May 2007, Athens.

On May 1st, while we were on the way to the old Olympic Stadium we ran into a big protest march in front of the Greek parliament. On one side there was the police in full riot gear (you will see this in a diff. photo) waiting for the protestors to do something. But the latter were a peaceful lot for the most part except for a few smoke bombs thrown in the general direction of the police. We forgot about the stadium and instead joined the local pressmen in darting through the crowds photographing everything and everyone. We even got warned by the police not to photograph them! It was quite exciting actually. One of the rare occasions when I felt like a proper photojournalist! Later, on TV, we saw that the protest had turned violent further along the route, with the protestors and the police clashing.

May 2007, Bad Godesberg.

From the ‘Rhine on Flames’ program held a few days back in Bonn.

April 2007, Athens.

April 2007, Oia.

May 2007, Cologne.

Spring finally came to my garden so I went exploring with my oft neglected macro lens. This is one of the things I found. Not perfect I know.

May 2007, Athens.

This is part of the (very theatrical) changing of guard ceremony of the Evzones (the elite Presidential Guard) at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier which lies in front of the Greek Parliament.

April 2007, Somewhere over the Aegean Sea, Greece.

(Press F11 to view this better.)

April 2007, Oia.

Oia is a beautiful little village perched on the Western edge of an ancient caldera on the island of Santorini in the Aegean Sea to the south of Greece, famous for its incredible sunsets. Although the sunset, the day we were there, was not that incredible I did fall in love with Oia’s narrow lanes and spotless white washed houses.

The travesty of a Member of Parliament, Babubhai Katara, being arrested for people-trafficking is a sore reminder of the depravation that has permeated our lawmakers. That Babubhai was naive enough to believe that he could lead a lady in ghunghat masquerading as his wife through immigration in India and Canada, shows the level of (or lack of) intelligence that has become a hallmark of his peers.

What is worse is the decision of the Parliament’s Ethics committee to not take action against him as “charges against him were unrelated to his work in Parliament”.

It is appalling that 135 members of parliament have criminal cases pending against them.

In India, we have a tradition of declaration of assets etc. by candidates when they file their nomination for election. What is missing is a similar declaration once they have been elected. What we need is an annual declaration by all elected members of parliament, of their assets as well as the police record against them. Let the public then judge them.

The problem is such a practice can only be made mandatory by a law. But will the lawmaker be ready to make such a law?

One alternative could be that of an independent agency/NGO taking up this work and of publishing it at the year-end in the newspapers. The Right to Information Act can be very useful for this activity.

The people of India cannot afford to dismiss such crime with cynicism. It is our duty to act.

April 2007, Zürich.

(I’m off on a little trip tomorrow so regular posting will resume here on Wednesday. Have a great weekend folks!)