China on the rise - 

Road to riches since 1962! 

It has economically progressed to becoming a world super power! as rightly and effectively portrayed by Prasenjit K.Basu (based in Singapore) in his book "Asia Reborn"

Well China is indeed worth watching. I remember, it used to be a iron curtain till sixties and seventies till Mao Tse Dong was the chief of Communist Party of China. His successors including the present leader Xi Jinping have opened up the economy in such a way that the economic growth has maintained its speed and vigour continuously for about 3-4 decades. It is only next to USA in economic prowess and progress right now.

India, a colony of the British, suffering from the bad legacy in terms of administrative structure and political setup is still a developing economy. It is afflicted with all the drawbacks of ill-equipped systems with lack of real patriotism from top to bottom. It is so much politicised at every level that no scheme or programme escapes the eyes of selfish politicians with the result the outcome is a big zero. 

Mr Xi, 64, has emerged as the most powerful Chinese leader in the recent times who was conferred a second five year term by the ruling Communist Party of China. Millions of officials across China have been asked to study President Xi Jinping's book on governance which contains his speeches, ideological thoughts and instructions.

China, the equivalent of India in size and population, history and culture, is far ahead because of its disciplined political setup. The central leadership is able to execute things the way they plan both in the short term and long run with less wastage of time and money which is next to impossible in India in the given political scenario at the moment. Even the countries like South Korea, Taiwan, Japan have done a wonderful job in economic development.

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Political funding in India.

I agree with Zoya Hasan, Prof. Emeritus JNU that when party funds are raised and controlled centrally, this weakens the State units and rank and file vis-a-vis the central leadership on a range of issues including leadership selection and nominations for elections. It also discourages democratisation that would otherwise limit their power to accumulate wealth or promote personal power at the expense of public interest.

Political parties - with the exception of Left parties - still refuse to lay down settled and predictable procedures for almost everything they do from the selection of candidates to the framing of a manifesto.

God help this country!

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South Africa

Nelson Mandela led ANC party to power in the euphoric 1994 election that marked the end of white-minority rule.

Things turned worse after Mandela retired from politics just after one term of five-year in office as the President of South Africa. Great leader to be emulated by other politicians in other countries!

Soaring unemployment and government corruption have fuelled frustration among millions of poor black South Africans who face dire housing, inadequate education and continuing racial inequality. It is a curse for many a nation in African and Asian continents to be ruled by third rate and hopeless leaders. What will the citizens of these countries do for transparent and efficient administration at the end of the day?

President Jacob Zuma whose reign has been marred by graft scandals, will step down as ANC chief but remain as head of state ahead of general elections in 2019.

Hell with such politicians found wanting badly in their life and working style!

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Xi Jinping & Narendra Modi

Two stalwarts - Mr Xi Jinping and Mr Modi - are heading currently two super powers, namely, China and India. Both richly deserve to rule their respective countries for more than a decade initially.

Both are strong-headed nationalists in their own style and action. China is a communist country ruled by a single party for more than 6-7 decades while India got independence from the British in 1947.  India is a democratic country practising parliamentary system of governance by duly electing public representatives to both the Lok Sabha and state assemblies once in five years.

Governing China by a single party with minor differences in terms of religion, culture, language, food habits, living style among its citizens is comparatively easier whereas India is having several languages, umpteen number of political parties at the national level and regional levels vying with each other and competing during and after the elections.

Ruling a nation like India is not a joke. After a long time the country has given a massive mandate to Modiji to take this country forward on the path of "development" 

As an economist-cum-administrator my only wish is that Modiji gets a good and competent team to advise him correctly and carry forward his programmes in right earnest.

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Means and mode of conveyance

I learnt cycling at the age of 11 by hiring a bi-cycle from the market. It was indeed a pleasure to drive for an hour or two and cover a distance at a speed. My uncle Dhanasingh Raja, my father's younger brother got me one second-hand cycle to commute between Dalavoipuram village and the Higher Secondary School in Sankaran Kovil while studying Tenth and Eleventh grades. It was certainly a luxury compared to walking a distance of 3 Kms one-way to the town.

College education was totally residential staying in the hostels. So no means of conveyance until I became the Sub Divisional Officer at Jashpur Nagar in Raigarh district of Madhya Pradesh State and enjoyed an old jeep provided by the Jashpur  Janpad Panchayat for two years. As Additional Collector of RAIPUR and Collector of Betul I had a new and well-maintained jeep and of course as Collector Sagar I had for the first time a lucky ambassador car to drive around in the district. 

Till my retirement in 2007 I had the fortune of using the official vehicles only & mostly the Royal ambassador car. At the time of marriage  I bought a scooter after taking a loan.  Four years later my father-in-law bought a second-hand ambassador car for my family use between 1976 and 1985.

After retirement I bought a new car for the first time - a Chevrolet U-va model for a price of ₹3.75 lakh in 2007 with the money returned by Ram Mohan, my son.

Although the car was submerged in flood waters of chennai during November-December, 2015 it was repaired at a cost of Rs 45,000/- and being used now at the age of 70!

My spouse - the grand lady-  still prefers to travel by train in the 3-tier sleeper coach (Non-AC) while travelling alone. With a lot of persuasion she manages to travel with me in 2-tier AC coach at times. Between the home town and Chennai we currently travel by omni-bus from safety and convenience points of view.

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Life worth living?

Russian dictator Joseph Stalin's family too suffered at his hands - wife committed suicide, daughter Svetlana Alliluveya's boy friend in love with her at 17 sent to a concentration camp, Two aunts of Svetlana were arrested - one for marrying a Jew, her mother's sister went mad in prison. Jacob her brother and Stalin's son died by throwing himself on an electrified barbed wire. Svetlana herself defected and took asylum in USA on her return from India after visiting her husband's home.

Friends and close relatives including his party colleagues were tortured and eliminated by this dictator to satisfy his own ego and devilish principles!

Human beings in Russia lived an animal life during his reign, it seems - no freedom of thought and action!! Compare and contrast this with the contemporary situation now in India! - we seem to live in heaven despite several hardships, economically and socially!!!

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Democracy V/s Bureaucracy in India

Our administrators rarely take initiative at higher levels, act smart and prove their efficiency but whenever they venture to effect changes, the elected public representatives never allow them to work hard and deliver good results in public interest.

Telling example:

The Secretary to Government of Tamil Nadu in School Education Department Mr. Udaya Chandran has been divested of his main charge because he was instrumental for certain reforms in the department with the cooperation of his minister Mr. Chengottian to the dislike of government school teachers and state MLAs ---like, he got the ranking system in public examinations removed, introduced compulsory public examination to the XI Standard students, effected transparency in transfer policy for school teachers etc. And a pliable officer has been put in his place.

What does it indicate? The system requires ordinary and inefficient officials serving the interest of political representatives and departmental vested interests.

Hail Indian Democracy!

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