Haar kar bhi Jitne wale ko ... Kejriwal kehte hai...!

As I write this, there are still 24 hours for the Oath taking ceremony of Team Kejriwal’s Government in New Delhi. There are 6 more days after the Oath taking ceremony to prove the Simple Majority on the floor of the House.

Never before in the History of Indian Politics did these many days and hours look as Suspenseful as they are appearing now. The Congress, which offered Unsolicited and Unconditional Support almost immediately after announcement of the Election Results, repented their actions with equal alacrity. Their initial game plan was to expose the Kejriwal Team’s inability to fulfill the near-impossible promises made during the Election Campaign. But the unabated flow of statements from AAP leaders even after expression of Congress support, to prosecute the corrupt leaders put the party in a big dilemma. They had never imagined that they would face a precarious situation akin to giving a stick to AAP to beat them with it. Obviously, there was (and is) a revolt within the party at all cadre levels opposing the move to support AAP in forming the Govt.

The AAP has slightly climbed down from the high clouds which they were catapulted to after the impressive election results were declared. Now we see occasional statements from the AAP leaders that there is a process to be followed for enacting laws, there is no magic wand etc. They are totally aware that their government formed with Congress support is as stable as a pack of cards on the terrace of an 8 story building on a breezy day. Yet, they are compelled to take that risk, as the popular mass opinion was in favor of such a decision. And going by the mass opinion is a hallmark of this party. They would never ever initiate or further a cause not supported by the masses.

As for the BJP, it is a case of sour Grapes. They failed in their poll predictions and are not clear about the best foot forward. They do not realize that it is a blessing in disguise for them not to have formed a government with a thin majority with a solid opposition like AAP picking up every act of dishonesty and corruption. That would have caused them much bigger embarrassment. Therefore, they are doing what best they can do in such situation – to criticize the patched up fragile government formation.

As for the brand Kejriwal, it is undoubtedly the hands down winner in this entire episode. He has been successful in creating a Tsunami in the Indian Political arena. He has given a ray of hope to the Millions of Middle class in India who suffer today due to Price rise, Inflation and Corruption. He has shown to the Common Man on streets of India, that if you have sincerity in your Heart, a Steely Resolve and Passion for a cause, you can achieve anything in life. Majority of his elected members are not known to people beyond their constituencies.

Kejriwal can also be in a way called as India’s Obama. Both came from a relatively simple background without any political heritage. They are sincere in what they do. People have seen truth in their eyes. They believed in them and supported them with a hope. Now the onus is on them to deliver what they had promised.

The coming days, Months and Years will witness a sea change in Indian Politics. Overnight, Arvind Kejriwal has changed the rules of the Game. The indicators are there for all to see. The Congress and BJP are now talking about personal contact with Aam Admi on ground level. The leaders like Laloo Prasad and Nitish Kumar are talking about giving election tickets only to candidates with clean record. The stray young leaders from BJP and Congress are joining AAP in New Delhi.

By refusing himself a big official Bunglow and massive security, he has joined the small group of ‘different’ brand of politicians in India today. Manik Sarkar, CM of Tripura takes a salary of Rs. 9000/- pm. Once, Mamta Banerjee walked barefoot on airport when the strap of her slipper came out. Manohar Parrikar, the CM of Goa was seen last month riding a pillion to a scooter by asking lift on the road. We wish that the tribe of these politicians grow in India.

Every march of One Thousand Miles starts with One Small Step. Today, that step has been taken firmly. As we move along, things will fall in place. And that’s why; even if Kejriwal is not able to form a government or prove his majority in the Assembly on 3^rd, he has already achieved a lot.

Therefore, it is apt to say, ‘Haar kar bhi jitney wale ko Kejriwal kahte hai…!’

... And the Gods in Heaven also choked...!

It was a ‘once in a lifetime’ moment. The earlier similar occasion was witnessed by people in 1948 when Sir Donald George Bradman played his last test match. Therefore, the whole of India and many parts of the world were nervously experiencing this moment… when they would see their contemporary God play in front of them for one last time.

And it was a dream farewell for and by Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar from the world of Cricket. He played a breezy innings in his last appearance, befitting the situation. The city of Kolkata and Mumbai were decorated with posters of Sachin on every main road and the important junctions to mark this turning point in Indian Cricket history.

What the world liked in Sachin was not just Cricket. It would be an understatement to say so. What they admired in him were some exceptional qualities of a human being. They were awed to see how a person can remain firmly grounded with so much of praise and adulation for him by millions of cricket lovers. They were surprised to see how a person can be so humble and polite to everyone including youngsters around him, after reaching pinnacle of success. They were mesmerized by his simplicity and graciousness in whatever he did. They were simply carried away by his innocent smile and childlike enthusiasm even at the age 40 on the ground. He was a miracle for them, in every single sense. That is why people called him the global ambassador of sports.

Today, he made millions of hearts cry out for him as he stood on the ground holding mike in his hands to thank everyone. There was not a soul on the ground or watching TV sets across the world, who did not have moist eyes at one point or the other during his emotions filled speech. He was emotional too… not able to speak at times, due to lumps in his throat and wet eyes time and again.

It is rare to find such a gentleman. It may take many more decades to witness such a farewell occasion from an equivalent sportsperson again. Those who watched him speak today are blessed ones… they were a part of the history as it was being made. They have experienced what it means to bid adieu to one of the century’s greatest sportsman.

It is difficult, as quoted by his wife once in an interview, to imagine how he would live without cricket. Well, life has its own plans and sure enough he would find it very interesting now, to spend quality time with his family, which he missed all these years, in pursuit of excellence.

The Indian Cricket has to move on without a legend. A story started 24 years ago has ended today. We the cricket lovers in India are extremely fortunate to be around the time when he played some of his best innings. The future generations may never see him play ‘live’ in stadiums as we did. And we all can proudly say to our grandchildren, ‘Yes, I have seen Tendulkar Play… live.’

It is said that gods have to take human form and appear on earth to progress in their salvation process. We have one such person among us today. Therefore, when he completed his major task today, there was a satisfaction all around. And while this human God thanked everyone one … the Gods in heaven also choked.  

A Pigeon on the road…!

On a hot summer afternoon, I was driving past a relatively empty road near Dubai Creek when I suddenly spotted a pigeon sitting in the middle of the road a few meters ahead, in the same lane in which I was driving. As I slowed down the car, I noticed that the pigeon made a feeble attempt to fly, but could not lift itself beyond a few inches from ground and again got grounded. So, I realized that there was a problem ... either it was too weak to fly, or its wing was injured or whatsoever. The fact was that it could not move from its place on the road in that hot afternoon.

I managed to quickly change my lane and get back into it later, after crossing the Pigeon. I stopped at the traffic signal ahead and could clearly see the pigeon in my rearview mirror, still sitting there helplessly. Soon, I could see some more vehicles coming from the way I had come, and I noticed that those people were also noticing the pigeon and changing the lane. But then, after 4 or 5 vehicles succeeded in avoiding the Pigeon, one car just came too close… and ran over the pigeon. In a moment, the pigeon lay there dead. Some of its loose feathers started flying around with the wind.

In the meantime, the traffic signal turned green and I moved on. But all the while I was lost in thoughts. Thoughts, about whether the driver has done a ‘Paapa’ or a ‘Punya’…!

It was very much clear that the Pigeon was struggling to fly, but it could not. It was also feeling the heat on the road. It was also scared about the oncoming traffic. But it had very limited options. It would have eventually died anyway, unless some blessed soul came driving there, who got down from his car and took the pigeon to his home or a veterinary doctor. That was very unlikely. So, in that sense, was this sudden death a blessing for the Pigeon? Did the driver not save the Pigeon from some of its worst suffering moments in one second?

Another point… did the driver see the pigeon and then ran over it or it did not notice at all? Whether his deed of running over a crippled Pigeon changes from a Paapa to Punya or Punya to Paapa, in these two options viz. whether he did it accidentally or intentionally?

I had no answer. All I know is that I had seen one soul depart its physical body in agonizing circumstances. But the questions will always linger on whether the driver of that fateful car actually helped the Pigeon or harmed it…!

Sonia and Advani... loners within their own party...?

In a social event, Sonia Gandhi and LK Advani got adjacent seats. After exchanging the customary pleasantries, Advani Asked Sonia, ‘Soniaji, you look to be slightly worried since last few days. What is the matter, all well?’

Sonia at first hesitated and then said, ‘Yes Advaniji, things have not remained same as before. Circumstances are fast changing…’

Advani did not understand at first. He asked for more clarification.

Sonia said, ‘See Advaniji, we had made Manmohan Singh as the Prime minister in 2004 as he was the most harmless person around. Of course, his mastery in economics and clean image were major reasons as well. And everything was going on well even after our 2009 victory… till recently.

Advani asked, ‘Why? What happened now?’

Sonia said, ‘Advani ji, now a days, he is behaving like he is the ‘real’ Prime minister. Earlier, he used to obey all my instructions word to word, without fail and in all earnest. Now he is also using his personal judgment on matters related to the government. It appears as though he is on a mission to remove the image about being a ‘proxy PM’ from the mind of people as soon as possible…’

Advani was surprised. He said, ‘But what could be the motive behind his sudden change in behavior?’

Sonia said, ‘It is hard to guess. Sometimes he hints at the third term as PM. I am worried about that prospect, since his image as an inefficient administrator is still fresh in people’s minds and any attempt to project him as the next PM would most likely backfire on us.’

Advani thought for a while and said, ‘Then why don’t you put forward Rahul’s name straightway without any further delays?’

Sonia sighed and said, ‘Unfortunately I cannot do that as well, simply because he is still not ready to takeover. In the last few months, after much pushing and prompting, he has started showing signs of growing up to take on the role, but he is still on a b c and he needs to reach z to justify the high position. At times he makes some statements in media like ‘everyone is accountable and have to deliver results’ or ‘I am more strict than my mother’ etc. But everyone know that one day he will also have to be accountable and deliver results himself, if he expects the same from party men. His statement about being more strict is taken more as an amusement by the leaders, much like the first few words uttered by a growing up infant.’

Advani said, ‘But that should not be a problem, right? Rahul will be efficiently guided by the coterie of minister and Congress loyalists, shielding him from the hostile media and opposition?’

Sonia looked more worried and said, ‘That is my new problem. I am not sure about the support of senior congress leaders to Rahul same as they supported me for all these years. I sense that there is some discontent brewing among many of them…’

Advani was surprised.

Sonia said, ‘For example, in the hour of reckoning, I feel Chidambaram may put his claim for Prime minister ship as he thinks that he holds the copyrights for all intellectual wealth within Congress. Sharad Pawar would desert us without batting an eyelid to join with Mulayam to throw us out of power any moment. And more over I am not sure, how many ministers belong to the ‘Manmohan group’. You know very well, how much efforts I had to make to get Bansal and Kumar dropped from the ministry…’

Advani wondered at this recently developed internal power struggle within Congress.

Sonia asked, ‘And Advaniji, what about BJP? How are things with you?’

Now it was Advani’s turn to open his heart out.

He said, ‘I have been associated with this party for several decades. I spent my entire life time in devoting myself for RSS and then BJP. I was also the number two in Vajpayee regime… but sadly, today I am being totally ignored by my party.’

Sonia was listening.

Advani continued, ‘Today the party is suffering from an excessive leadership crisis. There are several power centers within BJP. Narendra Modi is increasingly becoming an unstoppable force. Other leaders like Rajnath, Jaitly and Sushma are hoping against hope that Modi will not be a prime ministerial candidate because of his communal past. That is why they are garnering support from wherever they can, like Sushma has Shiv Sena backing while Rajnath is propping up Varun as his prodigy.’

Sonia asked, ‘But Advaniji, are you also not in the race?’

Advani said, ‘Of course, I am very much in the race. This is also my last chance because by 2019 I shall be on the wrong side of my 80s. I would become a Vajpayee by then.’

Sonia said, ‘Advaniji, don’t you think that this internal power struggle can actually cost you these elections. People may not vote you because they would be disillusioned with your power structure within BJP…’

Advani replied, ‘Yes all of us know this. But you know it very well, politics is a dirty game. At one point or other people will put their personal priorities above the party’s… and that is happening currently in BJP. All the leaders are of the mindset that ‘If I do not get this fine, but he also should not get this…’

Sonia said, ‘In such a scenario, we both become weak and it will give rise to the regional forces like Mulayam, Mayawati, Pawar etc who will also start dreaming about Prime minister ship.’

Advani said, ‘That is the misfortune of the people of this country. No one can help them.’

The function ended and they both left. While leaving the place, both went in their normal manner but both of them knew that from inside they were shaken at the prospects of 2014….

All problems in Congress and BJP today stem from the fact that most of their leaders act as though there is no tomorrow….

The sons who discredited their father…!

In history, there are some celebrity sons who have brought immense disrepute to their celebrity father. What must be going through the minds of these fathers to see their sons behaving like this? We look at some recent cases and then go to history.

Vindoo Dara Singh - Son of Dara Singh

The IPL match fixing scandal is spreading like wild fire and daily new names are added in the list of those who are suspected to have played a role in the entire bad game. Vindoo Dara Singh has gained more popularity during last few days than what he got during his entire filmy career, although for a very wrong reason. He remarked that it was good that his father was not alive to see this day; otherwise he would have felt very bad. True, Dara Singh was a principled man. Very few people know that throughout his Bollywood career spanning several decades, Dara Singh has never played a negative role. He did not compromise on his principles that he should be seen by people as a villain, even in films. And for such a person, it would have been a shock of his life to see his son being arrested and charged with criminal conspiracy.

Abhijit Mukherjee - Son of Pranab Mukherjee

No one can forget the evening of 27 December 2012, the day on which Abhijit Mukherjee made the sexist comment saying that women came ‘dented and painted’ for agitations in Delhi. Such was the uproar throughout the country that he was literally begging to be pardoned on every news channel that evening. The only words he continuously repeated were, ‘I unconditionally apologize to all, I take back my words…’. Pranab Mukherjee is a much respected man today because he has built his reputation brick by brick over the years. He is one of the few congressmen who are respected by all parties. And he was deeply ashamed because of his son on that day.

Sanjay Dutt - Son of Sunil Dutt

Sanjay Dutt has given much pain to his father throughout much of his life time. Sanjay Dutt got addicted to drugs in his teenage and was sent to rehabilitation centers to get rid of his addiction. Then he was caught with weapons for no justifiable reasons. He has been mingling with underworld on and off which is not an honorable act by any means. All this must have pricked Sunil Dutt’s mind immensely at various times during his last few years. Sunil Dutt had an impeccable image as a statesman… a thorough gentleman. So, this was a bad dream for him to have his son indulge in these ignominious acts.

Salim - Son of Akbar

Akbar had conquered many parts of the world and was riding on a wave of success. His army was one of the strongest during those days. He was appreciated by his janata for his benevolent nature and good deeds towards his citizens. However, he was devastated to know that his son was interested in marrying a dancer from his court, Anarkali. He could not fathom the idea of seeing a slave girl as his daughter in law and carrying forward the legacy created by him. He ordered her to be buried between walls and waged a war with his son to stop them from getting married.

Duryodhana - Son of Dhritarashtra

Dhritarashtra, though blind by birth was a very knowledgeable, good natured and mighty person. His only problem was his excessive love for his son. In fact he never nurtured any ill feelings towards Pandavas. He always wished in his mind and expressed to his wife Gandhari that some amicable settlement should be reached between Kauravas and Pandavas. However, the ‘blind’ love for his son prevented him from being assertive in his ideas. It was Duryodhana who had all the negative traits. On numerous occasions he tried to cheat, deceive and even kill Pandavas. Dhritarashtra would have been remembered by history as a good person if he had not yielded to his son’s wrong wishes.

…

Having a good natured child is the biggest blessings anyone can receive. A person may earn lot of respect from outside world, he may amass wealth, acquire properties etc… but if his son brings disrepute to him, then he is the poorest of poor in this world….!     

Power of Southern stars in Indian Politics...!

The four southern states viz. Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala have something in common as far as politics is concerned. They have produced some very strong leaders who had the guts and courage to challenge the high commands of their parties sitting in New Delhi, based purely on their charisma and / or performance.

In Tamil Nadu, ever since independence, Annadurai, MG Ramachandran and Jayalalitha have controlled the local politics. And there is every possibility that their legacy would be carried forward by Karunanidhi’s family in coming years. It would be interesting to see who will challenge Karunanidhi’s family in coming decades, as Jayalalitha has no family to carry forward her legacy. Some of the popular tollywood stars have successfully entered politics in Tamil Nadu, but they do not have the fan following enough to start a political outfit by themselves. 

In Andhra Pradesh, there have been two charismatic leaders - NT Rama Rao and YS Rajasekhara Reddy. They had such a mesmerizing effect on masses that people considered NTR a god, while they almost treated YSR as a messenger of god. NTR gained his popularity through acting in mythological films in god’s roles and even today, it is said that there are some temples of NTR in Andhra Pradesh. NTR’s name is in Guinness book for forming a political party and bringing it to power within 9 months of inception. It looks unbelievable now, but at one time, Telugu Desam had 42 MPs while BJP had only 2 MPs. YSR earned much of his popularity through hard work. He toiled very hard for almost 3 years before coming to power. He extensively toured the interior parts of Andhra Pradesh. Both NTR and YSR initiated and carried through several populist measures which helped the poor people a lot. When YSR died in a helicopter crash few years ago, 68 people committed suicide, unable to bear the tragic news. Such was his charisma among the masses…!

In Karnataka, BJP could form its first state government in south India solely based on the popularity of Yeddyurappa. He worked very hard for several months to achieve victory. However, the corruption charges against him got his first to be replaced as Chief Minister and subsequently being expelled from the party. BJP was almost cornered as far as Yeddyurappa’s case was concerned.  If they continued with him, their attack on Congress on corruption issues was getting blunted. And if they got rid of him, it affected the party. Finally, they bit the bullet and expelled him, resulting in a very big setback in the recently concluded assembly elections. Post poll analysis shows that if BJP and Yeddyurappa were together, they would have got another 36 seats, almost double of their existing count of 40 seats.

In Kerala, the political scene is equally divided between Congress and Left parties. However, the leaders of both these parties are so much focused on regional issues that they dictate the terms to centre and not vice versa. This was evident recently, when the centre would have definitely let the two Italian marines escape, if not for Oommen Chandy, who forced them to put pressure on Italian government to return them back. In this case, the pressure from Kerala government was much more than the opposition in parliament to get the accused back in India.

No national party can ever dream of having a hold on these regional leaders in their respective states. They need to play second fiddle always, in larger interests of the party.

In a stark contrast, in North India, the leaders are very servile to the high command and obey all instructions without hesitation. They dare not challenge the high command. Can we ever imagine Bhupinder Singh Hooda or Ashok Gehlot disobeying Sonia Gandhi’s orders? Never...! For whatsoever reasons, they psychologically cannot violate the party high commands diktats.

The high commands do not have same control over leaders from South India. Imagine Rahul Gandhi giving instructions to Siddaramaiah, the likely CM of Karnataka. It is anybody’s guess whether he would listen to him. Similarly, one theory suggests that Congress high command was actually somewhat relieved at the untimely demise of YSR, because he was growing much larger than the party and it was becoming too difficult for the high command to contain him.

One of the primary reasons why the south leaders are so strong is probably because they did perform to the expectations of masses and did something tangible for their welfare. Annadurai, MGR, NTR and YSR were very much popular among the poor people because these leaders gave a feeling to the masses they understood the problems and issues of poor. And they did take measures. NTR initiated the schemes of giving Rice at Rs. 2 per Kg & a Saree and a Dhoti at Rs. 10 or so. The government canteens were made available to give food items at subsidized prices. In other hotels, apart from their normal priced items they were made to keep items at subsidized rates as well. So, there was a NTR Dosa and NTR Idli etc. These actions made them very popular. When the news of MGR’s death spread, several people self immolated themselves, not able to bear the loss.

Such leaders are rarely seen in North India. We do not see the fanfare of leaders to such an extent where people will give their life for their leaders.

One more major difference… When the leaders defected in North India, there was no effect on the party. When Sharad Pawar, Kalyan Singh and Uma Bharati etc left their party, there was no difference to the party. However, when Yeddyurappa left BJP in Karnataka, BJP lost the state.

It would take a very long time for the BJP to stage a comeback in Karnataka… the path is difficult, but much better travelled without Yeddyurappa, than with him.

What made Sarabjit Singh a Martyr...?

Sarabjit Singh was cremated with full state honors in his hometown Bikhiwind, Punjab yesterday. Everyone was in tears in his hometown and several high profile dignitaries were present for his funeral. He was declared a Martyr as well.

However, one is not really very clear, how Sarabjit Singh was considered a Martyr? Or why was he given state honors? Was he a patriot who died while fighting with the opponents? Or he died while fighting for protecting the sovereignty of the nation? Unfortunately, none of the above is true.

Before, we proceed further, let me clear that the torture unleashed by Pakistan on Sarabjit is absolutely unwarranted, uncouth and condemnable. Sarabjit deserves full sympathy for having been attacked inside a Pakistan jail which led to his death. Pakistan needs to be taken to task seriously for having allowed such a thing to happen. However, all these things do not automatically translate in deducing that Sarabjit was a martyr.

Let us go back in history a bit to get this in proper perspective. On 28^th August 1990, Sarabjit strayed into Pakistan in a drunken state. There, he was arrested by Pakistan as Manjit Singh and subsequently charged with killing 14 people in a bomb explosion, which had happened few days before. Pakistan had claimed that he was from Indian intelligence who had come to Lahore to carry out the bombings. However, neither Sarabjit Singh nor the Indian government ever acknowledged that he was an Indian spy.

Thereafter, over several years, his mercy petition was reviewed, cancelled and goofed up a couple of time amidst protests as well. So, the case of Sarabjit Singh became a negotiation tool for both the governments. Till last week, when he was attacked inside the prison.

Now, in this entire story, there is no one act of Sarabjit which can be classified as patriotic. The story only highlights the insensitivity of Pakistan and ineffective diplomacy by India, but by any stretch of imagination, does not show Sarabjit Singh as a patriot or fighting for the cause of the nation. At the most, he wanted to be freed so that he can return back to India and lead a happy family life as a farmer.

So, how come there was so much brouhaha over his killing and the actual reasons for state honors? It is cheap politics by the government which is currently under immense pressure from the opposition and the public in general. So, the government wanted to hide its inefficient diplomacy under the garb of excessive sympathy for Sarabjit Singh. The cartoon in a newspaper which said that Rahul Gandhi attended the funeral because the dead bodies do not ask questions seems to be correct. Otherwise, why we do not see him at the protest sites by students in Delhi, which have unfortunately become so common these days?

The media, which has become addicted to showing some spicy news or the other, as shown in ‘Peepli Live’, has also played their part in telecasting a live coverage for extended periods.

His sister, Dalbir Kaur, deserves full sympathy for the loss. But at times, she too has overdone her part, by talking in front of the mikes as though she is slowly revealing her political ambitions. A person in genuine grief cannot generally speak so tactfully, taking names of people and urging action. No one knows who the bigger beneficiary was, when she hugged Rahul Gandhi and wept on his shoulders.

Therefore, we are compelled to ask this question – What made Sarabjit Singh a martyr?

Sadly, it was not his patriotism, but political opportunism which made him a martyr.

Anyone for Mars? Trips start in 2023…!

A company in Netherlands called ‘Mars-one’ has undertaken a very ambitious project. It plans to send 4 astronauts in its first batch to Mars in 2023 with an intention to start human colony on Mars. It is inviting applications from interested people all over the world and they have already received more than 10,000 applications.

What is most interesting is the fact that there is a unique condition for this travel. And that condition is that - whoever goes there should not expect to come back. They will have to spend their remaining lives on Mars. Because, for a return journey, they would require the rocket fuel in huge quantity to escape from Mars’ atmosphere and travel all the distance and then land safely on earth, which is simply not available on Mars.

Then there are many questions unanswered. Let us discuss some of them here.

What about the food supply on Mars? The people are going there with limited food. They need to make some ‘local’ arrangements before their stock gets exhausted, otherwise they will starve to death. Also, no one is sure about the climatic condition over there and the different seasons. Obviously, there shall be no electricity to switch on lights or fans in night times. The people shall be forced to spend their nights looking at the stars above, fancily pointing at one star saying that it is earth, their home planet...!

No one knows whether life, in any form, exists over there as of now. There could be dangerous creatures, or aliens, but very unlikely human beings like us. How will these people cope with them, when confronted? It is said that the gravity on Mars is 38% of that on earth. That means, people can jump 3 – 4 times higher with same force. Would it make some kind of difficulty in walking or running normally?

After the initial excitement of having landed successfully on Mars, would not these people get terribly bored over there? There are no other people to talk around, except these four, no markets to do shopping, no movies etc. No doctor to treat illness, no rule of land. These people will set the rules for the people landing there in next batches. In that sense, they would have a big responsibility of ‘shaping the culture’ of a planet. Thankfully, all the following people would also come from earth, so the experiences and aspirations are similar for everyone. But what would happen, if simultaneously, some aliens from other planet also venture in sending some of their people on Mars? Would they gel with each other or fight?

What would be the psyche of people applying for going there? Are they excited to experience a thrilling experience at the cost of their remaining lives on earth? Won’t they feel sad for leaving their near and dear ones forever, without dying? Or they are fed up with their lives on earth? It is a strange feeling to bid permanent goodbye to a person knowing that he is going to live elsewhere for some more time.

What about heaven and hell? Would they be same as the ones for people on earth? But how would the soul navigate its way from Mars to the heaven, wherever it is? It has never travelled the way from Earth to Mars by itself. And the exact location of Heaven is still unknown to mankind. And would there be a separate section in heaven for people arriving from Mars?

Year 2050

There would be a competition among the builders to start selling plots on Mars. And after the humans start settling down on Mars, the technology would gear up to provide telephone facility for communication between the two planets. And then, the TV channels would also spread their wings to accommodate Mars in its area of coverage. The High society people would be heard saying, ‘our daughter is getting married… the boy is from Mars.’ The businessmen would proudly include Mars in their list of branches.

. . . . . .

Somewhere, the god would be smiling, wondering in his mind, ‘These humans are very surprising… give them a little and they look for more…They have damaged the beautiful earth I gave them… now they are out to destroy other planes as well…!

An open letter to Neeraj Kumar...!

Dear Neeraj Kumar,

We were quite disappointed to see you 96 hours after the brutal incident, in a press conference. We could make out from your nervousness that you had called the press conference out of desperation, when the demands for your resignation were only growing louder by the hour. We expected that you would at least assure the people, whose safety is your prime duty, about the steps taken by you in enhancing the security of every woman in Delhi. Sadly, your entire talk was focused only on giving yourselves a clean chit and eschewing the responsibility of any sorts.

What frustrated us was the fact that you have shown no remorse on the incident happened, and rather only questioned back the journalists in your self-defense. Well, every person has a right to defend himself, but there has to be a rationale on your arguments. Since we did not find any of that, we are forced to analyze your utterances, in order to analyze your psyche.

You said that if journalists commit mistakes, does the sub-editor or the editors resign? It is a valid question, but the comparison is horribly wrong. If a journalist makes a mistake, the result is that wrong news gets printed or shown in media. But it does not endanger any one’s safety, right? But the mistakes committed by your staff result in someone’s death. What is the punishment given to the policeman who had killed Rajbala? It was a cold blooded murder by a group of policemen against an unarmed lady. We are sure; they are all roaming free till today. What punishment has been given to the policeman who has outraged the psychological modesty of a woman when he mockingly commented to his colleagues in police station, as to who would rape that lady? She was hurt more by that policeman than the person who raped her. He is roaming free. What punishment is given to the policemen who arrested an old man in August 2011 for no crime committed by him and released him within hours fearing a massive backlash of protests? They are roaming free. So, please don’t compare the policemen with journalists. They are two different professions.

You also said that it does not really make a difference whether you are there or not there and that if your resignation helps, you would resign a thousand times. Sir, we honestly appreciate your truthfulness. You have acknowledged the bitter fact that it does not really make a difference whether you are there or not there. The way ordinary people live in fear in Delhi, one wonders whether there is any rule of law existing in Delhi? All your policemen are busy only in protecting the rich and powerful in Delhi. Has any of your staff ever tried to find out the feelings of a common man in Delhi? Never! They look at common man only as a source of revenue by threatening them and collecting fines for small mistakes committed by them. Your staff takes advantage of the fact that the ordinary man abhors police department and frighten him further. The day an ordinary person does not hesitate to enter a police station, you can claim to have done your duty well. Till that day, you have failed.

Finally, you said that why should you be questioned for the bad condition of people? Agreed, we should not hold you responsible. But we would like to remind you that you are getting salary from the tax of same people. Your foremost priority should be to safeguard their interests. Here also, you fail miserably.

Till yesterday we were unhappy with your actions or lack of it… but today you have disappointed us with your words or the flak of it…!

In search of a ‘Compromise’ Prime minister…!

Since last few weeks, the debate has got heated up in the media and political circles about the prime ministerial candidates of UPA and NDA. Both parties are not coming out daringly in open to name any particular candidate. In absence of parties doing the honors, the media itself has declared 2014 as a Modi v/s Rahul election.

However, there are various facets to this battle of Modi v/s Rahul. First of all they cannot be compared. One is an accomplished leader with proven track record of development while the other is a young politician with no tangible credentials. However, Modi has a 2002 stigma attached to him which pulls down his acceptance among allies while there is no opposition to Rahul for occupying the post.

Let us analyze why the parties are not declaring their prime ministerial candidates.

NDA

In BJP, there is an internal power struggle which was largely responsible for ouster of Nitin Gadkari. More damage was done to him by insiders than outsiders in revealing the contentious matters relating to his industries and dealings. However, that is not an excuse to protect or safeguard a person. If someone has done a mistake, then he should pay for it.

The problem for BJP does not stop there. Rajnath Singh does not have any power to decide on important matters including prime ministerial candidate. He is currently just barely managing the party affairs trying hard not to antagonize any section within the party, and openly praising Modi.

LK Advani, who had long cherished but recently given up his ambition to become a prime minister, has once again rekindled hopes amidst the daily attack on Modi from NDA allies. JD (U) has also added boost to his ambitions by mentioning that Advani is more acceptable to them than Modi. He will surely throw in his hat at an appropriate time. And his expectation would be that, at that time, whoever is opposed to Modi will automatically drift towards him.

Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitly are not so ambitious to aim for that position as yet, because they know their limitations. While Sushma gets some feelers from Shiv Sena intermittently about their support for her candidature, she knows that it is more because of their antipathy towards Modi than any kind of love for her. And Arun Jaitly shall be bidding his time and building his image for the 2019 elections. He is currently an under rated leader because of lack of any mass base for him.

One thing common for all BJP leaders is that they are all worried in their minds about Modi’s autocratic functioning style. Now whether this is an image created or he truly works that way is still unknown, but this one factor has prevented the party from naming him as yet for the position. Modi needs to take some immediate steps to remove such image from minds of all other senior leaders for developing a trust between them.

So, in a nutshell, the BJP leaders and allies are really not worried about his ‘communal past’. They are fully aware of his ‘progressive and developmental present’. They are only worried that once he becomes Prime minister, he may take unanimous decisions like once Indira Gandhi did without consulting others. This is their real worry.  

UPA

The problems of UPA are entirely different.

Rahul Gandhi has two options currently in front of him. One of them is to ‘accept’ the ‘overwhelming request’ from party workers to become prime minister and be vulnerable for onslaught from opposition on his inadequate knowledge and capabilities, or ‘sacrifice’ the post to someone else and get a ‘saintly’ image like his mother and enjoy the power. The problem is, it is difficult to know whether he understands these two options in front of him along with the risk – benefit analysis associated with each of the option. His limited interaction in public domain so far does not give any indication about the depth of his cognizance of these matters.

Manmohan Singh is in the news lately for uttering (finally..!) few words about his possible continuation in office for a third term. These statements do not have any weightage, since he is not the decision maker in the first place. Moreover, Congress would try not to make him the mascot of the party as his image has been tarnished beyond repair in the last couple of years. He is the biggest casualty of Congress, who is expiating for the sins of all his ministers. He is also on the wrong side of his age for staking any claim for the third term.

In absence of these big two candidates, the only third possible choice is Chidambaram who is consciously and meticulously building up his image for last few months though reforms and remaining silent on controversial issues. He was mightily pleased when his name sprang up in foreign media some time back, as a possible prime ministerial candidate from UPA in 2014.

The problems of Congress start from here. All the second level leaders in Congress like Salman Khurshid, Anthony, Kapil Sibbal, etc have no issues in bowing down to any Gandhi, but they would have stiff resistance to accept any one among themselves as their leaders. This is the most difficult challenge in Congress. The issue gets compounded because its allies also will not accept any of these second rung leaders as their prime ministerial candidates, because, they themselves are in the fray this time. Everyone knows that Mulayam, Sharad Pawar and Mayawati had openly stated their ambitions at some time or other in recent past.

Third, Fourth, and nth front

 The parties outside Congress and BJP are at their popular best in today’s situation. Each one of them is holding on to their fort strongly, like kings in pre-independent India. And funnily enough, in UP and Tamil Nadu, even if the popularity of current leaders fades, there is an equally strong opponent who is again a local chieftain. So, both Congress and BJP can never aspire to rule these two states on their own for several years to come.

The fronts formed by these outfits shall be inherently weak in nature, as they would be formed purely out of opportunism and compromises, just to share power at centre. Unfortunately, all such experiments in India earlier have failed to provide a stable government.

Expect the unexpected

The entertainment is not going to stop till the prime ministerial candidate is announced. The saga continues even after the elections till post poll formation is crystallized. We can expect some surprises to see who is ready to go with whom, just to share power or keep someone out of power. Don’t be surprised to see Congress and BJP coming together to keep the local leaders out of power, as some TV channels had predicted recently that the number of these parties together may reach the halfway mark. Some strange indications we can already see, like Mulayam suddenly starts praising Sangh founder and Advani, Modi praises Mamta in Kolkata, Nitish praises Advani, Mamata and Mulayam have broken up and patched up three times in last 6 months etc.

These elections shall be fought by every party against the opponent as well as against the rivals within the party. A very treacherous and dangerous game is on the cards where no one will be sure as to who is doing what…! It is a perfect recipe for Abbas Mustan if they ever plan to make a political thriller.

This is also the unfortunate hour in Indian politics when the choice of prime ministerial candidates is going to be more by adjustments and compromises rather than merits and capabilities.

The life of a cinema actor…!

A common man always thinks that a cinema actor is a blessed and very lucky person. The good personality, a neat appearance, the unfaltering diction with good choice of words are all endearing to people, who try to emulate them in their daily lives. Added to that, the jumping and dancing, fighting sequences, thrilling adventures etc make the actors look much larger on reel life than what they are in real life.

However, what people tend to forget is that these actors are as human beings as they are. The actors too face their failures in life; they have their own problems and their own limitations. However, most of the time, these remain hidden and hence not known to the public in general. And therefore, whenever such things come out, they become news for the media and the public.

Recently, Sanjay Dutt is in news on whether he should be pardoned or punished under the arms act. The supreme court after considering all the evidences and evaluating all the circumstances for last so many years, has given the judgment punishing him for 5 years imprisonment. Just because he has acted in benevolent roles in couple of films does not absolve him from his earlier wrong doings.

However, few people are imagining the pain Sanjay Dutt has to undergo as an actor in the next few days, when he shall be completing the remaining films, before he goes behind the bars for three and a half years. There would be several scenes in those films in which he shall be acting like a policeman or like a mighty person putting up a brave face in difficult situations. When he shall be shooting those scenes, his real acting skills would be tested. He would be required to be seen his normal self, enjoying on the screen, while in his heart he would be crying about his immediate future.

Sanjay Dutt is not alone in Bollywood to have undergone such a trauma.

Few people know that Shekhar Suman also faced a very difficult situation in his early career days on television. His son was in hospital fighting cancer and at the same time, Shekhar Suman was just getting some recognition in his TV serial ‘Dekh Bhai Dekh’. It was a tough call for him, whether to be beside his son, or to concentrate on a comedy serial to further his career. Finally, his son died leaving Shekhar Suman in a state of regret all through his life, for not being able to spend time with his son in his last days.

Everyone knows that Amitabh Bachchan suffered a serious accident on the sets of Coolie in 1982. He was battling for his life and the entire nation prayed for him for weeks. Surely, the fear of getting hurt must have been at the back of his mind for new few years, but he needed to appear his usual bravado on screen. And he did it so well.

Bhagyashri, the tender looking girl in Maine Pyar Kiya was in early stages of pregnancy during the shoot of film. Her husband, Himalaya was always behind the screen to monitor and ensure that she did not do anything which would affect her condition. More than that, the early stages of pregnancy means frequent nausea, vomiting etc. However, she did the entire movie without ever letting the audience know her actual condition or the conscious state of mind due to presence of her husband.

While shooting for Krrish in Singapore, Hritik Roshan once fell down from a high rise building. There was a safety net below which saved his life and any injuries. However, for the next few shots, he must have got scared during such shots, which he never made it appear.

Similarly, everyone enjoyed the ‘Mast mast...’ dance of Raveena Tandon in Mohra, but few know that she had a high temperature while the dance sequence was shot. Yet she appears very glamorous in the dance sequence with all the makeup and expressions.

The songs of suspense thriller ‘Gupt’ were very catchy and shot on exquisite locations. But few noticed that in many of the songs, Bobby Deol generally moved only upper part of his body, without moving his feet much. That is because he had to undergo a surgery in his legs and it pained him very much to move his feet.

Recently, Parineeti Chopra has mentioned in one of her interviews that the actors are required to work as per schedule, even if they are down with Malaria, cold, or any other illness. That sums up her feelings about the hardships faced by actors in this industry.

Some of the actors end their lives in a very pathetic manner evoking sympathy from the common man. Parveen Babi, the heartthrob of 80s, died of Alzheimer disease and confined herself alone in her apartment for almost three years before her death. A.K. Hangal did not have enough money for his and his son’s medication during his last few years. The Bollywood fraternity generously helped him then to survive. Meena Kumari died due to excessive drinking which damaged her liver completely.

So, all that glitters is not gold…unfortunately, the other side of a cinema actor’s life is often not as rosy as it appears on the screen…!

Is Arvind Kejriwal’s magic fading away?

Arvind Kejriwal is on an indefinite fast in Delhi since last 7 days to protest against the water and electricity charges. Sadly, the media coverage has been very low this time. Even the people are not flocking around him in large numbers, as they did on earlier occasions. Is the Kejriwal magic fading away? At one time before Modi’s arrival on national scene, people drew comparison between Kejriwal and Rahul Gandhi, over the suitability for the next prime minister ship. So what has gone wrong in the last few months? We analyze the 5 main reasons why Kejriwal is losing his sheen…!

Break away from Anna Hazare

Even though Arvind Kejriwal devoted himself to social causes by giving up his job much before, he was shot into limelight only during his association with Anna Hazare while negotiating with government on the Lokpal issue. People considered him to be the main strategist behind Anna’s every move. His calm media briefings, good vocabulary and intelligent remarks brought him closer to hearts of masses. They started seeing in him the future leader of India, who was ready to fight for their cause till the end.

But things turned ugly, when the discord between Anna Hazare and Arvind Kejriwal started appearing in the media. They both went through rounds of denial and refusal on all such matters for some time, but could not sustain for long. The important point on this journey of break-up was when it was alleged that Kejriwal had visited Anna in his village to ‘return’ an amount of Rs. 2 Crores, which was apparently with him, received as donations for the movement. Unfortunately, whenever matter of such large amount of money comes into discussion, people’s mind gets polluted with various wild possibilities and the sanctity of the subject gets lost. Subsequently, they put up a brave face and fasted jointly in Delhi, but it ended up without any result and with a highly unexpected declaration of a political outfit for the movement. Thereafter, within few days, they both declared parting of their ways on ideological issues, while respecting each other.

So, it raises questions – was the aura created around Kejriwal was because of his association with a clean character like Anna Hazare? Kejriwal has no substance in himself to be a leader of masses? These questions can only be answered in coming few months.

Too many expose in short time  

In October 2012 Kejriwal was the hero of media. He nonchalantly exposed scam after scam on a weekly basis. His opponents got very nervous and compared his exposes with a weekly vegetable market, out of despair. During those days, he was able to sufficiently build up suspense over his next target. He took on the mighty and powerful people like Salman Khurshid, Robert Vadra, Nitin Gadkari and many industrialists in quick succession.

However, all that hype fizzled out slowly, as very few of these allegations had sustaining power in the court of law.  People were disillusioned about the authenticity of the claims made by Kejriwal and company. It lost its seriousness and became more of an entertainment exercise for the media and people. Seeing the situation, the politicians also gradually became less wary of Kejriwal’s expose. In this context, Beni Prasad Verma came out with a stunningly wise comment on Kejriwal. He said, ‘One must not bark every day… instead one should roar once in a while.’ How true…!

Political Ambitions

Unfortunately, in India, people have developed an aversion to politicians. It is because, today we find very few politicians who are morally and ethically correct in their behavior and dealings. Most of the politicians are embroiled in some controversy or other. In this backlight, when Kejriwal announced his political ambitions, it came as a blow to his supporters. Some of them immediately started visualizing him as a power hungry, corrupt politician.

People raised genuine questions about the source of funding of his party, how he was going to get clean candidates, can he win elections without money and muscle power etc. So, the image carefully built up as an apolitical social outfit took a serious beating. Some people also questioned his views and ideas on crucial policy matters of national interest, which are not revealed explicitly till now.

Focus on anti-establishment

If we really look at Arvind Kejriwal and his contribution all these days, his name is synonymous with expose. That is why, Digvijay Singh once twitted that both Arvind Kejriwal and Rakhi Sawant were similar in the sense - both wanted to expose but without any substance. His work is focused only on revealing the wrong doings of people in power. He has undoubtedly brought in glaring public domain many issues which otherwise would have been dormant.

But, beyond a certain point, people question your credentials. When a person plays with fire he risks getting his hands burnt. So also, the entire government machinery worked overtime to look for any lapses on part of Kejriwal in fulfilling his obligations as an upright citizen of this country. And they found out about his pending loan repayment to the government, while he was in service. However hard he tried to justify his actions, a seed of doubt was sown in the minds of people. And with that, the halo around his image was cracked. People started looking at him like an ordinary man.

Moreover, he focused so much on the anti-establishment that he did not give prominence on his vision for the country, his policies to make thing better, his ideology on various national issues etc. It was more like a communist phenomenon, where you oppose everything existing without naming how you are going to correct it.

Insensitivity of Public

The people of this country have becomes slightly insensitive in the last few months. Whether it is because of daily incidences of rape cases being debated on national media, or huge amount of corruption cases happening around in every possible area, or an utter helpless situation where the people are fed up with misrule of government and the opposition not being ready to provide an alternative…the fact is that people have become highly insensitive and learnt to be more tolerant. Today, very few eyebrows raise if a new case of gang rape is mentioned, or another case of multi Crores corruption is discovered.

The immunity of people has risen so high that they have actually started enjoying these news items out of their frustration. The media is making the hay while sun shines and pushing all bad news day after day on prime time. The government is cashing in on the apathy of people and brazenly carrying on with their dubious tasks unmindful of public reaction.

In such a scenario, therefore, it was but natural that people show very less interest in Kejriwal’s hunger strike as well. His current fast has almost become like only a family affair, with some AAP leaders sitting around him and posing for the camera. The media is conspicuous by its absence or poor coverage. It took the government 13 days to break the fast of Anna Hazare in August 2011. God knows how many days it will take for the government this time. Whether they will make any attempt to break his fast at all, is also doubtful.

One thing is sure… the nation is losing one intelligent strategist… who is fading into oblivion because of some wrong steps taken by him…!