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Paris Travelog #4 – Second Photo Essay

Did you all read the previous post on the French Revolution by Priya Raju. If not, you may want to read it before reading this post which is a companion photo essay.

Don’t know if my photos will do justice to the grandeur of the Versailles Palace that Priya described so well. I have always wanted to try a photosynth and decided to try it with the Versailles Palace photos. Hope you all like it?

The famous Hall of Mirrors in the Versailles looked like this. It is a real spectacle to see this in person.

There is a special garden created for the queen outside her room’s window in the Versailles. When we saw it was covered in snow. Still you could imagine how nice it would look in spring. Legend has it that Marie Antoinette had gardeners plant fresh flowers in the garden even if it is not in season.

Her bedroom inside the palace looked like this.

I could go on and on with photos of the Versailles, but i stop here for want of space.

Priya referred to the Place de la Concord as a picnic spot in her post. Here is how it looks.

The Obelisk looks magnificent. The day we landed, we did an illumination city tour and i managed to capture a good photo of the Obelisk illuminated.

The same obelisk without the illumination looks like this.

The infamous Marie Antoinette’s cell looked like this in the Conciergerie with 2 soldiers watching over her 24×7.

Epilog
We will be interrupting our Paris Travelog series to post the Blog Pongal – the best posts of Year 2009, the 5th year we will be doing that. If you have any suggestions on the best posts of 2009, please mention it in the comments section. The next post in the series on the Louvre will be published after that.

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Paris Travelog #3 – The French Revolution

Here’s a link to the previous post in this series, a Photo Essay of Paris by Sukumar – the 1st of its kind in this blog.

One can’t visit France & not take an interest in the French Revolution. The explosive revolution of 1789 gave the world the phrase – Liberty, Equality & Fraternity. The monarchy was over-thrown in France & in its place, a democratic republic that had the inalienable rights of the individuals at its core was installed. Or was it? More on that later.

A visit to the Versailles palace is essential, to understand the origins of the French Revolution. During the reign of King Louis XIII, the Louvre served as the royal residence. When his son – the flamboyant Louis XIV took charge – he changed the headquarters from Paris to Versailles. The stunned courtiers, who were happily set in their wayward ways in Gay Paree, were dragged off to the marshy Versailles, whining & whimpering.

The self-absorbed king built a lavish palace worthy of him, le roi soleil (Sun King). Theoretically, the Versailles palace is a testament to the Baroque style. In reality, the over-the-top palace done in red, overlaid with gold leaves is a temple of solipsism. Its impossible not to catch a glimpse of the massive ego of Louis XIV, no matter where you turn.

Louis XIV really did himself well. Elaborate frescoes of Pagan Gods adorn the ceilings of all the rooms. Louis Quatorze fashioned himself after Apollo, the Sun God. His Throne Room was called the “Apollo Chamber”. From his ornate bedroom, he rose everyday facing east. Courtiers vied with each other to hold his chemise when he dressed. The crowning glory of the palace is of course, the Galerie de Glaces (Hall of Mirrors), with its chandeliers & gilded candle-sticks. When esteemed guests such as the King of Siam visited, the Hall was lit with 3,000 candles, its lights magnified by 17 precisely arranged mirrors. It must have been a sight to dream of.

Versailles served as the residence of 3 kings of France, all of them named Louis – Louis XIV, Louis XV & Louis XVI.

BTW, the Queens had to give birth in public, to prove the legitimacy of their children. They gave birth in their chambers, but courtiers closely “scrutinized” the births. Damn, they queued up to see a woman shrieking in labor pain, blood oozing from her loins. Ghastly. Guess they really ran short of entertainment in those days.

Severed from the harsh realities of Paris, the King & the aristocrats settled to an easy, hedonistic life in Versailles. So, they had no idea of the brewing discontent & resentment towards the monarchy among the poor. After a severe financial crisis in the reign of Louis XVI, an acute bread shortage hit France. A group of people stormed the Bastille, the state prison & released its inmates. The French Revolution was born – before it could be contained, before a semblance of order could be established, France made its descent into complete chaos.

Incidentally, nothing remains of the Bastille prison. It was razed to the ground, 2 months into the French Revolution. In its hey-days, it had some rather famous inmates – Voltaire. The Man in the Iron Mask. Oh, he was real enough. No one knew for sure who he was, but that never prevented them from spinning yarns at a feverish pitch. Alexandre Dumas believed that the prisoner was the twin brother of Louis XIV. Others washed the dirty undies of the royal family in public by claiming that the prisoner was the “real” father of Louis XIV: Queen Anne of Austria & her husband Louis XIII had been estranged for many years when Louis XIV was conceived 😉

Coming back to the revolution, on October 1789, Versailles fell. King Louis XVI & his wife, Queen Marie Antoinette were placed on a house arrest in Paris till late 1792, when monarchy finally ended in France. A slew of charges were slapped on the King & the Queen. After a brief mockery of a trial, they were sentenced to death. They met their gruesome end in 1793 in the Place de la Concorde (Concord Square): they were guillotined.

We visited the Conciergerie. It was the royal residence, before it was shifted to the Louvre. In the latter part of the French revolution – known as the Reign of Terror – it was used as a prison. While awaiting trial, Queen Marie Antoinette spent a few months in the Conciergerie as prisoner #280. Visitors can still see her cell. The former Queen & Princess of Austria was watched by 2 male guards at all times – all times. There was no privacy. Marie Antoinette was very sick with uterine cancer then, she was hemorrhaging frequently. She used to beg the guards to look away, while she changed or cleaned up. But the guards pointedly refused: Their mandate was to watch the prisoner with eagle eyes. Orders were orders.

During the Reign of Terror – between June 1793 and July 1794 – almost 17,000 people were guillotined. The “leading light” of the Reign of Terror was a nut-case-cum-fanatic named Maximilien Robespierre. He targeted all the presumed enemies of the revolution – including moderates who did not want to guillotine the royal family – & his political rivals. The Conciergerie became the holding cell of the doomed.

In a strange case of reversal of fortunes, Robespierre was found guilty of tyranny in July 1794. He was guillotined – some say, face up – the next day. He was shot in his lower jaw during his arrest – the wound was possibly self-inflicted. Before guillotining him, the executioner ripped off the bandages covering his wounded jaw. Robespierre’s screams rent the air, as the guillotine came down.

A magnificent Obelisk (see Cleopatra’s Needle) –  taken from the Luxor temple in Egypt, stands sentinel in the spot where the terrible guillotine once stood. Flanked by 2 cheerful fountains, with a ferris wheel behind it, Place de la Concord looks like a picnic spot now. We had a fresh barbe à papa (cotton candy). The gilded top of the obelisk glittered benignly, determined to make us forget the macabre details of years past.

Sukumar will continue this travelog, with another Photo Essay, centered on the French Revolution.

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Paris Travelog #2 – Photo Essay

This being my first post of the year, wishing you all a spectacular and swashbuckling new year 2010. As Priya Raju said, Paris is a charming and beautiful city.  My amateur photography skills can hardly do any justice to its beauty.  Here is my bold attempt at a photo essay of Paris – my first such attempt on this blog.  All the pics lead to a bigger sized version, when you click on them.

After considering several possibilities, i decided to begin the photo essay at the Rue Moufftard (Rue is French for Road) – the old road that has been around from the Roman period, that led to Italy. Wikipedia says, the road has been around from the Neolithic times!

It is now a charming street lined with eateries and shops and looks like this.

Everyones knows Paris inspired/inspires so many artists and designers. But little did we expect to see a master’s work right on the street. On the way to Rue Moufftard we were taken in by a Pierre Alechinsky on a building on Rue Descartes. Wow!

We were a bit dismayed by the amount of graffiti on the streets till our guide pointed out that even graffiti is taken very seriously by the Parisians. It is such serious stuff, that a few of the graffiti artists are invited to display their work by people. Here is one of the more famous graffiti artists Miss Tic adorning a restaurant front.

You know, when a street looks something like the one below, you can’t help walking back and forth on it. Here is the inimitable Champs Elysees with the majestic Arc de Triomphe on the other side.

Priya Raju insisted that we view the famed Eiffel Tower from Place du Trocadero – you get the best views of the Eiffel Tower here.  I am glad, we managed to do it on the last day, just before we caught our flight back. Unfortunately, it was a bit foggy that day. Even then, the Eiffel Tower manages to capture your imagination.

A trip to Paris is incomplete without going atop the Eiffel Tower. The views from the top are seen to be believed. Here are a few samples.

The city managers have managed to preserve the skyline extremely well. However to the far end of Paris, you can see some high rise buildings, Tour Montparnasse, one of the tallest is an example. Our guide said, many Parisians hate the skyscraper. Wish, India had a fraction of the design sense. Hmm.

Here is a view of the Trocadero which is where i took the first picture above from.

We stayed in a hotel on Quai de Grenelle and the view of that road from atop of Eiffel was spectacular.

The Montmartre village, which is home to the picturesque Sacre Couer basilica, set atop a hill, was the home of several of the great masters including Vincent Van Gogh.

I will end the photo essay with the famous Moulin de la Galette, the windmill at the end of the street in which Vincent Van Gogh lived.

Hope you all liked the photo essay? I plan to do one or two more photo essays, as Priya Raju unravels more of Paris in her next post.

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Paris Travelog #1 – Overview

Half of the world knows by now that we returned from an expedition to France. We are shocked & dismayed that fully one half of the world is unaware & ignorant of our exploits. We’re setting our experiences down in this Blog for posterity. Ready or not, here we come – The 1st post in our “France” series. Oh, before I forget – Happy New Year, Bonne Année!

A word of caution for those traveling to France from India: travel agents in India know diddly-squat about the country. Don’t expect any intelligent advice from either Thomas Cook or Cox & Kings. Use these clowns to book your hotel, flight and museum tickets. That’s all they are good for. Expecting anything else from them – such as knowing the sights & attractions of the country – can only filed under “irrational optimism”. You’re better off organizing the tour yourself.

Of course, that’s for people who want to soak in the sights & the culture of Paris. If all you want to do is go on “rubber-neck” tours – sit in a double-decker bus all day, gawk at attractions for a nanosecond as the bus zips by, click a few pictures, see only the Eiffel Tower & the Notre Dame Cathedral – the superficial cuts provided by the travel agents is right up your alley.

But that’s no way to see Paris – La Ville Lumière, the City of Lights. A trip to Paris is expensive. They don’t do “Cheap” in France. You might as well respect the city, plan your trip & do justice to the €€€ you shell out.

If you want to travel to Paris, spend $20 to buy a Fodor’s guide. Use it to learn the layout of the city & prepare your own itinerary. It will at least help you catch the gaffes of the travel agents. The bungling jack-asses in Cox & Kings insisted that we book a car to go the Orsay Museum, which they said was 60 miles from Paris. Its directly opposite the Louvre Museum, in the heart of the city! I felt like flinging them bum first into the Seine.

Paris is divided into 20 arrondisements (districts). The River Seine divides the heart of the city neatly into 2 parts – Rive Gauche (Left Bank) and Rive Droite (Right Bank). The city also has 2 small islands between the banks – Ile de la Cite and Ile St Louis. 37 bridges connect the 2 banks & the isles. Most of the attractions are situated near the banks of the river and on Ile de la Cite.

Paris is a city of distances. It’s a good idea to plan your itinerary around a particular area – such as Montmartre, Montparnasse, Latin Quarter, Le Marais, St Germain etc, so that you don’t spend your time flitting from place to place; Or worse, being stuck in a legendary Parisian traffic jam. Plus, the cabs are rather expensive.

Paris has a superb Metro system. Most tourist attractions are well-connected by Metro & the fares are very reasonable. If you are lucky, you can see the beautiful Art Nouveau iron gates built by architect Hector Guimard flanking some of the Metro entrances. Interestingly, when the Metro project was conceived, the engineers could not dig under the buildings – the land below the buildings belongs to the owners by French law. To avoid bankruptcy, the engineers had to build the railway lines under public property only – namely, the streets. So the Metro lines more or less mirror the streets of Paris.

They say travel expands one’s mind. This trip broke several misconceptions of ours. Many people told us – including our French Stewardess (Air Hostess) – that the French were unfriendly, arrogant, that they refused to parlez in Anglais. Nothing could be farther from the truth. We found the French polite, friendly, helpful & hospitable, like most people in the world. Complete strangers on the streets, on the Metro or in the shops were kind to us, whether they spoke English or not. “Maybe its us” I told Sukumar. “Perhaps they can’t resist our magnetic personalities” 😎

Many Parisians do speak English, after a fashion. After all, tourism is a major money spinner for France. Consider this – Around 8 Million people visit the Louvre Museum every year. It makes a lot of sense for the Parisians to speak some English – after all, it’s the Lingua Franca of the world; Having said that – it’s a good idea to carry a French phrase book & to learn a few words in French. So you’ll know that the waiter isn’t accusing you of being “too late” when he asks “du lait” (with milk) 😉

And sometimes, a rudimentary knowledge of (AKA high school) French isn’t enough. We were aghast to see “Plugs” listed as one of the ingredients in a Pizza. The whole world knows that the French eat funny stuff like Escargot (Snails). And now they eat – plugs? Our amused waiter explained that “plugs” is some part of “pigs”. He tried to explain how “plugs” are “harvested” in graphic detail, but we hastily asked him for some water to – plug -the deluge of information. So unfortunately, I can’t share that nugget of wisdom with you 😉

To our pleasant surprise, getting vegetarian food in Paris is easy. Of course, one must avoid the Cafes and the numerous Charcuteries in the city & patronize the ethnic restaurants instead. Paris has many Chinese, Arabic/Jewish, Turkish, Thai, Vietnamese, Italian – and yes, Indian restaurants. The cafes uniformly serve wonderful, strong, aromatic coffee. It is a deadly sin, not having a hot cuppa in a café.

While on the subject of coffee, we found it funny that in France – like Italy – “sitting” coffee costs more than “standing” coffee. If you have your coffee on the bar sitting on a stool, it costs half as much as the same coffee served in a table/chair. Go figure!

The French love dogs. Canines of all shapes, sizes and breeds sauntered around us – much to my glee – even in the biting cold. Most of them had leashes. Some of them wore dainty sweaters. I don’t know what they feed these dogs, but I tell you – they all had excellent digestive systems. If you catch my drift. Even small dogs left a small hillock sized – residue 😉 The pooper-scooper laws are either non-existent or not enforced in France. So, while on the foot-path, you have to watch for mounds of disgusting dog doo. The French love their dogs – but not enough to clean their “fixed deposits” 🙂

As far the sheer beauty of the city – there’s simply no other city like Paris. The French have been very successful in preserving their heritage. Almost every building is a jewel of incomparable architectural beauty. Most of the old buildings, dating back to the time of Napoleon Bonaparte are intact. That brings us to Haussmannian Paris. More about that later. Sukumar’s Photo Essay on Paris will be the next post.

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Telangana Crisis – United We Stand, Divided We Fall – Part 2

In the part 1 of this series, I narrated events that happened prior to late 1990s in the Andhra Pradesh.  In the second part, I will cover the evolution of Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) and the changed political climate. I will start with background on Naxal violence in AP.

Even though Naxalism has roots in the Naxalburi area of Dargeeling district, West Bengal, it penetrated strongly in Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, United Madhya Pradesh, United Bihar and Maharashtra. Particularly in AP, around 1980s, one leader by name “Kondapalli Seetharamaiah” formed a group called People’s War Group (PWG). PWG has very natural support in the Telangana and Northern Coastal Andhra where landlords and contractors exploit uneducated farmers and tribals.  Few things here are to be noted – in 1992, PWG extremists assassinated a Deputy Inspector General of Police – Vyas few yards away from Police Control Room and State Assembly.  In 1999, they assassinated another IG – Umesh Chandra in Sajeev Reddy Nagar traffic signal – which is perhaps 3 miles away from the CMs residence. Then in 2000, they eliminated Madhava Reddy, ex-home minister around 30 minutes away from Hyderabad. (Of course finally in 2004, they targeted Chandra Babu Naidu in Tirupathi which is in Rayalaseema also). This is just a sample of how well organized this group is in particular in Telangana. When I visited Warangal in 1995, I felt like I was in an army barracks. Heavy security everywhere. Unbelievable to me. Maoist influence in Telangana is to be specifically noted in the background of Telangana struggle.

Coming back to KCR, after launching the party in 2001, very shortly he could create cadre across Telangana. In the 2004 general elections, YS RajaSekhar Reddy (YSR) reluctantly joined Congress with TRS. In 2004, YSR was not as powerful as he became later.  Congress took support of TRS, CPI and CPM for fighting against Chandrababu Naidu, who looked invincible.  TRS won 5 LS Seats and 26 assembly seats. Vote share – 6.83%.   After winning the elections, TRS joined both UPA at center and state governments. TRS as we know has only one agenda – to get separate state. But for YSR, being at heart supporter of Samaikyandhra (United Andhra), started his new line – “problems in AP are due to Mr Naidu not doing enough in irrigation front”.  Jala Yagnam – Water Projects of the scale unimaginable earlier were started with millions of rupees. He also sidelined TRS and forced them come out of the state government. KCR who was central labor minister also resigned in 2006 and withdrew support to UPA because the Telangana issue was kept with a committee headed by Pranab Mukherjee. But things did not move as fast as KCR desired but he used to promise to his cadres that Telangana is coming very soon.  KCR also resigned the LS Seat and in the 2006 by-elections in the Karimnagar constituency, KCR won back the seat he just resigned. He also got a very high majority.

Again the cat and mouse game started. In between, YSR started weakening KCR by splitting TRS. The split faction used to consistently criticize KCR for his lack of commitment and running the party like a family affair.  Meanwhile, Pranab Mukherjee kept sitting on the Telangana issue. Most of the Telangana ministers from Congress, never overtly supported Telangana to be on the good books of YSR.  The only dissident voices from Congress were those Telangana leaders who can never win a direct election all by themselves. There could be other Telangana committed leaders, but were not very vocal.  On the other side,  KCR was getting frustrated. In 2008 (just last year), he made all his 26 MLAs and 4 MPs resign (from his faction of TRS).  In the subsequent bye-election, TRS could just win 2 LS and 7 Assembly Seats.  After forming TRS, this is the worst performance for that party after it’s formation.

Come 2009 General Elections, TRS formed alliance with TDP. TDP for the first time included Telangana in their manifesto due to pressure from the Telangana TDP leaders.  In the elections, TRS won 2 LS seats and 27 Assembly Seats. Congress fared OK but one should agree that Congress won primarily because of splitting of opposition vote by a new party – Praja Rajyam Party(PRP) – launched by film actor Chiranjeevi. PRP won 18 assembly seats (and 16% vote share). Then came YSRs tragic death. I think that changed entire equation.  Dr Rosaiah is a very good No.2 but is not an effective No.1. I think Congress High Command would have thought he would be a good consensus candidate as YSR did not groom any leader of his own stature.  Meanwhile in November 2009, (just last month), elections were held for the Greater Hyderabad City Council. Considering the fact that TRS is traditionally weak in the Hyderabad Urban region and the fact that Hyderabadis are mostly against a separate state, TRS did not even contest the election. TRS argument is different. They thought enough is enough with the political games – let us try something new – fast until death by KCR.  KCR also toured across the Telangana region and prepared the cadres for the big fight. An interesting side note – KCR did a fast until death near Jantar Mantar, New Delhi back in August 2006 as soon as he withdrew support to the UPA government. But he ended the fast just in 2 days at the insistence of Sharad Pawar. So, everybody in the state and center, including the media thought this is another such fast which may go at most 3 days.

Once he started the fast, as expected on the second day of this fast, KCR withdrew the fast and accepted a glass of OJ before the cameras. But what changed the entire scene is the Osmania University Students Joint Action Committee(JAC). These kids were also in the fast in support of KCR. When KCR withdrew they burned the effigies of KCR and projected him as an incapable leader. KCR then told some funny stories which nobody with right mind would believe, and again restarted the fast. KCR is moved to Khammam and eventually to Nizam Hospital, Hyderabad (for better access to National Media, of course which will add pressure). On the other hand, his health situation was deteriorating. There were reports that extremists(Maoists) penetrated into the JAC in Osmania University(proven to be correct).  KCR’s fast soon caught the Congress High Command attention. They convened an all-party meeting inside the State Assembly where TDP, PRP, CPI agreed for announcing T-State. CPM, Lok Satta and MIM(Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen) did not support the idea. With TDP and PRPs agreement, P. Chidambaram made the announcement. As soon as this was announced, the coastal andhra and Rayalaseema areas people got really pissed off.  They started pressurizing their elected reps to do something. They announced the resignations and the state entered a political crisis.

One thing that can be inferred from this entire episode – the police intelligence in the state failed completely.  They underestimated everything from end to end.  The reports that OU JAC has outside elements including ex-naxalites is a fact and proven by recent attacks on TDP legislator Nagam Janardhan Reddy who visisted the Osmania University to support the JAC leaders. Even in Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema, many rowdy elements created havoc. This is a really deplorable situation where police could not control the events.

We have to do a small political analysis on who will benefit if a new T-State is formed –

1) Telangana Congress Leaders – With 4.5 more years Assembly term left until next general elections, even if the state is formed 1 year from now, they will get 3.5 years of ministries and power.  It will be gold mine.

2) KCR/ TRS – KCR will become Father of Telangana and TRS will become an alternate party to reckon with in future. I dont know whether it is good or bad. He is not a trustworthy leader according to even Telanganites. He promotes hate and talks imbalanced.

3) TDP – They have strong cadre in Telangana. They have nothing to lose at least as they do not have power now anyway. So they will work towards strengthening the party.

4) Maoists – From what I know about these groups, they think of new revolution and controlling the country in a single party system with new democracy/ communism etc. Why the hell should they support a split state in Telangana and Goorkhaland? I infer one thing – a new and weak state is easy to have their influence. Not good for Indian Union in any way.

Now what about aam-aadmi – Let us go with the assumption that there is an injustice and Coastal Andhrites are exploiting them. This will not change. With the present state and structure, with the same administrative support – common man in T-state will not see any change in quality of life except a feel-good factor that they got a state of their own. It will be practically impossible to remove the population who migrated and mixed deeply into the Telangana. They will continue to exploit (if they are as smart as they are projected to be) the Telangana region. Next comes the encroachers in Hyderabad. A very large percentage of encroachers in Hyderabad and surroundings are rowdy sheeters who are from Telangana itself not some Coastal Andhrites. Coastal Andhra people really hiked up the market by trading plots around Hyderabad for exorbitant prices.  After real estate crash, they are also impacted.  It is also a proven fact that telanagana rurals were exploited by Telanagana landlords more than anybody else.

Issues which needs consensus even before we think of a new T-state

Hyderabad – Just like we have at least one person from every single district in India at US, we have  at least one person from every Andhra Pradesh village in Hyderabad. I myself have personally at least 25 families of relatives in Hyderabad. If moron leaders/ goons pressurize and threaten, I dont think they will leave. Their life and property is to be protected. They should have equal rights and respect as any native Telanganite. This again is not a charity. This is a fundamental right.  Period.

Water Agreements- I think it is an opportunity for making some innovative agreements between the new state and Andhra. Like KG Basin Energy for river water etc. Both water and energy are going to be scarce. Leaders in both sides should sit together with engineering and scientific community and finalize such agreements.

New Capital- Instead of all departments to be in both capitals, there should be some rational agreements to continue departments that can be run together.  For example, Police, judiciary and marine departments can be shared. know it sounds crazy but I question why not. Whatever reduces the wastage of public money should be thought.

Even before a new state – there should be hard look at the issues that prevented development in Rayalaseema and rural Telangana so far. If they declare in haste – the only benefited parties will be politician and contractor class. Common man’s life may not change. And 30 years down the lane, Adilabad may ask for a separate state.

Hyderabad as a common capital is being discussed a lot. I don’t think it will be practical. But some people
will say – even today everyone will travel all the way to Hyderabad to get things done. Why not in future? It needs broader discussion. One thing is certain majority of Hyderabadis doesnt want to join Telangana. If Telangana people think their sentiment is not respected, I have the same question – should we not respect Hyderabadis sentiment? If not, then it amounts to double standards, which we should be ashamed of.

All in all, what I wanted to say is – if there is a way to really spread the development without dividing the state, it should be strongly explored. If common man in T is going to be under the clutches of same/ similar exploiters, then it is not really a good idea to divide the state for the heck of dividing it.  With Maoist resurgence and the reports that they have equipped latest arms through Nepal connection,  a Telangana state is going to be not a good idea now. I am for a United Andhra for the benefit of entire AP rather than one section. I think it is the responsibility of entire Telugu people to strive for the benefit of the entire state not looking after our own resources we control. It is easy to divide and very difficult to join back. We lose all the leverage we have in the federal system.

I attempted this series because I was pained by the casual nature with which many of my friends from other states took this issue. I thought it could be because of lack of awareness on this issue and thought of explaining to the best of my knowledge. I am also not much politics person and had to research on this a lot to make sure it is as correct as possible.

As we know, the Telangana state cannot be formed by what happens inside Andhra Pradesh. It can be issued by a parliament act which will be voted by all our Lok Sabha reps. As you can see, with so much complexity involved and so many problems unresolved, a new state cannot be formed in haste due to black mail politics or violence spurred by some goondas. It will have impact on the entire country. So, I encourage people to understand this and help people of Andhra Pradesh. Your representatives’ votes and your opinion impacts lives of 8 crores of Andhrites.