Is everything lost for 'J' ??

Every heart supporting Jayalalitha in this assembly election must have received a severe blow when some of the exit poll results were out in the news channels. Every poll suggested a clean sweep by the DMK led alliance much to the disappointment of many AIADMK fans. Strangely enough the massive political shift has taken place in less than 4 weeks time, when the pre-poll sureveys showed a clear advantage for the ruling government. What could be the possible reasons ?
The major calculation which went wrong for Jayalalitha was the timing of her campaign. She was almost on the last leg of her campaigning when the DMK was still preparing its election manifesto. As a result of which Mr. Karunanidhi, with his years of poilitcal experience introduced freebies, much to the delight of the common man, however, totally unfathomable from an economic perspective. Jayalalitha retaliated by making promises which were not a part of election manifesto. This led to massive shift in the electorate, who were now beginning to see a panicking J.
Every one feels that this will be Kalaignar's last election. This sympathy factor for Karunandhi created a huge electorate in his favor. The man in his own rights is one of the few great politicians which the state has ever seen.
No doubt in the Post-tsunami regime Jayalalitha was outstanding in her administration and directed the state onto the right track. Its because of her efforts that Tamil Nadu is among the top states in India with respect to Industrialisation, Manufacturing, Services and IT. Then what went wrong for her in this election ? Carefully examining, its the things falling in place for the DMK led alliance rather than things going wrong for Amma. The sudden shift of Vaiko to AIADMK was a blessing in disguise for DMK. The Vaiko factor was totally worthless for Jayalalitha. The agenda proposed by DMK was much more lucrative for the tamil public. The presence of powerful ally in the form of Congress has been a major plus as far as the DMK is concerned.
If the exit-poll results are indeed a picture to what is in store, then Tamil Nadu will witness its first coalition government in almost 50 years. The congress, after a long time, will have its presence felt in the state. Whether it is for the benefit of the people, one has to wait and watch. The Democratic Progressive Alliance will have to be on its toe. The DPA has promises which it has to fulfill. It will have a powerful and an aggresive leader of the opposition in the form of Jayalalitha, who would be more determined to come back to power in the next elections. Surely the battle is ON !

A special day !

For all those people who aspire to pursue their higher education in United States the experience which I am going to describe now might be a common one..but it is something which i really cherish and would not forget for the rest of my life..

Monday, tuesday, wednesday and thursday had passed without any overwhelming news from any of the universities that i had applied to for doing my masters ..it was 9 pm, friday march 10, 2006..i started doing my routine checks on university websites to find out whether any of those had released my admission decision..and once again to my disappointment the status pages showed "sent to academic review.." or "academic decision pending.."...my dad lives in riyadh, saudi..and my mom and dad regularly have voice converation (courtesy yahoo) around 10 pm every night..so i left the computer, went to the other room and started watching some stupid tamil movie with my mind still disturbed by the fact that i had not yet had a favorable decision from the universities where i really wanted to study..

at 10.30 pm i heard my mom yell from the other room "Kaushik..............." that was probably the first time i heard her scream without bothering about what the neighbours would think ...my instincts told me it was to do with university coz more often than not its my mom who keeps checking the status pages...she remembered all my usernames and passwords..something which even i found difficult and had to maintain a separate notebook for that ! she came running to my room and told me "Purdue vandhuduthu da..............." which translates to "Purdue has come ......" I was totally confused..i dint know whether purdue results were out or i had an admission from purdue...these were the most nervous moments of my life..i chanted the names of all the gods and goddesses that i could think of including jesus, allah....i looked at my comp..and my heart skipped a beat - dhak dhak ... dhak dhak

it was the best news that i had ever received...it was an admission from purdue...it was a place where i had dreamed to be..and now i have got it ! the status said "recommended by program" and i told my mom i have been offered admission and there were hi-fi's all around..my sister, grandparents all started congratulating me..but my dad, poor man was sitting in riyadh completely unaware of what was going on..all he heard was my mom yelling ..and our hi-fi's..i then told him the news..and i have never seen him that happy in the last 21 years..this was the only happiness that i could have given my parents for sacrificing their lives by living in different countries for more than a decade now..it was Speacial day !