If you’re worried about whether you will get a job or not, it is necessary for you to maintain a perspective of life and convert the current phase into an opportunity. Vinay Somani, of Karmayog.org, lists 10 ways in which to do so

1. Find out what you like to do
This is a good time to find out what you like doing, so that you can go through life doing what you like and liking what you do. This is not an easy thing to know, and comes about only through trying out different things. We usually go straight from our bookish, academic life to a cushioned and isolated work life, without taking the trouble or having the opportunity to find out what we would like to be doing. Just as wisdom comes from experience, one needs exposure in different areas to really know what work gives one joy. A vast majority of people spend their entire lives without ever knowing what it is that they would really like doing.

2. There is no shortage of jobs
There are thousands of things that need to be done in India. These jobs may not be easy, glamorous, and well-paying, but are very real, necessary and valuable. Such opportunities are available with government and NGOs and in rural areas, smaller cities and towns. Instead of valuing oneself through the label, level and salary of your job, develop the confidence to value yourself through the impact that your work makes on yourself and society.

3. Try difficult jobs and different options
Most conventional jobs treat you like a machine, and fail to develop your skills and personality, leaving one ill-equipped to tackle life’s problems. Such jobs make people uni-dimensional, so when faced with a crisis even in their 40s or 50s, most people are unable to cope, and suffer physical, mental and financial trauma. It is very important to learn our strengths and weaknesses, as well as deepen our perspectives and understanding of the world around us. This richness of experiences may actually lead to a better career path.

4. Small businesses and individuals struggle to get simple services
Simple basic services such as getting a website made, obtaining legal, commercial or medical opinions are always difficult to access. In virtually any field from self-improvement to improving how a business is run India is crying out for services. Many young professionals and fresh graduates, certainly MBAs, but also lawyers, doctors, engineers, etc. can provide such services and earn good money. This is a great time to be an entrepreneur. India is a shortage economy, where almost every product and every service is in short supply or can be greatly improved. When jobs are easy, glamorous and well paying, it is more difficult to be an entrepreneur because family and friends do not then readily support such an idea. Based on your skill-sets and passion, offer your services to at least one client and then build on that.

5. Hard-working, sensible, knowledgeable people are always needed
There is never a shortage of opportunities or jobs for anyone willing to work hard. Entire businesses can be created around hard-working, sensible, knowledgeable and well-rounded personalities. Hence make sure that you develop these qualities, even though we know it is not as easy as it sounds. You will also then enter into a virtuous cycle of improvement and success throughout your life.

6. Develop your other skills, interests, hobbies
Typically, school and college life tends to be very packed and intense, leaving one with little time to seriously pursue one’s hobbies and skills. The current period is a good time to deepen one’s interest in sports, music, dance, painting, etc. Why not spend the time travelling the coutry, or just setting your family’s finances in order? You can also look at all aspects of your personality and think of how you would like to be, and utilise this time to develop the desired skills and traits e.g. becoming calmer by learning yoga, becoming fitter by exercising regularly, developing leadership qualities by doing a project in your community, etc. Why is it that we prefer to be fat and wear branded clothes, rather than be fit so that any kind of clothes look good on us?

7. Continue your academic education
While you can pursue further studies, you can also enhance your education by becoming a faculty or part time associate in your own college. There is always a shortage of teachers in educational institutions, from IITs to the local primary school. You can even volunteer to teach through NGOs or give paid tuitions. Teaching provides you with learnings, ideas and enables you to stay current, both with what is happening in your own field, and with the latest technologies.

8. Realise that your problems are actually small
There are two basic ways to deal with problems. One way is to interact with those who are in worse situations, which can be done by volunteering with NGOs, or by spending time working in slums and public hospitals. The other way is to take on a bigger challenge that occupies your energies completely, e.g. taking up a social cause or trying to reach some personal target. Either way, your current problems will appear smaller and you will also get ideas on how to improve society.

9. Money is only a means, not an end
It is well documented that money does not bring happiness in life and therefore you have to proactively try and find out what will give you satisfaction, and to then be on the path towards that irrespective of whether the current circumstances are favourable or not. Typically, one either has time on one’s hands or money, but rarely both together. The trick towards leading a fulfilling life is to make the best use of whatever you have at hand at that time.

10. Life is like a game of Snakes and Ladders
Your education was like a ladder that took you up a few levels. From there, one would like to get ahead by climbing another ladder, e.g. via a good job. Instead, one comes across a snake, e.g. not getting a desired job, which means that there is a temporary set-back. But life, just like the game, is a series of continuous ups and downs. Our main objective is to continually move ahead, to reach from zero to hundred. In any case, you know that because of your education and experience, once the economy recovers, you will get a job of your choice, particularly because India is a growing country. So there is no point in fretting about it, as this does not change the situation; rather, worrying prevents one from using this time and opportunity in a positive and beneficial way.

Conclusion
The Bhagwad Gita explains to us about Karmayog: that we should always do our best and not worry about the results of our actions because those are not in our control anyway. This is a very counter-intuitive and difficult concept for most of us to understand. Since all of us are experiencing this reality today, it is a good opportunity to reflect on this and internalise this forever, as this will give us the perspective of how to lead life.

http://www.mid-day.com/news/2009/feb/010209-Vinay-Somani-Karmayog-Slowdown-10-steps-success-tips.htm

As we celebrate India’s 60th Republic Day on 26th January 2009, we need to realise that for any  country to develop, the citizens need to have pride in their country. This starts with having pride for where you live and work, and what you can do to improve this. Vinay Somani, of Karmayog suggests 10 Action Points for Citizen Groups to take

1. Build involvement and numbers in your citizen group
Make your citizen group an open membership based group (including a nominal annual membership fee), so that involvement amongst members grows, and also for the group to be able to identify its members. Membership fees are important as this gives the group legitimacy, sustainability and a feeling of ownership. Each corporator in Mumbai covers a population area of about 60,000 people, out of which normally only 100 people are active. So, if your citizen group has even 50 active people, your group cannot afford to be ignored by any of the authorities.

2. SMS your corporator
Every time you face some civic problem or observe something wrong in your locality or have a suggestion for improvement, send an SMS to your elected corporator. The mobile numbers of the elected corporators (councillors) are at www.karmayog.org/mumbaiwards/
Remember that BMC / MCGM takes care of the following issues in Mumbai: public health, primary and secondary education, building construction, octroi, garbage, debris, sewage, public toilets, trees, gardens, playgrounds, parks, beaches, lakes, monuments, banners, hoardings, street furniture (railings, benches, etc.), dustbins, footpaths, roads, dividers, pedestrian crossings, nallahs, house-gullies, mosquitos, rats, stray dogs, cattle, hawkers, encroachments, and disaster management. Their website is www.mcgm.gov.in

3. Submit a proposal
Prepare and submit a proposal for your locality’s improvement to your local corporator. Each corporator has Rs. 1.4 crore yearly at his / her disposal for such projects.
The proposal should contain details of what, when, where, how, which and why, and should be signed by at least 10 local people. Some ideas for projects include a local library, streamlining hawkers area, medical service centre, beautifying areas under flyovers, jogging track, benches, dustbins, street lighting, proper signage, children’s play equipment, night school, community centre, etc.

4. Form a group to monitor all projects in your locality
a) Identify the projects, being implemented by BMC or other agencies e.g. road widening, laying of paver blocks, tree cutting, installing of bus stops, installing of dustbins, etc.
b) Get information about these projects using RTI
c) Take photographs and document the projects
d) Share this information publicly through websites, the media, and your own local newsletter

5. Conduct open house meetings
Invite experienced persons from government to talk to your citizen group. This will help your group get feedback on existing projects as well as to new ideas. This will also lead to bonding of the group, and will help the group to access resources and support, while also understanding how government systems work.

6. Take up simple projects that can be completed
To demonstrate success and keep the group together, take up simple, one-off projects that are possible to do on your own, i.e. without needing too many external resources or people. Start off with a project where everyone is on the same side and where government support is not needed e.g. facilitating outdoor sports activities for children. This helps to build and maintain friendship and cordial relations between each other, even on other difficult issues.

7. Take small steps to reach the larger goal
It is necessary to do smaller, on-the-ground projects and initiatives to develop the understanding needed to succeed with larger goals e.g. just keeping your street clean with the help of the BMC cleaning staff as well as your own private sweepers, and then working with government to implement this for the entire locality based on your learnings.

8. Define achievable end points for your initiatives
Define end points for the projects and initiatives that you take up, and work towards completing them, before starting new ones. As far as possible, have low levels of continuity or extensions for citizen group projects, as most group members can offer support for limited periods only. For instance, the end point of the above ‘clean street’ project would be where your street is consistently and reasonably clean as a result of your intervention, and your group is able to sustain this comfortably.

9. Join hands with the local school or college
Involve the students of the locality school or college in the projects and initiatives of your citizen group. This helps creates awareness, acceptance, as well as enables the group to have creative, energetic and enthusiastic student volunteers, who are also able to bring in much-needed current communication and technical skills to the citizen group.

10. Be proactive in all elections
Your citizen group must select and support someone in every election that is conducted. This will help you to understand the election process, as well as have a stake in governance, especially if the candidate supported by your group wins.

Conclusion
A city is what it is because the citizens are what they are. People from across India look to Mumbai and her citizens to provide inspiration and leadership in improving India.

http://www.mid-day.com/news/2009/jan/250109-Karmayog-Vinay-Somani-10-points-Citizens-Group-Mumbai-News.htm

Why not outsource our Parliament itself?!

As my fifth consecutive and final editorial related to the Mumbai terror attacks and to what we should be doing, this time I am going to write down four random thoughts that are coming to my mind… I hope by the end of the editorial, you can find some relation between all of them and some meaning out of it.The first thought that drives me infuriatingly mad tonight, as I sit down to write this editorial, is that it will all happen again… and too soon, because we have learnt no lessons.

Just today, as I boarded the flight from Kolkata to Delhi, I walked into the airport with my large
handbag, and was – to my astonishment – not subjected to any security check of any kind. The sickeningly lax security guards standing at the main entrance did not even check anyone’s identity card, leave alone checking our bags using some metal detector, although a security screening
gate is kept right outside the entrance. As I walked in, I felt like throwing shoes – the way the Iraqi journalist did recently – at one and all of our politicians for being such shamelessly unrepentant frauds. They just give crappy lip service even when the entire nation is fuming and hurt.

Even at key risk areas like airports, they haven’t yet put any kind of real security. Three people like me could have walked into the Calcutta airport today without being checked, and then taken out guns and once more held hostage the entire airport filled with thousands of passengers, and
created mayhem! (And probably, this might well be the reality soon at some airport or mall). So let me tell you all. Nothing, simply nothing has changed! These bloodsucking vampire bats who rule this country will do nothing but speak garbage and hope that as per the law of probability, another
attack would not happen soon. That is all…

The second 
thought that comes to my mind is corruption. It feels sick to know that all the killed terrorists and the one caught alive (and probably the fifteen odd who escaped) were carrying 400 dollars with them. It is such a common joke for terrorists that they were indeed all carrying that sum since that was the exact amount of money that our marine inspectors take as bribe to let people off in the seas. So, to go back through the seas after the mayhem, the terrorists
needed that money to bribe our coast guards. What a shame to know that our borders are so porous everywhere and our defence is so much on sale. And let me tell you it’s not just the coast guards, it’s everybody, just everybody who is up for shameless sale. What a pity! They buy faulty guns,
faulty rockets, faulty bulletproof jackets, faulty everything… and don’t think twice before selling their souls and putting the entire nation on sale. Until these criminals and spineless swines – almost one and all politicians – rule this country, we will have just too many more Mumbais. And all our people will do is form useless human chains where a few actors will come deliberately looking like plain Janes and get a photo-op.

Trust me, it’s time for more… as I have been writing nonstop in my past edits! It’s time to grab the power away from these slimy soul peddlers; they are not just corrupt, they are corrupt to an extent that is completely unimaginable. They aren’t swindling away simply a crore or so; they are swindling this nation out of hundreds and thousands of crores, and that too on an individual basis depending upon their portfolios. They have their venture funds and private equity funds in benami undisclosed); and these politico-criminals are investing even in education, hospitals and everything.

And the sad truth is that everybody knows which politician has what kind of fund size and is investing where, and who owns which company and how the markets are manipulated up and down. But no one dares to write all this because then the government will devastate them the way they taught Tehelka a lesson.

Nehru had once said that every black marketer should be hanged from the nearest lamp-post. By his definition, all the lamp-posts around Parliament House should have been used to hang these
very corrupt soul-sellers and nation betrayers. Sounds too strong? But that’s how it is!

The third thought that comes to my mind as our politicians irresponsibly speak of war, is that though we must avoid a war, the LETs, the Dawoods and all such negative forces have to be necessarily wiped off.

And I don’t realise why our intelligence doesn’t think of a special suicidal patriotic task force, whose job will be to go to these terror funding countries unofficially and kill the dangerous individuals and come back the way, say, the Israeli Mossad can do (whenever required, openly), or the way CIA has been doing in a clandestine manner forever, by carrying out killings all over Latin America and its
bordering countries to put in favourable governments from time to time. And to quote an alternate think for our pathetically characterless and charlatan politicians, this force can be made up of terminally ill patients who – despite knowing they might not have long to live – would love to make their life be of huge service to this nation. I say this radically because we have to avoid wars but we must destroy these negative forces as well. And for that, we must try out alternate sources before going for a war.

Finally, it’s unfortunate; but the truth in India is that if you need good roads, don’t give the contract to an Indian company… for an Indian company will cheat and make roads  that break off in no time. If you need better airports, never give the contract to an Indian company… for it will cheat and swindle money. So the buzzword is, outsource the job to a foreign company. They will, in all probability (after giving the initial kickback to secure the contract) do the job honestly; and we will have better roads and airports and every other public service, as has been proven in the past. By the same logic now, our Defence Ministry is thinking of ‘outsourcing’ our coastguards to a foreign
country / company to be sure they don’t take bribes (what a huge, huge, huge shame that our politicians have created such an environment of corruption in India that they can’t even trust their own people to guard the country honestly)… If this is indeed to be done, then why shouldn’t the people of India also think of outsourcing our country’s Parliament seats – including the Prime
Minister’s job – to foreigners… To Barrack Obama and his team maybe! At least we would know that we are in safe end genuine hands, where no effort is farcical and no promise a mere, pathetic and shameless lip service!This new year, take a simple pledge. Say no to lip service. Hope that
conveys it all. Happy New Year!

However there has been news that people are still gungho about it & wish to adopt the same, but do not have the skill sets/knowledge to apply.

Now giving this a sense of direction society for vigilance initiative organized a workshop at S. P. Jain Andheri for the youth that was well attended.

The next session is being held on Feb 8, 15 Mar 1, 8. For further details call 9819678833 or www.snsindia.org

“Dear All,

My friend Ranjan Kamath has posted a petition at the following link. Its a protest against the Captains of Industry falling at Narendra Modi’s feet. I don’t know if any of you would like to sign it or forward it to more people. I have signed it and so I am sending it to you all. Do what your conscience tell you. http://www.PetitionOnline.com/30JAN09/”

Whilst this may make sense, I was curious & hence posed the following Questions:

Do all who have signed the petition, believe & have adhered to:

1) Not making profits thru investments with Tata; Mittal; Ambani?

2) Switching off their phones is good, but why not Vodafone, IDEA &
others OR is it because this is driven to gujarat & narendra modi

3) I can understand the petition & mail, which signifies…..I am
no one, you are no one but together we can be someone. Great! But why
cell phones? What happens after the 30th Jan….Do we switch it on
again?

4) And when compared to maybe 2000 petitioners switching it off &
causing an approx Rs 200 each loss i.e. 4 Lacs how does this drop in
the ocean help?

5) Will these same petitioners agree not to recommend; work with all the 3 big shots in any way?

6) Conscience is Fine, but there needs to be some logic behind the passion also.

To these I received the following reply today…..

“I agree with your observation, what the petitioner has set out to do is
merely a token protest aimed at Tata, Ambani and Mittal’s Chamchagiri
of Modi ignoring his track record during the 2002 riots and his rabid
anti Muslim campaigns. As you very rightly point out it may not even
register with those against whom it is aimed but then when Bapu set out
to pick up a fist full of salt in defiance of the British many felt it
was a ridiculous gesture. The idea of all such tokenism is to keep the
flame of activism burning and hope that it will one day become the
beacon which will lead us to the promised utopia. An activist has to be
an eternal optimist and keep finding causes and propagating them. Some
times just the knowledge that there are people who object to certain
kind of behavior can in the long run induce a change in habit. That is
where the quote by Margaret Mead that lead us to form C4C becomes
important.

What is important is to keep questioning because as long as there are
questions there will be transparency when the questioning stops the
Satyams happen.”

Starting your donation programme
Suppose you want to donate Rs 1 lakh a year. We suggest you select two organisations and donate Rs 50,000 and Rs 30,000 to each of these. Spread the balance Rs. 20,000 over 10 organisations (donating Rs 2,000 to each).

The reason for donating smaller amounts is for the learnings, so that you can finally find organisations with which you can have a deeper involvement. Interacting with over 10 organisations will give you a good overview of the social sector and will enable you to get plugged into that sector. Based on the interactions you will have with these organisations, you will be in a position to evaluate both the organisations and the sector. You will know about the specific needs of that sector and whether it is practical for you to try and fulfill these in terms of people, skill sets, service capability and time. You will also get a lot of valuable cross learnings from interacting with many organisations.

Slowly, you will also be able to define which sectors or organisations you want to support on a continual basis.

Learning while donating
There are many learnings about the social sector which are important to make meaningful donations:

> To understand the needs of an organisation and how these can be addressed. For example, NGOs undertake a mix of service delivery as well as advocacy of rights, and both these are important.
> To understand the value of your money and what it can realistically achieve. For example, the expectations that you have for the value to be attached to your money should be matched by the value that the NGO you are donating to, attaches to that money.
> To understand the generic learnings about all social causes. For example, even a simple cause like education requires to be linked with other issues such as food, clothing, hygiene, family issues, health and toilets for it to be effectively tackled.
> Specific learnings about specific sectors or NGOs. For example, the education versus income dilemma wrongly connected with child labour.
> Learnings about the inter-connectedness between different sectors and organisations. For example, the fact that health (and not education) is the key factor that helps people to overcome poverty.

Self-awareness through donating
It is important that one is truthful to oneself about the motivations for donating money and supporting a cause. Otherwise, sooner or later, there will be a divergence between you and the NGO you support. Hence you should think through some of these questions:

> What gives you satisfaction? For example, transforming a child’s life forever through education.
> What are the personal goals you want to fulfill? For example, to acknowledge the contribution of your school or college in shaping your life.
> Would you like your name or your family name to be prominently acknowledged? For example, through donation of equipment or institution of a scholarship.
> Whether you would like recognition and appreciation for your actions from your friends and peers? For example, through sponsorship of an event where they are invited.
> Whether you would like to increase your personal publicity. For example, through coverage by the media.

Understanding the other side
Organisations working in the social sector have stepped in voluntarily to plug the gaps to reach out to those sections of society, which the government and private sector have failed to reach. Most organisations are started by people who invest their own funds and time for a cause they believe in. This is one reason why most NGOs don’t like to ask for funds, as they believe that people should understand that NGOs are providing an opportunity and avenue for service to society.

On the other hand, many donors feel that NGOs should be grateful for the support and funds that they provide.
Many people who donate or give funds, are actually perceived as ‘takers’ in the sense that they are bartering their money in exchange for respectability, popularity or fame.

It is important for donors to be aware of such perceptions.

Shaping your philanthropy programme
Use some of your personal and professional goals to help you decide which causes or organisations to support, as well to help identify your personal motivations for such actions. For example, a desire to be more spiritual, extending a hobby such as sports or music, aligning with issues that you are drawn towards such as children, the elderly and animal welfare.

In your existing environment, your personal goals may not get fulfilled, while your philanthropic activities can not only fulfill these, but also open up your world in new ways. Similarly, your professional skills such as financial or HR management can also be used to complement your philanthropic activities.

Developing a selection system
Once you have started to support causes and organisations, and have understood the social sector better, it is necessary to develop a system that you are comfortable with, to choose causes or organisations to support. Some examples on how you can make these choices:

>To a particular cause that you are emotionally or passionately connected to.
>Through references of people you know and trust.
>By invitation, once a year, through an advertisement released by you.
>Through your own research.

This will assist you to respond appropriately to requests for funding when approached at social gatherings, and will also enable you to make more effective and planned donations.

Preparing for disappointment
It is important to be able to tackle disappointments in a positive way.

Even if everything is done perfectly by the NGO that you are supporting, sometimes the desired results are not achieved. You should be prepared for such disappointment, and be able to continue supporting the cause or organisation, while also trying to understand the reasons for the setback, and how it can be overcome.

If you approach the act of philanthropy from the heart, and remember that philanthropy is about the ‘giver’ and not the ‘receiver’, you will remain unaffected and committed.

Overcoming mistakes
There are bound to be mistakes. Assuming that you may have made some wrong choices of some NGOs to support, for example, you did not like the trustees of the NGO, or you did not agree with their approach to solve a problem, or their stand on a particular issue, or their level of expenditure on administrative expenses, or the NGO turns out to be fraudulent (some which came up after the tsunami), or you find that the NGO is incapable of growth, it is important to be able to disengage easily from the organisation or cause. Hence, it is advisable to make one-off rather than recurring or long-term donations in the beginning.

Creating accountability
After you have donated to an NGO, we suggest that you go through their brochure, annual activity report, latest audited accounts, newsletters, white paper / research documents, surveys and studies, either from the organisation’s website, or by requesting for copies of the same. If you cannot drop by and visit the NGO or attend any of their events and meetings, ask the NGO to send a representative to meet you. As you interact with people from the NGO, their volunteers and other donors, you will be automatically building accountability within that organisation.

Strengthening organisations
It is difficult for NGOs to collect funds for their corpus, as most people donate towards specific projects or purposes. The corpus of an NGO enables it to develop and strengthen its work and commitment to the cause and its beneficiaries, and also enables the organisation to tide over difficult periods such as the current economic slowdown.

We suggest you give a general donation that goes towards a corpus instead of towards specific projects. You will get a 50% tax benefit for any donation over Rs 500 to an NGO with an 80-G certificate.

Creating synergies
As a donor, you have a unique position of being closely involved with sectors and organisations that you support, as well as an outside, larger view of the whole picture. NGOs themselves find it difficult to build synergies with other organisations in the same sector, as they are usually completely involved in their own projects and programmes.

Donors can facilitate and build synergies within a sector, and thus help in reaching long-term and sustainable solutions to the problems being faced by that particular sector. In order to be able to develop both a connected and a detached view, it is useful for a donor to donate differing amounts of money to several organisations.

Think of a long-term objective of what you would like to achieve
Decide the amount of money you would like to donate over five years and 10 years, and what you would like the end result to be from this action, and whether this would be satisfying for you. Suppose you can donate Rs 40,000 per month every year for the next 20 years. This is equal to Rs 1 crore. This will help you to think of replicable and scaleable models to support.

For example, building public toilets in one village, and then expanding this to many villages, funding a mobile children’s library for a district, and then expanding this to a larger area, funding a primary school that grows to become a secondary school and eventually a junior college or vocational training centre.

Conclusion
Every problem is both huge and complex, and the magnitude of the situation needs all of us to contribute to make a difference. Corporate funding towards social causes and NGOs is likely to be reduced this year; hence it is important for individuals to step in and make a contribution.

Even a small amount like Rs 100 makes a difference. When 1,000 people donate Rs 100 each, it totals to Rs 1 lakh. So, take out your cheque book and send at least Rs 100 to any of the NGOs-of-the-Month listed in www.karmayog.org

www.karmayog.org has sections on 350 social causes and lists 2,000 NGO profiles and needs

Midday http://tinyurl.com/853aeg

Dear Sir,
I would like to bring to your notice the menace created by the Illegal Hawkers on the Railway Bridges of Dadar Station. Dadar Station being centrally located increases its importance and so the passenger traffic is huge here. The hawkers take up position in the middle of the Bridge (New) and two side of the Bridge (Old) creating bottlenecks & cause of great inconvenience to the passengers. These two bridges are means of crossing over for passengers with valid railway tickets or passes.
It has been observed that these hawkers are present on the old bridges as well as the new bridge constructed connecting central & western railways, this is opposite Lakshmi Narayan Temple.
This fact has been brought to the notice of the following designated people / numbers / places: -
1)      Dy Station Master – Dadar Central Railway
2)      RPF – Central Railway Dadar Station
3)      RPF – Western Railway Dadar Station
4)      Police Control Room on Tel: 100
5)      Railway Police Control Room on Tel: 022 – 23759201
I have personally been bringing this fact to the notice of various authorities from time to time since last 6 – 8 Months with little results.
There are three types of Hawkers on the Bridges: -
1)      Able Bodied – Age Group 18 years to 60 + years.
2)      Handicapped – Age Group 18 years to 60 + years.
3)      Women – Age Group 18 years to 60 + years.
Would request you to take immediate action to remove the menace caused by these hawkers as remedial action & put some system in place for the preventive action against this menace as well.
Anticipating Action & Proper Directives to the designated authorities at Dadar Railway Station.
Thanking You,

Dear Mr. President,

I did not vote for you in the Presidential Election because I am
Malaysian.

But I consider myself one of your constituents because what you do or
say will affect me and my country as well.

I welcome your promise for change. Certainly your country, the United
States of America needs a lot of changes.

That is because America and Americans have become the most hated people
in the world. Even Europeans dislike your arrogance. Yet you were once
admired and liked because you freed a lot of countries from conquest and
subjugation.

It is the custom on New Year’s day for people to make resolutions. You
must have listed your good resolutions already. But may I politely
suggest that you also resolve to do the following in pursuit of Change.

1) Stop killing people. The United States is too fond of killing people
in order to achieve its objectives. You call it war, but today’s wars
are not about professional soldiers fighting and killing each other. It
is about killing people, ordinary innocent people by the hundreds of
thousands. Whole countries will be devastated.

War is primitive, the cavemen’s way of dealing with a problem. Stop your
arms build up and your planning for future wars.

2) Stop indiscriminate support of Israeli killers with your money and
your weapons. The planes and the bombs killing the people of Gaza are
from you.

3) Stop applying sanctions against countries which cannot do the same
against you.

In Iraq your sanctions killed 500,000 children through depriving them of
medicine and food. Others were born deformed.

What have you achieved with this cruelty? Nothing except the hatred of
the victims and right-thinking people.

4) Stop your scientists and researchers from inventing new and more
diabolical weapons to kill more people more efficiently.

5) Stop your arms manufacturers from producing them. Stop your sales of
arms to the world. It is blood money that you earn. It is un-Christian.

6) Stop trying to democratize all the countries of the world. Democracy
may work for the United States but it does not always work for other
countries.

Don’t kill people because they are not democratic. Your crusade to
democratize countries has killed more people than the authoritarian
Governments which you overthrew. And you have not succeeded anyway.

7) Stop the casinos which you call financial institutions. Stop hedge
funds, derivatives and currency trading. Stop banks from lending
non-existent money by the billions.

Regulate and supervise your banks. Jail the miscreants who made profits
from abusing the system.

Sign the Kyoto Protocol and other international agreements.

9) Show respect for the United Nations.

I have many other resolutions for change which I think you should
consider and undertake.

But I think you have enough on your plate for this 2009th year of the
Christian Era.

If you can do only a few of what I suggest, you will be remembered by
the world as a great leader. Then the United States will again be the
most admired nation. Your embassies will be able to take down the high
fences and razor-wire coils that surround them.

May I wish you a Happy New Year and a great Presidency.

Yours Sincerely,

Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad

(Former Prime Minister of Malaysia)

We are a group of restless Indians who are disturbed by the present condition of our country and are ready to take up challenge of developing our country as a world superpower.

We believe that present leadership from our political parties are pathetically incompetent to lead the country to super power status mainly because none of them have any vision, programs or goals. They only talk that India is “going” to be a super power, as if someone is going to gift us this status.

We believes that it requires clear vision, goals and well planned programs to achieve super power status.

The incompetence of current political and social leaderships is resulting into situation of anarchy in our country. A cursory look at the condition of Judiciary, Legislature, Administration, media, which are four important pillars of our society, shows that they are in total shambles. These pillars of good governance are undergoing continuous deterioration right from the time we gave ourselves constitution.

We believe in peaceful movement but we want radical improvements in the system. We believe in freedom, decentralization, and participation. We are prepared for agitations to achieve our goals. We want to achieve our goal before end of 2014.

We have clear mission & plan, we are inching towards the goal, and we need your support, participation and contribution. We are requesting for your full participation.

We have created a Yahoo group to discuss vision, mission and action plan to enlist your support. The group can be accessed at  http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NavNirman/ , We invite you to become member of the group and give us your views.

You may also become member of the group by sending a blank email to : NavNirman-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

We stand for TOTAL REVOLUTION in India. Looking forward to your active participation in the action soon.

With best regards,

Moderator NavNirman Group