Pune University to teach Marathi to non-Marathis

At the peak of the Marathi vs. Hindi debate an acquaintance who had recently relocated to Maharashtra asked 3M a question… "Why should I learn Marathi when most Maharashtrian are more than eager to speak in Hindi? In fact most of them speak within themselves in Hindi!"

He went on to tell me that even if he wanted to learn Marathi there was no way of doing so as there are no “Marathi speaking classes” anywhere… Now Pune University has decided to “answer his prayers”!

MAHAPOL POWERLIST - Methodology

At the outset, let me thank BharGo for giving me a chance to contribute to this wonderful blog. It will be my earnest attempt to help you understand the power shifts in Maharashtra Politics – some gradual and some very dramatic.

The MahaPol Powerlist ranking will take into consideration five key parameters for evaluation. Each of these parameters has sub-elements which contribute to the overall ranking. They are as follows -

1. Electoral clout
........a. Number of elected representatives of his/ her– MPs and MLAs
........b. % of vote in the last elections that his/ her party was able to garner
2. Clout within the Party
........a. His/ her Relationship with the Party Top boss (in case the person is not heading the party)
........b. His/ her say in the party decision making process
........c. His/ her base in the party – especially grassroot level
3. Authority
........a. Whether his party is in power in the state
........b. The portfolio that he handles as a minister
........c. Number of local bodies (Municipalities, Zilla Parishads, Gram Panchayats etc) where his party is in power
4. Social Clout
........a. Major Cooperatives (Including APMCs) under control of his party
........b. Support of Lobbies – Sugar, Workers unions, Businessmen etc
........c. Organisational base – Ability to mobilize masses irrespective of the party
........d. Intelligentsia support – Having favourable relationship with intellectuals from different fields like arts, social service etc
........e. His/ Her Caste – Being a Maratha has an added advantage in large parts of the state.
........f. Media Relationship – Does the politician have favourable relationship with TV and Press journalists? Does he have news value?
........g. Public Image – public perception in the minds of voters in Maharashtra
........h. Nuisance Value – Higher the nuisance value higher is the importance attached
........i. Money Power – Ability to mobilize funds for the party
........j. National Clout – Does the politician have a clout at national level?
5. Personal Capability
........a. Intellectual prowess
........b. Administrative capability
........c. Global perspective on issues

Some of the parameters are quantitative and some are qualitative and hence no score will be given to each politician. MahaPol will just publish relative ranking.

So jump on to the MahaPol Express and enjoy the ride!

माळ्याच्या मळ्यामंदी कोण ग उभी? Malyachya Malyamandi Kon Ga Ubhi?

"Stateless Actors"

Ecophilo is a hugely popular Indian blog... Today's post is really hilarious and I have pasted it below -

..................................................................................................................

"All these stateless actors are causing a problem. "

"Why?"

"Well, they have created a parallel industry of themselves without the locals."

"Like how?"

"See, they have disproportionate influence over the locals as compared to the state actors"

"But can they do anything without local support?"

"True, but that local set is an exclusivist set and does not represent the view of the true local majority"

"How would you know that?"

"We are in touch with the ground realities"

"Hmm"

"They run the industry all by themselves. Their fund sources are from all over the world and they have sympathizers all over the world. So, many of their actions find sanction everywhere. They are a big hit, even though I hate to admit it..."

"Any specific person?"

"Oh yes. Amitabh Bachahan. He is one of the biggest stateless actors." said Raj Thackeray signing off...

'MahaPol' joins Ek Marathi Manoos

Please join me in welcoming ‘MahaPol' as a fellow contributor to ‘Ek Marathi Manoos’. He is a senior political analyst with a reputation for having his fingers on the pulse of Maharashtra Politics. Giving in to his demand, 3M has agreed to keep him incognito!

Though MahaPol will contribute his views once in a while, his main contribution will be ‘MahaPol Power List’. Starting January 2009, he will publish the ‘Power List’ of the top 25 politicians in Maharashtra on the first of every month. Track the winners and losers in the “Snakes and Ladders” game of Maharashtra’s Politics… month on month!

Raj ki Baat

Raj Thackeray seems to be coming back into his elements after the post 26/11 hiatus. His public meeting in Pune drew good crowds where he made some very clever statements… the best one was “irrespective of your party, be proud of being Marathi” – An attempt to put “national” parties on the back foot by confusing their cadre!

He also stressed on a point that 3M had made earlier on this blog – shrinking electoral clout of Marathi Manoos in Maharashtra due to delimitation. He gave an example of Kolhapur District where the assembly seats have shrunk from 11 to 9. These 2 seats have been shifted to Mumbai Metropolitan Region… where immigrants will decide the fate of the politicians. “No wonder these national parties are going in for minority appeasement.”

Obviously, if Congress-NCP & BJP-SS combines are not going to assuage the fear of Marathi Manoos – real and imaginary, the coming elections will see Raj grabbing a sizeable chunk of the votes!

In search of the elusive Santa!

In my childhood, the only place where you were assured a tête-à-tête with Santa was the “largest departmental store” in Mumbai – Akbarallys. The cheerful Santa would be perched on his “throne” right at the entrance. The kids would make a beeline to sit on his lap… ask for the “mechano set” or “bicycle” which he would “make a note of”… try to check if his beard was real or fake… take a Ravalgaon Toffee from him and walk off 3 inches above the ground. For me, the other favourites on the Christmas day - a walk in the Horniman circle gardens and a peak into the Laffans store to admire the waterfall, caged birds and a stuffed tiger. The day would end in a sumptuous dinner at Kandeel or Khyber… those were the days!

Wanted to recreate the same Xmas magic for my 3 year old daughter. Wasn’t sure if the Santa still sits at Akbarallys… So we decided to go to its modern day equivalent – INORBIT! We were sure that a few Santas would be floating around in the mall. The atrium had a show where kids and parents were dancing away to the latest Bollywood Punjabi number. 3M did not want to "waste time on such silly things” as Santa on Xmas was far more important. So 3M and MMW lugged their MMB (MarathMoli Babe) from Hypercity to Shopper’s Stop and from Spencer’s to Lifestyle… but Santa was nowhere to be seen! When we asked around…

“He was just here…”
“Huh?”
“Do check at the kids’ outlets on the first floor…”
“Must have gone for a peeeee break… ;-)”

Finally, the MM family decided to have some grub at the food court… lo and behold… there he was… at the entrance of the “peri peri” restaurant… but MMB was not amused… “He is not fat”… “He is wearing a mask”… “There are no gifts with him”… “He is not a real Santa”… no “shake hands”... no "photo-ops"!

Finally MMB found solace in the Punjabi Music in the atrium… Santa nahi to Santa-Banta music hi sahi!

Future of Raj Thackeray

One die hard fan of Raj Thackeray forwarded this link in response to 3M’s earlier “prediction”… then an internet search yielded more such soothsayers! 1 2

Good TP

Thackeray says “I’m Marathi first”

The three part interview of Balasaheb Thackeray in Samna, Shiv Sena’s mouthpiece, was quite a damp squib… no new issues were discussed. From terrorism to political opponents and from Sena defectors to Hindutva, he repeated his same old viewpoint peppered with choicest cuss word.

3M was amused to see that Thackeray agreed that he is “Marathi First” and had to take up the Hindutva issue for the “larger benefit of India”... political compulsions!

The main aim of this interview was to emphasise that he was in good health and that Shiv Sena was in the “safe hands” of Uddhav. He ended the interview with a impassioned plea to the Marathi Janta to bring Shiv Sena back in power. The campaign for the assembly elections next year has started in right earnest.

Antulay's U-turn

After creating immense embarrassment for the Government, Antulay is suddenly satisfied with Chidambaram's statement that Hemant Karkare was indeed killed by Pakistani Terrorists! The U-turn seems as illogical as the theory he propounded in the first place.

3M is surprised that BJP and Shabana Azmi were on the same side of the political divide!