Delhi Beats

New Delhi: Most of Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit’s cabinet colleagues have been cleared by the central election committee. The most powerful minister in the cabinet, urban development minister Raj Kumar Chauhan, is safe in his stronghold of Mangolpuri. Ballimaran stays with transport minister Haroon Yusuf while labour minister Mangat Ram Singhal gets to keep Adarsh Nagar. Gandhi Nagar yet again goes to education minister Arvinder Singh Lovely. Speaker Chaudhary Prem Singh will contest from his home turf of Ambedkar Nagar.

Sheila Dikshit

It’s only the fate of health minister Yoganand Shastri that still hangs in the balance as Malviya Nagar post-delimitation has emerged as a tricky seat with the Hauz Khas MLA emerging as a strong contender here.

Besides the CM’s coterie, those MLAs who are being given yet another chance include Bijender Singh from Nangloi, Jaikishen from Sultanpur, Malaram Gangwal from Madipur, Mukesh Kumar from Uttam Nagar, Vijay Singh Lochhav from Bijwasan, Balram Tanwar from Chattarpur, Parvez Hashmi from Okhla, Anil Bhardwaj from Tri Nagar, Barkha Singh from RK Puram, Jile Singh Chauhan from Burari, Baljor Singh from Gokulpuri, former Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee president Ram Babu Sharma from Rohtash Nagar, Narendra Nath from Shahdara, Mateen Ahmed from Seelampur and Naseeb Singh from Vishwas Nagar.

Dikshit, significantly, has managed to
get Dayanand Chandila the ticket for Rajouri Garden at the cost of sitting MLA Ramesh Lamba who was Ajay Maken’s choice for the seat. Outer Delhi MP Sajjan Kumar has managed to get tickets for Mukesh Kumar (Uttam Nagar) and Surinder Kumar (Bawana).

Besides this, Ambrish Gautam will yet again contest from Kondli, Veer Singh Dhingan from Seemapuri, Prahlad Singh Sawhney from Chandni Chowk, Subhash Chopra from Kalkaji, Kunwar Karan Singh from Model Town and Surinder Pal Singh Bittoo from Timarpur.

The CEC has also made way for new entrants, some ex MLAs and sitting MCD councillors. For instance councillor Devinder Yadav is the choice from Badli and another councillor, Shambhu Pal Sharma, from Rithala. Another councillor, Deepika Khullar, will contest from Krishna Nagar against Dr Harshvardhan while Patparganj will seen MCD councillor Anil Chaudhary in the contest. Mehmood Zia will contest from Matia Mahal.

Fromer MCD councillor and leader of the house in the previous corporation Jeetu Kochhar is being fielded from the highprofile Greater Kailash where BJP is reported to be fielding its chief ministerial candidate VK Malhotra. Former MLA Mahinder Yadav is being fielded from Palam and Sishpal from Tughlaqabad.

Among the new entrants are Akhilesh Kumar Bansal from Shalimar Bagh, Deepak Arora from Janakpuri, Madan Kairwal from Karol Bagh Patel, Hasan Ahmed from Mustafabad, Harnam Singh from Deoli, Tek Chand Sharma from Sangam Vihar and Somesh Sahukeen from Matiala.

The party has ended the controversy over the selection of SC Vats from Shakurbasti. The senior leader has been replaced with Dev Raj. Vats had lost his clout in the party due to his assertions on the privatisation mess in the public accounts committee report on power.

The CEC has also tried to keep the defectors from BJP and NCP happy. Chandila, for instance, is one of them. NCP’s Ramvir Singh Bidhuri who dramatically left the party to join the Congress has been rewarded with Badarpur.

Some of those left homeless after delimitation have been taken care of. Chief whip of the CLP in Delhi assembly Ramakant Goswami has got Rajinder Nagar, Nasirpur MLA Mahabal Mishra will contest from Dwarka, Sarojini Nagar MLA Ashok Ahuja has been sent to Delhi Cantonement and Paharganj MLA Anjali Rai to Moti Nagar.

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New Delhi: Less than 20 years from now, Mumbai will be the world’s most densely populated city after Tokyo, with Delhi and Dhaka following right behind. By 2025, the world’s four biggest cities will be in Asia.

New Delhi 2050

This is forecast by UN Habitat in its State of the World’s cities 2008/09 report. The three south Asian cities breaking into the top four will replace Mexico City, New York and Sao Paulo in Brazil. Tokyo is already in the top four.

Kolkata, currently the 8th biggest city, will retain its ranking despite its population having risen 40%. Chennai will join the ranks of mega cities ie those with more than 10 million people. By 2025, that list will have 26 cities, up from 19.

Indian metros are expected to grow at a rapid pace despite Asian cities predicted to account for the bulk of what the report describes as shrinking cities – those whose populations are in decline. Globally, 143 cities lost 13 million people altogether from 1990 to 2000. More than half this population loss hapened in Chinese cities and roughly 16% (2.1 million people) was in other Asian countries. Asia, the report noted, accounts for 60% of all shrinking cities in the developing world.

While the world’s two most populous countries, India and China, are witnessing this phenomenon of shrinking cities, the patterns are not quite the same.

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New Delhi: The India International Trade Fair (IITF) seems to be giving sleepless nights to politicians in the city. As election campaigns start off on a high note after nominations, aspiring candidates are counting on manpower to help in creating awareness amongst voters. Campaign managers, however, claim getting the hordes of young boys and girls to accompany on the campaign trails is becoming difficult. Apparently, they prefer the air-conditioned environs of the trade fair to sweating it out on the streets.

Admits JP Singh of Awaaz India Media, an agency that’s involved in supplying the manpower to political candidates, ‘‘In this election, a lot of things are being outsourced, including manpower. But it’s turned out to be a problem in the past few days as trade fair is also starting, and a lot of these young educated people prefer to work there.’’
What exactly do these young boys and girls do? Apparently, the boys are sent off to contact all the voters on the Election Commission (EC) voting list of the constituency, and distribute pamphlets of the candidates. The girls meanwhile are put on telephone duty — calling up voters and giving a kind of sales pitch for the aspiring MLA. Graduates are put on the job of maintaing an eye on the rivals’ rallies, identifying the areas where support seems to be strong. This information is passed on to the political candidate thereafter.
Girls in fact are in great demand. Says Singh, who also provides campaign services for elections, ‘‘They accompany the womenfolk of the candidate on constituency rounds, and act as an interface with the public as well as the media.’’ Pretty, young girls with good English speaking skills is usually the profile that’s considered.
The money’s pretty good too. While those doing the rounds with pamphlets are paid around Rs 800 per day to visit 50 houses, telephone callers are paid Rs 200-250 to make 200 calls. Those doing campaign duty are paid better, at Rs 400 per day, plus transport and food fare. The prices however, are all set to go up after November 14, as campaigning gets more hectic with elections coming up.
The problem of lack of adequate manpower has however, prompted many agencies to go on a desperate hunt for willing people. Said Anwar Siddiqui, heading Anwar Enterprises, an agency that supplies manpower, ‘‘The elections have come at a time when the trade fair is also starting off. Most of our contacts on the manpower list have said they prefer to work in the fair, as it pays more and has better working conditions. But the demand from political candidates is so great that they are willing to even pay higher fees.’’ That should be good news for many.

New Delhi: If you’ve been struck by the excess of goodwill from a whole lot of strangers recently, you can safely blame the upcoming elections. As the election season gets underway, there’s a deluge of good wishes beaming down from posters. And though you may have never heard of these ‘‘public servants’’, there’s no escaping the air-brushed faces wishing everyone on Chatt, Guru Granth Purab, Ashtami, Diwali and even the local Bhagwati Jagran. Obviously, this season of festivals is the perfect opportunity for aspiring legislators to make their presence felt.

Claims a party official in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) office, ‘‘The ticket seekers are trying every way to be in public view, so that in turn party seniors also take them seriously.’’ Aspirants admit the posters are a way to keep ahead of competitors. ‘‘There are a number of factors behind someone getting a ticket: rapport with party bosses, your standing in the community, the work you’ve done. By putting up the posters and banners, I’m basically ensuring that both party officials and voters recognise my face when it comes time for campaigning,’’ says an aspirant from Kalkaji, whose posters can be seen from every street light pole and along colony boundary walls.

That aspirants are playing it safe can be seen from the long line of festivals that these unknown faces are wishing voters on — long gone festivals like Durga Puja and Ashtami and Dussehra find a mention next to Diwali and Chatt. Even the lowly, colony-level Bhagwati Jagran gets equal mention, as aspirants try to connect with the voter. Glossy pictures, beaming faces right next to shots of party stalwarts is the norm, with the message ranging from a short pithy best wishes to some preferring to save space and just putting up a list of festivals!

Interestingly, most of the posters put up along colony roads and market intersections have faces, which no one seems to recognise. Said Kamlesh Saigal, a housewife in Lajpat Nagar, who had come out for Diwali shopping, ‘‘These posters have come up almost overnight. One day you will see a poster by a former legislator, the next day it’s replaced by another poster.’’ Saigal admits it’s entertaining, especially as no one has a clue who the people behind the faces are. ‘‘Most are absolutely new faces,’’ she adds.

But that doesn’t seem to concern these aspirants much. ‘‘They will know us once we start campaigning,’’ says a legislative hopeful from Lajpat Nagar, whose posters can be seen on light poles, with short snappy messages against the present government. While no one is willing to talk about how much this excess of goodwill is costing them, privately, they admit its a lot. But then, publicity is always welcome, right?

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It was a predictable, if slightly delayed, ascent. Sachin Tendulkar stands atop cricket’s Everest but he isn’t looking down at the cricketing world. That would be unlike him for he looks upon this game as a vehicle of fulfilment, as a servant rather than a master. There is a delicious irony to it. One of the most humble devotees of the game is himself an idol to so many.

sachin tendulkar

Of course he knew he was going to get there. Elbows and ankles and many lesser known joints that he brought into public consciousness were the only hurdles. He has always maintained that if he played enough he would get the record. And so away from the public eye, in these last two or three years he worked on getting his body back into shape. Each time it was a more uphill battle than before, each time the odds against him returning as an equally good cricketer diminished, but he kept trying. He winced and he grimaced but his commitment to the game he loves saw him through. Tendulkar’s phenomenal success lies as much in toil and perseverance and such hardy qualities as it does in the many gifts he has been bestowed with.

Yesterday, he needed only 15 and instead of laying out a red carpet, Mohali did better. Daljit Singh gave him an excellent wicket to bat on, where the ball was coming onto the bat and where shots could be played.

This is where, these days, we see the original Tendulkar; on slow, low pitches where he has to bat to save a match he is like a miscast actor. Even there he delivers his lines, comes prepared, does what he has to but that is not him.

He would have loved the fact that he got to the record against Australia. They seek his wicket, the Aussies, they don’t give him an inch, but they respect him mightily. Earlier this year in Australia, he got a standing ovation at every ground he played on and admitted later that it moved him enormously. Now he got 88 and showed he can still bat! An irreverent young generation, in a hurry to erase legend, will have to wait longer!

He is still only 35 but because he started so young, and couldn’t sign a tour contract till he had scored three Test hundreds, it seems he has been around forever. Finally, Tendulkar scales 12k
On his first tour of England, he batted against Eddie Hemmings who started his first class career seven years before Tendulkar was born. Now he shares a dressing room with young men who were in their nappies, or sometimes found even those unnecessary, when he scored his first century! But the zest, the limitless energy, the obsession with cricket hasn’t dimmed. That, in itself, is extraordinary.

All his life he has had to confront mighty expectations; his own, which are scary, and those of his adoring fans which are probably scarier. It is a burden all great men have to carry and only some do lightly. Everytime he has dropped a notch, India has moaned. We put up with corruption, don’t mind poor toilets, manfully live through terrorism, but cannot allow Tendulkar, in the end just a man, to fail occasionally. And yet the same people have loved him like no other cricketer in the history of the game has been loved.

The incomparable Don Bradman became part of folklore because he brought cheer to the people in depressing times. History has brought such depression upon us again as people see their savings evaporate, seemingly harmless cyclists become human bombs. There is much misery in our times. But there is also Tendulkar who you know will be earnest and honest in his effort; who will let you forget your existence for a while, playing a real man in a real world.
Only very few are given the opportunity to spread such cheer. Through diligence and toil, and magical ability, Sachin Tendulkar has done that.

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Mumbai/New Delhi: Starved of their daily fix of soaps and serials, women across metros have begun getting withdrawal symptoms. They are also desperately speculating about the futures of their favourite TV characters. Some want to know what will happen to Ragini’s love life in ‘Bidaai’, others need to know how Gehna will turn out in ‘Balika Vadhu’.
Popular TV characters are having their pasts lived out again on the small-screen as channels air re-runs till the producers and TV workers come to an agreement in the current imbroglio. Meanwhile, avid TV viewers, a huge chunk of them women and children, have had a large portion of their lives suspended as they wait to know what will happen to their favourite characters.

Mayuri Mehta, a homemaker in Mumbai’s Opera House area who watches ‘Balika Vadhu’ so religiously that she even wrapped up her daughter’s birthday celebrations before 11pm last week, feels she’s been left high and dry. Gehna is an 18-year-old girl who marries an older man because of family pressure. ‘‘She only recently started defying her mother-in-law. How can they just start showing reruns?’’ asks a distraught Mehta, adding that even conversations with friends are drying up.
The re-runs have come as a double blow to many after the shock of ‘Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi’ going off the air. For Shobha Krishna, a 60-year-old former teacher in Delhi, the K-serials represented ‘‘a break from the routine’’ even though all the plotting and conniving was an absurdly stretched version of reality. ‘‘I hated myself for being hooked,’’ she says. But now that these serials have gone, she has started feeling the void.
Overworked stars take a break
The great Indian television deadlock has come as a welcome break for at least one segment — the actors in soaps and serials who normally work round the clock. With the striking workers unrelenting and the producers saying a pay hike is beyond their budget, the stars of the small screen are either hot-footing it to the nearest hill station or spending quality time with their families and friends.Their evenings are not the same
New Delhi/Mumbai: The lack of saas-bahu soaps on TV seems to have hit housewives hard.
Bala Kumar, a resident of Hauz Khas in south Delhi, says she now feels a little lost in the evenings. ‘‘At 65, when one is not wining and dining as often as one did earlier, it’s nice to spice up the evenings with a serial or two. Youngsters think the plots are rubbish because they have better things to do,’’ she says.
Kumar is distraught by the fact that she now has no choice but to watch reruns. “Whom do we turn to for variety? Agreed, these serials did not represent real life, but the idea was to get away from real life for a bit.”
Saroj Kohli, a 66-year-old housewife who lives in Civil Lines, also confesses to missing the saas-bahu soaps though she does acknowledge the regressive nature of the serials. “It’s hard to believe that people can be so terrible,” she says.
Krishna, like Kohli, hopes the void created by KSBKBT going off air will be filled by “stuff that’s not so terribly tacky.” Since petty vendettas and rampant love affairs weren’t the stuff of wholesome family discussions, serials like KSBKBT were viewed in the privacy of the bedroom. Says Kohli, “I really didn’t want my young granddaughter exposed to all the mirchmasala; so in a way, I’m glad the serial has gone off air.”
Says Dr Harish Shetty, a Mumbai-based psychiatrist, ‘‘Women whose primary source of entertainment is TV will suffer more pangs. They live their lives in the midst of their characters and need the story to keep changing.’’

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