[Reader-list] Notes on plumbing individual identities- 208

[Rajendra Bhat Uppinangadi]

Hi,
 Taha,

 few days ago, most probably on Saturday, it was my turn to puzzle over an
item of news in most probably Times of India or DNA, as i read it, it was
about the PIO card.

PIO card is issued to a person, who is person of Indian Origin, staying in
India, the news was about the model, of  Indian  origin, super model, a
brand face of international fashion house, who marrid an scottish man, came
to india with him, he got the PIO. ! Marriage went sour, she complained
about her ex-husband, PIO, the police wanted to arrest him, deport him as he
is no more PIO, being divorced from his wife of PIO.!

The person has moved the Supreme court to have a say in the matter, to have
custody of the child, visiting rights of a parent to the child, so much for
PIO card.!

NRIs get a passport of the nation they adopt and take citizenship  of that
nation, such are also are eligible for PIO cards, but in this case a scot
getting by virtue of being married to NRI, super model, now being haunted by
police to deport, for being PIO card holder.!


  Another issue, is about this PIO cards, as the Deputy Commissioner ,
Intelligence of Foreign regstration office explains, any person, who is in
India , domiciled in particular part of land mass, can approach the office
to get PIO card, if she/he proves that he/she was in India for the
stipulated period, then lo, they get PIO card, then, they can have ration
card, driving license, voters id.!
Regards,

Rajen.

Tue, Aug 25, 2009 at 5:03 AM, Taha Mehmood <2tahamehmood at googlemail.com>wrote:
>
> Dear All
>
> One has often observed while constructing a modern house, that after
> cement is mixed with water and gravel and a structure subsequently
> created, a plumber moves in with his hole saws and measuring tapes,
> his pilers and spanners, his tap re-seaters and pipe cutters.
>
> A plumber's job is simple. To regulate the flow of water.
>
>  For this purpose a web of pipes are embedded along the boundaries of
> the floor, by the sides of a wall and on the roof where a tank is
> placed to store water. Unlike the job of a painter, a mason or an
> architect a plumbers job is appreciated by its invisibility. A
> plumbers job is akin to that of a magician. As if like magic water
> must appear when a hand turns to open the tap.
>
>  Water, which is such an essential element for human living is
> rendered invisible in our homes, so much so that people often remember
> fondly the walls of their rooms, their courtyards and spaces where
> they interacted with other human beings but never ever in their
> memories will you ever find a mention of water.
>
> Yet without water we cannot exist. And if the water flowing in our
> pipes happens to be poisonous then no matter how good the plumbing is,
> no matter how aesthetically designed the house is and no matter who
> lives in that place, it will simply be of no use. For a good plumber
> to prevail and showcase his work to more customers and to keep on
> tuning his craft to perfection, portable water is a must.
>
> Can anyone think of a master plumber in the middle of a desert?
>
> It was quite amusing to watch an interview given by Mr. Nandan
> Nilekani to NDTV recently, where he describes his job as that of a
> -plumber-.
>
> I think this a very serious remark made by Mr.Nilekani because by
> describing his role as plumber, aren't we led to assume that the
> question of water or the question pertaining to the individual
> identity of a billion people which will flow through a presumably
> large network of government databases around the country is already
> settled.
>
> If the Chief of Unique Identification Database Authority of India
> publicly chooses to distance himself from identifying Indians as
> Indians in the first place, then I wonder why should we invest so much
> amount of time and money in this initiative?
>
> Do we really need a plumber at this stage or we need a person to test
> portable water?
>
> Please watch this NDTV interview for more-
>
> http://www.ndtv.com/news/videos/video_player.php?id=1149445
>
> Warm regards
>
> Taha
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-- 
Rajen.