An Open Letter to Young Akhilesh Yadav

Dear Akhilesh,
Heartiest congratulations on a well-managed campaign and a well-deserved victory. After being sworn in as the youngest CM of the most populous and politically important state of the world's largest democracy today, the spot light is clearly on you.

Administering the gargantuan Uttar Pradesh(which happens to be my home state too) shall indeed be a formidable task.Every ball you play as you open your innings, shall be watched closely by not only a packed stadium,on TV screens across the country and abroad,as also by the umpires, including a hawkish media.The team you are up against shall try every trick,not always sticking to the rules of the game, to bowl you out, you can be sure.But you have the people's mandate" Janaadesh", and age on your side.Another factor in your favour is the total mess and corruption that you are inheriting.

I have had the priviledge of working closely,but briefly,with your father while he was the Union Defence Minister and I the head of SIB UP. I hold Mulayam Singh Ji in high esteem because he has risen from the roots of politics,and his ground level fighting skills.He used to proudly relate to me at our one on one meetings over breakfast in his house in Lko. his experiences of leading several agitations against the Government,as a student leader in the Sixties.

Your first and real test Mr Young CM UP will be in the area of maintenance of law and order, and controlling organized crime.You are aware, I am sure, of the stigma of " Goonda Raj"which has,unfortunately got attached to previous SP regimes in the state.

Here is my unsolicited advice on this front, backed by nearly 40 years experience in the Indian Police Service in some of the country's hottest spots like J&K and the North East.

Without seeking the help from your bureacratic advisors (who are sure to oppose it tooth and nail because of their own vested interests),go ahead and take a decision which has been hanging fire since long,but is long overdue,viz., introducing the Police Commissioner systems in Lucknow, Kanpur and NOIDA by also including districts contigous to Delhi like Baghpat,Ghaziabad, and Hapur in its jurisdiction.Select Officers of appropriate seniority and with proven track records, as also integrity, as CPs of these three Metropolitan areas.The spade work for this exercise has already been done more than once. The files must be gathering dust in the Home Dept.in Luckmow Sachivalay.

In adddition to the present DGP(Atul)who is an extremely competent and honest officer,you would do well to call upon a few veteran and highly respected IPS officers who have impecable records in policing in their careers, from the UP Cadre,like S/Shri Prakash Singh, former DGP UP and DG BSF, Trinath Mishra,former DG CRPF and Ajay Raj Sharma former CP Delhi and DG BSF ( all living in NOIDA now),to assist you in this, and also in your other endeavours to maintain peace and harmony in the state,which in my humble view, shall be your acid test, and key to my state's future.

The superiority of the Police Commissioner system, over the archaic dual control syetem of the DM and SP,a legacy of the Brtish Colonial days,has been ackowledged by all expert Committees,including the National Police Commission, headed by Shri Dharam Vira, ICS. Its inbuilt prompt and proper resonse to crime and law and order in Cities,is time tested.

After the success of the system in these three important metropolitan cities,it can be extended in a phased manner to the other KAVAL towns viz., Agra, Allahabad and Varanasi.

By taking this bold step you will send out a strong message that you mean business.It would also have an immediate all round and salutary impact on the citizens who will be benefitted by the quick response to their problems from the police,in their times of need.

Now I turn to the field of development- The impressive performance of SP at the hustings has given rise to widespread misgivings in the minds of most NOIDA residents that all development activities in this prime residential and commercial hub of NCR Delhi shall come to a halt and lawlessness shall return to this area.These fears have to be quickly allayed by you by not only not blocking the on going development projects, but also ensuring that there is immediate relief in ceratain critical areas like Coverage of the open drains and speeding up supply of the Ganga Canal water supply; Widening of the bridge over a small culvert which is the chocking point for thousands of daily commuters working in the several IT Cos including MNCs, which have located their hubs in NOIDA, in preference to Gurgaon, for lack of comparable infrastural support systems; Speeding up the construction of the Intracity network of roads; Inaugurating the Taj Expressway, which should win even international accolades for you by;Improving traffic regulation and flow on the Expressway which has been dubbed a "killer highway" because of the large fatal casualties;and Finally making NOIDA a more safe and secure place to live in. Pl do not neglect NOIDA, which holds the key to the state's prosperity.

You have ignited the hopes of thousands of UP Niwasis like me! Do not let us down.Good luck and God bless you Akhilesh.

-Anil Chowdhry IPS ( Retd)
Former Secretary (Internal Security), MHA, GOI.

Vasant and Holi in quick Succession in Delhi

The prolonged winter over Delhi delayed the arrival of Vasant and the peak flowering of winter annuals, which normally happens around mid- February.It was not only a very busy wedding season in Delhi,but also the time best time of the year for garden lunches hosted by those fortunate few who live in ground floor homes with a compound. We enjoyed many such lunches in February, and also lots of wedding receptions.Not anticipating the very cold wind which continues to blow over Delhi at night even now, many of these receptions held in the open were a rather chilling experience! Conservative Hindu families also adhere to the tradition of serving only vegetarian food and no alcohol at weddings, which makes them really painful for guys like me who have very low tolerance of cold weather.Why not exempt senior citizens from attending wedding dinner receptions held in the open during the winter months? Asking to be excused is an option, but not all hosts shall forgive your absence from an important happy event in their family.
I have in my past blogs too pleaded for making weddings in North India more simple.There is need for a serious debate on this.But extravagance and vulgar display of wealth at such occasions, alas continues unabated.The "Big Fat Indian Weddings" are a boost to business and economy, I am told.But why can't we cut on the guest list to include only family and close friends and serve more tasty, less greasy and fewer items of just one cuisine, instead of the multi- cuisine extravaganza one comes across at such events?
The prolonged Delhi winter this year has led to an overlap of Vasant and Holi,which is just one week away now(March 8).Though not my favourite festival, Holi does bring back happy memories of Holis gone by.During my childhood,our home was filled for days together with the aroma of frying Gujiyas filled with both Khoya and Mewa (for the family) and Sooji and sugar (for the servants); Samosas stuffed with Mutton Keema and Aloo, Matar,Besan Sevs,Aloo and Besan Papads.We would start devouring these mouth watering delicacies made under Maa's close supervision for several days, as these were being taken out of the Kadhai.Not to forget the "Kanji Vadas" which took several days to ferment in "Matti ke Ghare".
On the day when Holi was played ( "Phagwari"), which followed "Holika Dahan" the previous evening , when it was burnt, the preparations began early inthe morning with "Tesu" flowers being boiled on open fire till the water was the correct yellow hue and several other vessels were filled with various coloured water - mainly Pink, and Purple. These water colours was the ammo for the youngsters to fill their " Pichkaris" (all made of brass and not plastic) to spray at the visitors mainly neghbours and close friends.Our white Malmal Topis were also colored in Tesu."Thalis" were prepared to greet guests with all kinds of savouries including Gujiyas, "Abeer and Gulal" mixed with "Mogra" and "Khus" "Itars".all traditionally wore white or light coloured clothes on which the colours stood out.Thandai ( both with and without Bhang) was made by grinding mixtures of Badam, Kali Mirch and, Rose Petals etc., on "Sil Batta"."Tolis" of Holi revellers,carrying Dholaks and Majheeras, coloured from head to toe, went past our house singing and dancing on the streets.
What endears me to those distance memories of Holi in our cottage in Meerut was the spirit in which the festival was observed. The largely Christian and even Anglo- Indian neighbourhood participated in the revelries at our home quite happily and whole heartedly.The sight of Pitajee and Babba ( grandfather) affectionately hugging Nathi Lal and Prem Lal, our domestic helps and the latter touching their feet in reverance thereafter, filled our young hearts with true joy and pride!
In the evenings, another charming Holi custom inour family which is quickly evaporating was the "Devars" offering " Phagai' to their "Bhabhis"- the " Phagai" was the favourite drink of the Bhabhis which the Devars were obliged to provide.I recall Pitajee fondly relating how his Bhabhi would always demand Sherry from him as "Phagai".The " Chakha Chukhi" was when the men folk sat together to enjoy their drinks and the eldest lady, in our case " Bhabbi" ( grandmother)would ask all the married ladies to take a sip out of a glass of wine.Even those who totally abstained were made to dip their finger in the wine and touch it with their tongue, as a symbol of their participation in this ceremony. A hearty meal of Pooris, Kachauris,Dahi Vadaas and " Kaliya"( mutton curry)was the grand finale to the Holi festivities at our home.
I am posting a few photos of the Holi revelry at my Niece's home in Hauz Khas last year which brings out the joy and colours of the festival.also some photos I took at a lunch at the home of a friend in New Moti Bagh, Chanakyapuri on February 25,2012.His wife is an amazing gardener. I call her a gifted garden "jeweller"!Hope you enjoy viewing them.
Happy Vasant Ritu and Holi all rolled in to my one Blog.