant in the upper class. So, waitlisted passengers could be allotted seats.
Maintained passenger profile so that bogies could be taken off or added to trains according to seasonal demand.
===============================
~A : I cannot argue with you on a gut feel that says Laloo's not the brain behind those implementations..
it's been achieved in his regime and due credit should go to him..
but please don't call a guy who sits down non chalantly in a public meeting when the national anthem is played : brilliant!!
pretty please please!
he's impressive and I agree that he should have a portfolio in the central ministry on similiar lines as the railways..: he's got this ability to get things done...! i'll give him that
~a:
Suit yourself that you don't mind getting ripped off when your hard-earned money is burnt for personal trips and pleasures by elected officials. It is exactly that attitude that enables these people to get away with anything and everything.
Plz read this interesting article that should, at the very least, moderate our reaction and not be over-the-top (note to Rajni: the similarities to how folks are reacting to Lalu and how they reacted to Sania's success last year are chilling):
http://ia.rediff.com/money/2006/sep/20guest.htm
Lalu is just riding the wave of a burgeoning economy. However, folks are big suckers for anything 'feel good' and now have anointed him as a 'doer'. Plz......
There is nothing cliched about a person who has routinely abused the power of the state to form his personal fiefdoms, bilk the state treasury of hundreds of crores and has done everything in his capacity to promote casteism and prevent education/empowerment of his own people. I don't think there is anything 'personal' in my rant, bud.
I really don't want to judge him in comparison with other elected officials. It's like stating someone is "partially pregnant" and not "fully pregnant". Corruption and nepotism is what it is in Lalu's case and every other politician's case, irrespective of degree. I'd rather have had the bright minds of IIM-A quiz Lalu on the specifics, ask him some hard questions on safety and cleanliness of the Railways, query him on the dismal facilities to the Railways cricket team (despite being Ranji champs), what his plans are to prevent further bomb attacks (I say this, because if I'm not wrong Mumbai's metro comes under the auspices of Western railway). Instead we choose to fawn/remain in fear of elected offcials and you say, me asking such questions is "cliched"?!! Huh! I guess you's rather we kiss his behind!
Sriraj
I think that our expectations from the politicans should be hai and we should compare to some standard instead of comparing between diffrent railway ministers.
Till date, where does railways stand in customer satisfaction...????
Raman
Raman,
1. Completely agree with you that our expectations from our ministers should be high, esp since they are managing money that WE, as tax payers, are paying THEM. It is NOT their money, in the first place.
2. On comparing diff railway ministers and so on, my point in doing this was to deflate the argument of some postings on this blog that Lalu is some kind of a miracle man. My emphasis was on two points -- that this "good" work had already begun before him and that the booming economy (GDP gains of 8-9% per year!) have helped the railways, since they are such an intrinsic part of the economy. So, to treat him like ke was a magician like PC Sorcar was a bit uncalled for, in my opinion. Forget us ordinary guys, even the brilliant IIMA minds were fawning over him and that is what I did not like.
3. Continuing from my earlier point, you have mentioned about customer satsifaction at the end of your post.That is an excellent point you raise. Why didn't the smart-alecs at IIMA think about that basic question? Why didn't they challenge him -- out of fear or awe or what?!
If we have to have high expectations from our politician, then we must be PROACTIVE enough to make them more answerable and transparent? We have a very intelligent populace. What we need is a populace that is gutsy and commited to ask teh tough questions? Maybe I'm being idealistic BUT if the best minds in India cannot ask Lalu some basic questions, then what about average Joes like us, man? And one of the posts on this blog called this guys "brilliant"?!!! I pray to God that that comment was joke only.
That comment wasn't a joke...and I don't believe (or disbelive) in God :-)...
>>>> I cannot argue with you on a gut feel that says Laloo's not the brain behind those implementations..
it's been achieved in his regime and due credit should go to him..
It is not Laloo's brains - I know whose brain it is in the background. But that brain existed for long and never used. Not sure whether to give credit for Laloo - But I am sure there is nothing to discredit Laloo. If you have read what I had written, I am sure you'd have come across "there are ppl who do recognize the contribution he has made in putting the right ppl in the right place and enabling an environment to deliver".
>>>> Why didn't the smart-alecs at IIMA think about that basic question? Why didn't they challenge him -- out of fear or awe or what?!
How do you know he was not challenged? And, which customers are you talking about? Can you point me to some "mass" survey done which clearly demonstrates that customers are not satisfied? I'd be glad to know that information.
>>>> but please don't call a guy who sits down non chalantly in a public meeting when the national anthem is played : brilliant!!
pretty please please!
Well, wearing ones footwear when our anthem is played can also be deemed as "nonchalance". I just was part of such an experience during August 15th in my work place. I noticed that none, including myself, in a professional gathering removed our footwear. I don't think we, in any possible way, showed our disprespect to our country.
In general:
My point is, he is better, intellectually and courage-wise, than most of his peers. He might eat "my" money or not. But when everybody does, I am not going to dwell on it too much. I am not going to compare present day politicians with Kamaraj and the like - they are a different breed - comparison is futile. He is brilliant, he has the ability, he has the guts. If you know his history, you can very well see that he started of with noble intentions like others (like you and me and any "normal" tax payer). We hvn't gone much farther in life to know whether his deviation from his "noble" intentions is normal or not.
>>>>>Well, wearing ones footwear when our anthem is played can also be deemed as "nonchalance". I just was part of such an experience during August 15th in my work place. I noticed that none, including myself, in a professional gathering removed our footwear. I don't think we, in any possible way, showed our disprespect to our country.
looks like you have a one point agenda to defend Laloo. So it's sorta pointless.
I don't know how a political leader sitting down in a public ceremony for a national anthem can be compared to people not removing their footwear at the workplace. As long as we stood up and respected it , there's no qualms. The army jawans have their footwear in place when the Anthem is played but they have the utmost respect reflected from their body language..
You say he's not the brains behind the schemes yet you call him brilliant and intellectual.
I do agree that he's put the right ppl in the right place..(proabably), or this could have been just a mere reflection of a booming economy where the railways was exercised more and laloo happened to be in the right place also "contributing"..
I really dont understand, Give me a an example of his brilliance ?
His brilliance?? - Watch parilament live, in Doordarshan.
I never said he isn't a crook or he is the epitome of "goodness". I believe he has changed a bit for good - this is just a opinion based on watchin him over these years...but anyways, I don't remember saying that he is good man or whatever.
I maintain what I said, he is brilliant, he has the balls.
Again, brilliance has nothing to do with sitting or standing or keeping the footwear on (ofcourse, as long as he doesn't miss out on the election vitory because of that!!).
Army doesn't follow civilian notions in almost everything - it is martial and period.....it is certainly apple and orange when u talk about Army and us. I have no qualms about wearing footwear or anything...i am just saying that it not necessarily reflect what we feel about the anthem. Sitting - as well ("non-chalantly" - he always is...and attaching that attribute to that moment may not be correct - but that's beyond the topic).
>>>>>His brilliance?? - Watch parilament live, in Doordarshan.
I have and your point is ?
he has the balls could be one way of looking at it or the other way is that he doesn't know of any other way and that comes out as 'courage' someplaces and stupidity in most others..
Here are the literary definitions of brilliance :
- The quality of being magnificent or splendid or grand
- Unusual mental ability
If Laloo has to have either of these, then the world should be full of jacka**es
I agree that he's got something going for the railways but brilliant he's not..
I just gave the army example to say that footwear is not a wrong thing to have during an anthem..
What is wrong is total non chalance towards it being played..
I agree it is beyond the topic though and I agree that if we look at things objectively, he's achieved something few others have under his realm..
>>>If Laloo has to have either of these, then the world should be full of jacka**es
Not sure about the world...but predominantly correct if the parliament alone is taken.
A brilliant politician is a contemporary oxymoron..;-)
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