Between You & Me

CHENNAI

AT WEEK'S end, the situation in Afghanistan had not changed much. The U.S. continued its pounding of major cities, destroying in the process vital installations and the camps and schools of the terrorists. The Taliban continued to be defiant, refusing to hand over the arch-terrorist, Osama bin Laden. Now, the U.S. has decided to introduce elite ground soldiers, the Commandos, who will look for bin Laden and his cohorts. In the meantime, the Taliban would seem to have had a change of mind, and has offered to send bin Laden to a third country, if the Americans provide the evidence against him. Which the U.S. is in no hurry to do, as the documents may contain information useful to the Taliban. The Taliban would seem to be engaged in an internal struggle, with its North being attacked by dissidents, who seem to be closing in on Kabul. The latest twist is the introduction of anthrax by mail. Anthrax is a deadly disease that usually afflicts cattle, but is equally dangerous to human beings. Apparently the germ can be cultured and manufactured in laboratories. Reports have come from different parts of the world about anthrax by mail being received, and especially by Americans. This may be the most dangerous aspect of the conflict, because any terrorist in any part of the world, with access to anthrax, can fight his own private war. I don't know - I thought mankind had seen every kind of horror perpetrated against it, but there seems to be yet another terror around the corner.

The other major event, though hardly of importance internationally, was the reinduction of George Fernandes in the Central cabinet. His situation is somewhat precarious, as the Venkataswami Commission had declared the Tehelka tapes quite genuine, and there is a lot of explanation Mr. Fernandes has to do, both in regard to the army officers who were caught with their hands in the till and to the fact that Tehelka filmed a good bit of its expose in his house. However, the Prime Minister, in his infinite wisdom, has given the man a clean chit as well as the portfolio he originally held - Defence. The External Affairs Minister, who was doing double duty by taking on Defence also, was equally forthright about Mr. Fernandes' innocence and his brilliant performance as the Defence Minister. Who can deny that the one factor that is missing in our public life is accountability?

Finally, in our own backyard we had local bodies election. Why elections for a place in the wide variety of local offices should be so fierce, I cannot understand, unless the spoils such offices provide are considerable. Any way there was the usual violence booth capturing, vote snatching, bogus posturing were all indulged in; with the major political parties as usual accusing one another of malpractices.

TWO ITEMS of interest to older people, now commonly known as senior citizens. The British Council Retirement Association, South India, has arranged a talk by the eminent physician, Dr. K. V. Thiruvengadam, on the subject, Towards Positive Health on October 27 at 6-00 p.m. at the British Council. Those interested may get in touch with Mr. K. Sankaraiah at 4861240. The Probus Club, which has as its major purpose helping older people, has a new project, Senior Citizen Fine Arts, older people who are interested in music and such subjects, are asked get in touch with Mr. K. S. Ramachandran, 28, Sriramnagar North Street, Alwarpet, Chennai-600018, tel: 4341591.

A READER has sent a note regarding the deterioration in standards of the Blue Cross. I checked with one or two others who know the institution well, and they tended to agree with the points made. The Blue Cross, for those persons who do not know about the institution, is a home for animals, where one can leave one's pet; it also takes care of strays; generally it provides food and shelter for animals. Now for the complaints of the reader: ``it is one of the most mismanaged places - except for a few dedicated doctors. The place is dirty, and the smell overpowering. I had been there twice, and each time I had to have a thorough wash to get rid of the smell. What the Blue Cross needs is a good administrator and a couple of more cleaning staff. The Blue Cross is well reimbursed for the Animal Birth Control they do, and also receive many donations. This money should be utilised to keep the place clean, and pay the doctors and staff well.''

HERE IS a spoof, Parthasarathy, but it is just a little too close to what happens every day. Here we go. Government once had a big scrap yard. Parliament said, Someone may steal from it at night. So they created a night watchman job, and appointed a man. Then Parliament said, How can he do the job without instructions? So they created a planning department with two people, one to write the instructions and the other to implement it. Now, Parliament said, How will we know that the watchman is doing his duties properly. So they created a quality control department to supervise the entire operation. Then they created the positions of Admin. Officer, Asst. Admin. Officer. Then Parliament said, We have had this command in operation for one year, and we are one lakh of rupees over budget, we must cut back overall cost.

So they dismissed the night watchman.

S. KRISHNAN

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