Is this Democracy?

The American Elections 

I wonder if this is what the founding fathers and democracy ever thought was the future they dreamt of ... 

Watching the IOWA caucuses and seriously think the system is flawed. 

It's so easy for the least democratic people to twist the laws and confuse people ..and the media seems to be able to ...do like , when we say "beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder".. the media is able to put the image in front of you. And your version and choice of beauty is actually the choice of the media that put that image into your mind, thought, and thus the vote.

We swear oaths in courts and everyone of those senators promised to tell the truth, and each of them was blatantly lying.. they were voting on a partisan basis, bluffing ..and yet .. everyone (the American people - as they so often repeat) .... knows theyre bluffing. 

The caucuses encourage horse trading among the voters... not much different from India's Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha.. where horse trading though illegal, has so many loopholes, that the very democracy that was to have brought power to the people, is taking it away from them. 

Ive blogged for years about the negatives of having a Trump, and the many ways to thwart Trump. Well, no one listened, and now after 3 years, have realised that theres no hope. The American people have demonstrated that they have no will to be freed from sleaze and eye washes.. i believe that Trump will win again.. I hope Im wrong, but doubt Americans have visions of their own. 

My innards scream. Why TF cant the democrats for once, open their eye, pool their resources, stop doing adverts against themselves and giving Trumps republicans ammunition for the eventual Democratic candidate!! Unite for once if you really value democratic ideals. Bernie was your best bet - Warren is a second string but better than a Biden who will no doubt start with an impeachment effort from the GOP, if at all he does win. 

American Democrats- do it now, unite. Regroup. This is no time to bicker against each other.

Thanks to you, Trump who barely survived being removed from.office, today looks so strong, wins the GOP caucus with an overwhelming 90%, and with 10 months to go for re election, we may have to celebrate another 4 years of Donald Trump.

The only silver lining is that the Stand up comedy and talk shows will have free fodder from Washington.

Just Another Day - 23rd April 2019

Our daughter just turned 18 

And I'm unable to fathom my emotions 

We were coincidentally watching some old home movies last night with friends Farida and Aftab, visiting us in The Gambia after over 10 years, and stumbled on some other old videos from 10 to 12 years ago, with Rehane as an 8 year old, dancing away at a New Years party in Cape Skirring.. and memories flooded back.

This little active sprightly baby of ours, has turned 18! Do I look worried or am I thrilled 😅😅😅. Of course I'm thrilled. Overjoyed.

I fondly remember her birth with Dr. Bahsoun informing me that the good news was that it was a baby girl, and luckily didn't resemble me!!

Shes 18. Its sinking in.

That teenager milestone that governments acknowledge and confirm that you've grown!! 

Yet I have always felt that this one passed that milestone quite a few years ago. 

Be it learning to drive, or travelling overseas independently, or engaging in activities or conversations with people far older than her, or cooking, not just for survival, but good cooking, food for friends. She loved snails and oysters and local west african ebeh and fufu, a widespread array of tastes that many of us adults would cringe from.

She's been doing all the above for quite some time. 

She jumped off an aircraft, sky-dived when she was barely 12, overcame a fear of eating while flying, just by doing it herself. She learnt swimming when barely a year old, swam in freezing waters around Vigo before she was 12.

She spoke and speaks fluent Arabic, English, French, Wolof and dabbled with Hindi Gujarati and other languages.. though prefers yakking away in Wolof in the company of her diverse Gambian, Hungarian, Lebanese friends. 

Her love for music - from being a persistent 1D fan, getting me to listen, like their music and travel to London for a live 1D performance, most of my music collection today is from her. 

Shes been good to very good at academics, despite having parents who never did push her.. excelled in extra curricular activities and has always made us proud as parents. Her love for design, clothes and especially shoes has been consistent. Her painting skills have always been noticed and her steady hand while applying henna, earning good pocket money, has reassured us that she would never be strapped for cash in life. 

Well behaved at other peoples parties, and a help and friend to her friends,  her ability to keep friends for long is encouraging.

Ofcourse, she's imbibed a headstrong attitude from her parents, and a pretty short temper too. ..😅. Adamant and stubborn too - never did and vehemently refuses to learn to cycle, but has liked riding pillion on my motor bikes, though defiant while asked to wear a helmet, lest it infringe with her hair-do.... .. But then those are traits that we adults have.

So though my daughter turns 18 today, shes been an adult a long time ago! 

Happy Birthday Babes😍😍😍

Black Holes and Bad Exits

Black Holes and Bad Exits

I feel dumb! 

They've discovered how to image a black hole and scientists are going gaga on this stupendous achievement!!! 

'Bravo' I exclaim, while my head searches deep within the vast expanse of my brain... WTF is a black hole, and why is it more important than things that affect us everyday, like Global warming, Bashir stepping down in Sudan, The Mueller report and Trumps taxes, Algerian democracy, and most importantly, Brexit!! 

The more I search for answers, the dumber I feel!! They're all so similar!! A lot of gas in an empty space that you and me can do nothing about except talk, or write about.... with no consequences at all! 

So I want to know more about the current Brexit situation! 

The news is that the EU have given May another chance (her 4th or 5th chance), until October to try pushing the British parliament to agree to a proposal on how to withdraw! 

The people of Great Britain were given ONLY ONE chance to vote on something that they had no idea what the consequences would be. 

NO ONE KNEW NOTHING! NADA! ZILCH! 

A majoroty of those who voted to leave Britain, werent likely to be around when the consequences would be felt. Like your 90 year old parents putting their saved up money into a 30 year fixed deposit!! 

As the consequnces of a Brexit slowly dawned on many who voted to leave, and the political turmoil unfolding in Britain, the Government has been given 4 or more attempts to pass a Brexit deal , and have failed.

.. and now a further extension into a black hole like situation. 

No one knows what it is 

No one knows what it will do to you and your body. But the British Brexiters say, its done! 

No going back. 

Captain Kirk has set USSEnterprise on its path to go where no man has been before!! 

And YET, if we ask, since things are much clearer now, why not give the people of 'Great' Britain another chance, another referendum, the first response is a NO,! 

The people have already had a final say. 

WTF BRITAIN! 

Everyone has another chance!. 

The Tories have had 4 and many more likely, so why not the people!! 

HAVE ANOTHER REFERENDUM, DEAR GREAT BRITAIN.

Ram Mohan

Confounded in The Gambia

Watching news as Julian Assange is arrested,Sudans Omar al Bashir has been removed in a Coup, The US Attorney General continues to shield Trump who thinks this is a victory, Mike Pence has just authorised a Coup in Venezuela, Israel elects Netanyahu by the skin of his teeth, Trump gloats, India goes into a huge election while someone is suing Facebook....and the EU has just given Theresa May another chance!!!

The Art of Influencing Elections

We've been worried. Then we laughed. We are now facing consequences. We're seriously worried!

We have been following US Politics ever since an orange headed billionaire stood for and then against all odds,  took office as the POTUS! A strange dysfunctional family moved into the White House. The fate of the world now lies ever so much on a person who knows nothing much about it,  whose actions could alter the face of the entire planet, if not wipe everything off it. And while we deliberate whom we should blame for this impending disaster of a choice, and it seems like the American people (who voted for him) are the obvious culprits, we are suddenly confronted by BREAKING NEWS.
It wasn't the Americans.

It was the RUSSIANS!!!

Television channels scream  of US accusations of Russian interference in the US elections.

The Russians effectively interfered and helped Trump win,  they convincingly claim.

The Russians actually were able to influence Americans to vote for Trump by discrediting the Democratic nominee.

Did they play mind games? Hypnosis? Abracadabra - Vote for Trump - How did they do it?

In search for answers, the US appoints a special counsel to probe Russian interference.

How the Trump electoral machine colluded with Russian hackers or internet manipulators to influence  the outcome of the US Elections.

The usage of Russian cyber whizes to influence gullible American voters and thus alter the fate of America..  and the whole world too  This did sound sinister and treacherous! 

Sinister and Treacherous?

If you've grown up in the era we have, you wonder? CIA & KGB and James Bond are the immediate thoughts.

And back to reality you consider the accusation - Regime change influenced in the US of A by the Russians.

Hang On! My 1963 born mind cautions me.

The Russians haven't invaded the US.
Did they parachute in. Were guns fired? Hope no Nukes or Chemical weapons were used!
How many Dead?
The Russians haven't sent cold war era type of KGB spies or infiltrators or hired double agents. No spy thriller here. 

The how did they do it -

They just posted fake adverts, targeted at "swallow-everything-you-see-on-Television" American populace.
They swallowed! And we're getting screwed""

WTF are we talking about here?

While Robert Muller goes about his task , lets retrospect a bit on Regime change.

And as we delve into history on the means used by this very same United States of America using force, politics, money and subterfuge to interfere in other countries political futures, we wonder, on what grounds are the Americans crying foul of Russian interference in their elections. 

Its almost surreal. they're spending billions of Dollars investigating the Russian influence. And they are upset their population swallowed these fake news articles strategically placed by a far more intelligent being. Whether cyber transgression constitutes regime change may be debated - but for a country that has performed surgical, aggressive, violent and blatant regime change for more than half of its being, to complain about something I would blame on the low IQs of the targeted audience, is ridiculous. I googled "Regime Change Efforts of The United States of America" and was quite 'amused' to read the Wikipedia article. I quote from several paragraphs here :- 

(Source : Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_involvement_in_regime_change

United States involvement in regime change has entailed both overt and covert actions aimed at altering, replacing, or preserving foreign governments. In the latter half of the 19th century, the U.S. government undertook regime change actions mainly in Latin America and the southwest Pacific, and included the Mexican-American, Spanish-American and Philippine-American wars. At the onset of the 20th century the United States shaped or installed friendly governments in many countries including Panama, Honduras, Nicaragua, Mexico, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic.

Read  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_United_States_military_operations#Extraterritorial_and_major_domestic_deployments ( A detailed list of US Military Interventions )

The first article goes on to detail every US Intervention , highlighting US Efforts in Russia, Cuba during the cold war era, to the more recent interventions against a falsified Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) search in Iraq, to a hunt for Bin laden in Afghanistan and Pakistan, regime change in Libya and more recently in funding an opposition with arms and a battle in Syria - the effects of which have been a complete destabilization of the entire region and the fall out in the refugee crisis in Europe and the Arab peninsula region. They have escalated the South China Sea dispute to one on the brink of a Nuclear war. All blatant Interference in Political outcomes of other sovereign nations. 

The second article simply lists the hundreds of military interventions by the US that resulted or attempted regime change through use of force.

And the irony of it all is that they are crying foul about a relatively effective, peaceful, insignificant No Guns, No Blood, No War cyber attack on the limited IQ of a few million gullible American voters via the Internet!!

Am I missing something here? 

We must be Stupid

On Corruption, The Media -Social & Un-social, Religion and Politics - a Nexus?

Have been in India for a far longer duration than I've been before, and the more I try to follow the news and trends of Indian politics, the more I'm convinced that we, the people are plain Stupid, Dumb or CRAZY. Scroll down on your Social media app and try to peep into the world of politics and news, and it gets worse. 

We get 'stupider..if that's a word I can use. 

This is not about being pro BJP, pro or anti Modi, pro or anti the Congress or for that matter the AAP. 

This is about our being gullible enough to swallow all that's being spewed out by our politicians and our television channels.

I try and scavenge some logic with my old mates, and I find that were polarized too!! Extremely, at that. The debates among friends have become toxic. Quite often, the toxicity and depth of discussion, breaks up very old friendships!!

The politics in Tamil Nadu have always been cinematic, and that's the least one can say. But reality today is far more sinister and melodramatic than our script writers of yesteryear ever did script!! M N Nambiar and M R Radha seem like the fore-tellers, Nostradamus' warning us, in their celluloid days, of today.

The heights of blatant corruption that our politicians have risen to would make the Everest seem a molehill!

Scams of "Lakhs of Crores of Rupees" have literally become catch-phrases of the magnitude of corruption we have learnt to become numb to. How much is one Lakh Crore Rupees? 
1,00,000 x 100,00,000 gives me a figure of 10,00,00,00,00,000 Rupees.
I don't even know where to fix the commas(separators) anymore!! 

Maybe a conversion into the more conventional will help! 
1,000,000,000,000 Rupees is One Thousand Billion Rupees. 
If we do convert this astronomical figure into an international currency (No, the Rupee isn't there as yet, even though we claim we are among them!!), it gives us a figure of US$150,000,000,000 (150 Billion US Dollars).

150 BILLION US DOLLARS!! 

And that's 1(ONE) Lakh Crore Rupees!!! 

With several scams  in our country, each qualifying easily, with several hundreds or thousands of crores Rupees,  and a few close to or even surpassing the magical ONE Lakh Crore, we, the people, must be really crazy to imagine that our politicians will ever let go without a slice of the cake.

We're the Worlds largest growing Democracy. This cloak of democracy encourages us to believe that we have chosen these leaders and thus they work for our ideals. The old adage that you get the leaders you deserve, resigns us to this, almost like Karma, that mystic future that you're destined to bear because of an even more mysterious past life!! We accept anything if a mystic spiritual explanation is offered. Just as we take bribing gods for favours to the next level when we do the same in our daily life.

This very ridiculous presumption that any political leader actually gets to perform only as his constituency wants is a dream that we will only dream about and never see in reality. If we believe that todays crop of politicians are our karmic payback, I or we must have had a very "sinful" or colourful past life!!

Where are we heading? 

Vote Banks? Note Banks! Reservation Cards!! Reservations were meant to uplift the downtrodden by giving them an opportunity to get on par with the rest of the country. The Opportunists (our political masters) have not only twisted the whole raison-d'etre of reservations into a monopoly of political and monetary gain, but have not just extended the duration of this Reservation, year after year , the scope of reservation, increasingly covers more and more communities, that very soon those not covered under reservation will become a minority.. All this while our nation regresses. 

We're literally watching as one of India's most affluent communities is fighting for reservation too, on the accepted pretext of having been marginalized for many years. The Patels, one of our most wealthy communities, with amazing financial success the world over, have recently joined the fray and fight for reservation in India. And the political bosses have immediately, jumped on the bandwagon, realizing that they command an affluent vote bank. Successfully disrupting lives and infrastructure, they are led on to fight for a cause that was created to bring those who didn't have, to par. 

Were lowering the bar to bring par down. Lowering the standard to accommodate. 

There seems to be a complete lack of innovation. Jugaad has become a national heritage rather than a drive to improve and create. 

Make in India will remain a slogan , just as Garibi Hatao only helped move the poor away than move poverty away.

The Minorities have become vote bank majorities. The Backward Castes and Classes have grown being fed by vote seeking politicians. The poor have become a larger group, the middle class is mesmerized and continues to grow. Our billionaires have only gotten further away. 

When will we wake up from this? How can we wake up and correct this ?

A paradigm shift is required.. in thought,, in politics.. and thus mass media is required  - but what does one do when the mass media itself is mired in this mess. Where media is a part or even possibly the root cause of the problem itself. 

Does Social media have the possibility to rally the common man? It may be too late. Social media started off as a watch dog on the main stream media. But ever since the idea to use Fake media to discredit legitimate social media has caught on, thanks to Donald Trump, social media has proven to be effectively disruptive and worse, un-controllable.

Raise an issue and you're trolled and in no time. You're the perpetrator. The publicity shy common man either is bought or is shoved out, hounded out until the movement is stifled in its path.Take the current debate on Television. On fake nationalism debates being virtually fabricated by the television channels. And the channel is now trying to make it a debate inviting radicals from all sides to make slanderous comments. The comments are then edited or carefully chosen to incite and scrolled as Breaking news segments flashing discotheque like on the screen...the debate turns into an argument. Voices raised, barbs are spewed out, and the negative comments then are highlighted by the same media as anti national comments. Violence spills out from the studios to the streets, giving them more fodder for the ever TRP hungry channels. 

A vicious cycle indeed. 

A political party. The laws say must have no criminal record. Yet one finds that come elections, rules are twisted and tickets given to tainted thugs. 

The Election Commission says No Sops before elections. Yet giving sops before elections is the national pastime. blatant misuse of state machinery for political mileage. And this is not just the current political dispensation. This has been a mutually accepted practice executed to perfection by every political party to some extent or the other. This has become worse than the doping scandal in cycling. Everyone cheats. 

And I wonder why, the moment I say 'çheat', I think of  religion!! Godmen have been in our news. for the deceit, sleaze and everything else that we were taught were the evils of social and civil behavior. And yet they thrive. The blind faith by multitudes, despite the exposes, is quite frightening, and is why I wonder if we're stupid.

We have learnt well from our British colonizers. Divide and rule was what we were taught was the manner in which the British kept us fighting among ourselves, hoping that we would forget about the colonizers and this ploy almost succeeded. 

Gandhi brought about a paradigm shift in the manner we reacted and thus we were able to achieve freedom. But no longer than our Colonizers left, did our politicians get rid of Gandhi and his influence dwindled. Overtaken by greed for power and money, we have once again sunk into the depths of the trap.

Will we find another Gandhi? Not one just in name (for heavens sake), but one in Principle. 

Until then, we remain regressive, puppet-like and stupid.

Ram Mohan

Depressed on the state of media and politics.

Chennai October 2017

Unanswered & Unasked Questions - Who Killed Hemraj?

The headlines have been blaring looking for an answer to Who Killed Arushi Talwar, and my brother in law Col. Muralidhar, while writing an article, asked, "What about Hemraj"? It hadn't really struck me earlier that these were actually two murders. It had always been all about Arushi-Hemraj, conjoining them or concentrating on Arushi alone, if you went by the news headlines!!

After 9 years, the Talwars have just been released (not exonerated, just released!) due to the lack of evidence and a botched up investigation. The TV headlines and anchors scream that they want justice. Arnab Goswami (ugh!) goes into his usual verbal diatribe (I'd say verbal-diarrhoea!), with 16 panellists, only there as a virtual noise contributing audience, listening to what he (Arnab) distastefully spews out. Some of the other channels are less outrageous, but the garish vulgar display of Breaking News Headlines and multiple screens hypnotise us as we try and concentrate and read the F1 style titles whizzing past making more noise than the real thing. 

Within this mayhem, a very sensible calm and composed interview (apparently a Saeed Naqvi) on one channel from 2011 with the Talwars gives them an opportunity to plead their innocence and argue some of the circumstantial evidence that virtually nailed them in what was more a Television Court in front of an "ever-hungry-for-sensationalism-Indian-audience".

Back to reality, here was a live version of Crime-Patrol. TRPs sky rocketing without even having to pay the actors or produce a serial. Anchors feasted on the liberty to fling insinuations, accusations and character aspersions with aplomb, almost like Sachin Tendulkar being given a fielder-less field against a bowler. The Talwars had absolutely no chance defending against this barrage.

But then the googly that my BIL bowled with his question had us skimming through the channels and articles, questioning the lack of questions and answers to "Who killed Hemraj"? 

Was the importance of the death of Hemraj any lesser than that of Arushi?

Why wasn't there a separate investigation?

This was almost as though conjoint twins had been murdered!

Another human beings' life was taken, within the same premises, and possibly in a similar manner as that of Arushi Talwar, and yet the media and the courts were investigating the murder of Arushi Talwar. Who killed Arushi-Hemraj asked some channels pre determining that it was a single investigation.

Hemraj seemed to be an incidental murder and thanks to the media attention, seemed to be completely side-lined.

Almost collateral damage.

Has a possibility that Hemraj killed Arushi and subsequently was killed by the Talwars been examined?

Were both murders committed at the same time?

Many questions remain un-asked, let alone un-answered!

And then the role of the first investigators at the crime scene? The botch up by the Police for not securing the scene.

Has the CBI or the High Court pulled up the officers involved?
Will they take action against them for not securing the crime scene?

In my view the mess up by the Police has created this situation, and to this lengthy pathetic exhibition on incompetency and thus lack of justice for the deceased persons.

The killing of Hemraj should have been investigated separately.

The Talwars have been released, and rightly so, due to the lack of evidence, from a legal point of view.

The CBI will no doubt want to absolve themselves of failure. They will have to go to the Supreme Court, prolonging this already prolonged agony, of all involved, irrespective of innocence or guilt.

In my opinion, the Supreme court should correct the mishaps conducted by the investigative agencies, rather than re-trying the case on the merits of a completely otherwise, erroneous investigation.

Question the Police and hold them responsible for answers on "Who killed Hemraj", and then probably we will have more light on who killed Arushi.

Ram
Chennai on a prolonged break
2017 October 13th ...a Friday the 13th.. Watching Indian Media Sensationalism on Television!

The Gambia Tourism Forum

Kumpo - Typical Jola Masquerade

The Gambia is a tiny country in West Africa. 11,000 Sq Kilometers, encompassed on three sides within Senegal, and the Atlantic Ocean on the West with a river (The Gambia, which lends its name to this lovely country that has become home to me and many others and friendly people.

The Gambia is a Tourist destination, primarily for Europeans escaping the harsh winters for the warmth of the beaches and river and people of The Gambia. Known for its beaches, friendly people and relatively economical tour packages rather than "Wild Life" that Africa is generally known for. The Gambia is a safe country, unlike most of the other destinations in Africa that are for the far more adventurous tourist. But there is a little hiccup to making tourism a wholly dependable revenue and year around employment avenue for The Gambia.

Tourism is seasonal.

Cape Point Beach - Approaching Storm

The multitudes of tourists disappear once the summer sets in, preferring the mild warmth in Europe to the humidity and heat or rainfall in tropical west Africa. Hotels as well as Restaurants, shut-down or run with skeleton staff as soon as the last tourist flight leaves. Employment drops, leaving scores of staffers looking for means to sustain themselves and families "off-season". 

I'd love The Gambia to become a year round destination... Its got so much more to offer than just traditional tourism.. Most visitors develop friendships and if I may say 'familyships' too!

The Gambia has the most 'Repeat' tourists who come year after year gradually altering their status from Tourist to Resident .. and the numbers, though rather insignificant in World Tourism Figures, are highly significant considering the size of the country and its per capita impact.

As a resident in The Gambia since 1998, I would love to see tourism figures ever increase. While first time tourists can have an insight into what to expect from The Gambia based on everyones experience, I do feel that just as each persons fingerprint or footprint leaves a different mark, each of your experiences would be different, and changes from person to person, and from situation to situation. I feel its all about expectations. the more we expect, the more likely are we likely to have experiences based on a pre conceived expectation!

Do gather all the information you want from Tourist forums, but try your best to have your own experience. The Gambia is a wonderful country with a wonderful people. Like any other country, you will have positives and negatives. Good people and not so good people. The Good in the Gambia by far outweighs the negatives. Come in with expectations and you will have let downs for sure.

Our endeavour here on Tourist Forums is to try and add to your experience and not to try and create or influence it. Were not the experts but are experienced. Don't hesitate to call on anyone here to ask questions when in doubt. We can give you an insight based on our experience, but would rather you came here and developed your own experience. As with every foreign destination, follow basic norms and you wont be taken by surprise. a few of them that come to my mind are

 -  understand local customs and cultures 

 -  try and learn and imbibe local culture rather than impose yours

 -  trust takes time and take time to develop your trust circle

 - the cheapest solution is not necessarily the best... and neither is the more expensive a guarantee of being good.

 - walk away from arguments 

 - Try and avoid flaunting anything (money, weight, exposure, knowledge....)

 -  if you'd like to be charitable, try and ensure it is compassionate but yet sustainable. What I mean to say is that do try and ensure it doesn't make anyone depend on your charity for life. Try and make them self supporting in the long run.

The above are from my personal experience, as a resident and having watched and observed tourists for over 20 years. We have over 40 staff members in The Gambia and have virtually only positive stories to tell.

Having said that, I personally am not in the league of tourists (to The Gambia, but do live here, and thus may not understand some of the nuances of your queries. There's no dearth of experienced tourists on this forum. I thank Kieran Roy Sudworth and the other Admins of the Gambia Tourism Forum on Facebook for this platform and in their own way contributing to Tourism to develop the Economy that The Gambia has so much more potential to grow.


Ram Mohan
October 13th, 2017
Chennai - waiting to get back home