Archive for June 2016
How fast time flies
Recently one of my relatives gave me a call. Their son had got selected in JEE and they wanted some advice on which IIT/discipline to select. While in conversation, I recalled it’s been 12 years since I did the same exercise. 12 years. Seems like yesterday. But the figure 12 pointed to the time that has gone by.
Made me wonder how fast time flies. I was a teenager then and am 30 today. A dozen years. In those dozen years, I graduated, worked with 3 investment banks, got promoted, worked on 2 failed startups, fell in love, got married; went through myriad of emotions. If I reflect back I have lived a lifetime and an enterprising life in these dozen years. It seems yesterday when I clicked on computer to check my JEE rank.
How can I have both emotions together? How could I have lived a lifetime in the blink of an eye. I think the secret lies in living the moments. I have lived the moments that came by, and hence I treasure each and every moment, with limited regrets. These years went by so smoothly that I don’t feel the burden of the time went by.
A dozen years ago, I used to get overwhelmed by situations; I used to think a lot about circumstances; I used to take a lot of tension. Sometime down the line I made a promise to myself, I will not over analyze situations and will take as less tension as possible. It changed my life. I completely avoid people, situations that give me/have potential to give me tension. People don’t like that, but it lets me be happy and worry free.
Some might call it running away, I don’t care what it is called. I believe I have limited life. Why the hell do I run into everything? Like me you also have option of ‘not running into’ all and sundry. Chill and live your life with as less worry as possible. In next dozen years or so, I again want to look back to years as ‘lived a lifetime in blink of an eye’.
Arnab interviewed PM: Others Journalists please accept with humility
Ever since Arnab’s interview with PM aired, a lot of journalists are running scorned. Why Arnab, why not us, is their question. “Oh he was soft as butter”, one of them said. Others, who are not saying it so openly, are shooting from behind the cloak. “Arnab is PM’s spokesperson” to “Arnab sold himself” are other things I heard. My only request would be, please accept with humility. It’s not PM’s problem if we have 100 news channels today. He picked the English News channel with highest TRP to reach out to maximum people. Simple!
I remember a famous Hindi Channel Journalist ran blank screen to protest against Arnab’s diatribe once. It amazed me then. It amazes me now. If Arnab didn’t have the TRP’s on his side, the same journalist would not have protested then, others like him would not have been scorned now. It’s not the interview or Arnab they are miffed about; it’s about the TRP’s, the advt. revenue they are worried about. They suspect falling TRP’s for their own shows, which in turn amounts to less bonus and eventual cut in pay. I hope they be honest and admit this. If/when they admit this fact; I wouldn’t have anything against them. I have issue with their double speak and their hypocrisy.
Be honest; say that we are only scorned due to surging TRP of Arnab’s show and eyeballs that he gets. I had a lot of respect for ‘blank screen’ journalist, but since that episode, how the mighty has fallen. It’s PM’s prerogative whom to give interview to. Accept this with humility. In fact I would go a step further, had Manmohan given an interview to Arnab say 3-4 years back, there would not have been this hue and cry. Can you guess why? Simple, Manmohan couldn’t have brought so much TRP and eyeballs. Modi brings with him, the TRP’s and advt. revenue and hence the diatribe.
Sore losers are never respected.
Why are Baba’s and Guru’s relevant in society?
Couple of disclaimers first, I don’t go to any Baba and Guru and nor do my family. Secondly, I will restrict myself to Hindu Baba/Guru’s for the sake of this article. But same thing can be extended to all religions. It’s a societal issue and not religions issue.
When Asaram went to jail amidst sexual allegations, a lot of people I knew felt pained and were devastated. These people have put their faith in Asaram for years; revered him as their God. “Humare Bhagwan ke saath yeh kya ho raha hai?” one of them lamented. They were common people who were genuine in their regard and their pain. Asaram exploits brought a lot of disrepute to the religious Guru’s. The murky secrets were out in the open.
But the issue I want to touch upon goes deeper. Why do people need these Baba’s? What is it that these people are searching for in life? What is it that these people lack in them? It’s complicated. I feel it goes much further. It goes to “Why we are here?” People have been trying to find the answer to this question. What happens after death? Such things trouble us. Next is the race in life. Everyone wants to be more successful than the other soul. Some look for answers, some look for advice, some look for success. Whichever Baba/Guru provides whatever, people go to him.
I will be very blunt here with no disrespect to any one in particular, Modern high profile Guru’s are nothing but a sham. They do this just to make money. People cometh the last. VVIP Baba’s and their VVIP functions. If you have money, you will sit in first row in the Baba pandal.
For me a Guru must be above the money. If I see VVIP front row seats in a Baba’s pandal, I have no respect for them. But most of them are such. They try and keep up their humanitarian side by PR of helping the poor. This gives their rich followers some ammo to quench their morality.
Such Baba’s exploit the fears of people and become a pied piper to them. But I can’t blame them completely. If people are ready to be duped, what can anyone do? But the TV and VVIP Baba’s are not for me. I prefer meditating in silence instead.
Why Shastri’s tirade against Ganguly is laughable
Shastri is miffed with Ganguly for not making him the coach of Indian cricket team. This is the first I have heard Shastri going after BCCI regime. Oh! Wait, that was because he was the go to guy for Srinivasan. He enjoyed all the perks that came with being on the side of First man of Cricket. He was there in all and any BCCI committees. He was there as coach/manager; he was there for giving clean chit to Srinivasan and his son in law.
Shastri has ashamedly supported Srinivasan, standing shoulder to shoulder with him. What people like Shastri did was to give credibility to people like Srini. Ok, Shastri was doing his job and he couldn’t do anything different, but the coziness he showed with corrupt BCCI regime was repulsive. Last time when Shastri was appointed coach/manager, he didn’t bring up the due process issue. Why? Coz there was no due process at all. Srini was just rewarding his gang.
But now he accuses Ganguly of not following due process, of being disrespectful for not being there when Shastri was being interviewed. Mr. Shastri, being at the other end, isn’t fancy, is it? Well for me if Dada showed any disrespect, then he has my 100% support and support of other cricket fans like me. You have no moral standi to ask for due process, when you along with Srini followed none.
It’s not just Dada, no cricket fan likes you. You, a member of Srini gang. I am sad Gavaskar also went the Srini way and lost a lot of respect from fans. Even Dhoni’s halo fell when he chose to cozy up to Srini and went for the now infamous breakfast. Doing your job is fine; we could have understood your predicament. But the cozy club you chose to be part of for financial gains, has now come back to haunt you.
You have exploited the process for long. It’s time for some cleanup. I and other cricket fans will take poison from Ganguly then take Sanjeevani from you. Hope you get the gist of it.
Raman Raghav 2.0: Frighteningly Fun to Watch
Raman Raghav is a movie which won’t get much audience. Whatever people do make it to theatres due to Nawaz and Anurag, chances are many of them will leave the movie midway. In fact the theatre I watched was scantily filled and many people did not return post interval.
So how is it? Well, I liked the movie. Now I am frightened about myself. I liked the subtlety of the serial killer. I chuckled at every senseless kill. When Raman innocently explains that he killed a guy because when Raman was walking on the divider (black and while alternate lines), he only stepped on black lines and this drunken guy stood on a black line and wouldn’t move, so he killed him. There was no dark reason, no childhood issues. As Rama explained that killing came natural to him, just like eating food. You just do it, no reason.
The movie has its weak points too. It goes excruciatingly slow and repetitive in the second half. The plot of Raman and Raghav is not well written and comes out as weak. Though the actor that played Raghav is good, the character lacks connect and depth. Nawaz as Raman is superb. His character has all the depth. He is a maniac with innocence. The scene at his sister’s house is chilling. I saw few people leaving theatre after that.
When Raman is locked up, he cries in front of God. The way he complains to God about being beaten up and not having matchstick to light the cigarette, in the same breath, is simply superb. The character as well as the movie will evoke extreme reactions. Either you will love it or hate it. There can be no middle ground.
Movie would have been better without Raman and Raghav plot. Raghav’s character could just have been a police inspector without trying to mirror Raman. But still, the movie stays with you. At least Raman’s character haunts you, makes you chuckle, long after the movie is over. And that is a win for Nawaz and Anurag. Well done!
Arnab Goswami is de-facto lead journalist now
I have been open about my views on Arnab Goswami. I hate his over the top approach which is driven by TRP’s rather than ideology. That he has taken yellow journalism to its darkest shade is something which I don’t like. But what I admire about him is he is not biased and caged by his political leanings. For him TRP’s come first, rest all is second. Hence he remains equally harsh on all political parties and leaders, unlike other well known journalists who are shamelessly biased towards Congress or BJP or Left.
I believed he was journalist in an English News Channel, which has limited audience in India and hence does not represent the popular view. For me he represented the view which urban elites liked to hear and hence provide TRP’s. Well let me admit I was right and I was wrong. I was right in saying he has urban elites as his audience, but what I failed to grasp was, these very people are the ones that define policies. His audience comprises of top notch of society. Judges, Doctors, Engineers, Teachers. His audience comprises of influential people, who lead the society.
When I say Arnab has a small audience, I mean in number as compared to 130 cr population. In comparison to other English News channels, his audience is obviously more.
Couple of incidents happened that made me realize the import of what Arnab and his audience represents. A judge recently appointed a lawyer to a case after he saw that lawyer in a Panel discussion on Newshour. How I came to know was, that same lawyer thanked Arnab for inviting him and getting him noticed. He did that on live TV during a subsequent discussion.
The next major thing was Narendra Modi interview. That an astute politician like Modi decided to give his first Indian interview as PM to Arnab speaks volumes of the strength of Arnab’s audience. The audience which is less in number but lists the Who’s who of Indian society. Arnab is right when he says he sets Nations News Agenda on Newshour. Everyone else just plays catch up.
For most elites of Mumbai/Delhi, news is what happens 9-11 PM on TimesNow. Arnab is the pied piper of urban India.
Nihalani Bad, Salman Good: Moral and Ideological Bankruptcy of Bollywood
Bollywood was united in berating Pahlaj Nihalani, maybe rightly so. The whole Bollywood cartel from dynasts to first gen, were ashamed and aghast with a guy like Nihalani heading CBFC. The same cartel likes Sanjay Dutt. Same cartel is silent on Salman Khan. Not just silent, the cartel is standing shoulder to shoulder with Salman at IIFA.
How can Nihalani be bad when Salman is not, I fail to understand. For me Nihalani is bad and Salman is much worse. Censor cuts just the movie reel, but people like Salman, with his huge fan following, ended up making Rape a Joke. It would not be far, when rape victim would be quizzed whether she was really raped or just went to gym. Such repercussions of insensitive and filth that the superstar spoke. Still he is good and Nihalani is bad.
I attribute this to moral and ideological bankruptcy of Bollywood. They have been and are all about their own dreams, regardless of what they say. When Udta Punjab controversy was fanned by thugs after free publicity, they played victim card. Whole Bollywood was up in arms. But now nothing. In fact there is a feeling that Salman is unfairly being targeted. Such is the apathy.
With such moral and ideologically bankrupt people running Bollywood, I would rather unleash 1000 Nihalani’s on them. Make them suffer. Maybe I am over reacting but I hate when these people come out and preach how the society should work and how intolerant we are. Maybe these guys are epitome of tolerance. They tolerated even Salman.
The least they could have done is to reject sharing stage with Salman at IIFA. Would have given a strong message. Please remember the name of people who are silent now, or are just mildly protesting. Next time when they come crying, kick them out. When you call Nihalani, a Taliban, have the guts to call Salman similar names. Have the guys to call Sanjay Dutt terrorist. But no, you just are after money and free publicity. You have the guts to preach us and call yourself torch bearers of creative freedom.
I remember your silence today. I will call you out when you find your vocal chords later, when your money is at stake.
What Kejriwal is doing wrong and Modi is doing right
Yesterday I was reading writeups by two of my friends on ‘Describe yourself’ and suddenly it came to me. The difference between Modi and Kejriwal. What Modi is doing right and Kejriwal is doing wrong.
The difference is showing level of maturity. I have long stopped believing that politicians do/say things because of ideologies. I believe that every politician do/say things what he/she think will look better to the electorate. This is what Modi, Kejriwal or for that matter any politician does. And I don’t have any issues with that.
Modi is PM now and has control of Central Govt. What he says today is different from what he used to say in 2014 election rallies. Earlier he was not PM but a desperate contender. He did what he had to do to win. Same with Kejriwal. Even now whenever there are state elections Modi switches to election mode. The issue with Kejriwal is apart from Delhi he does not have anything. He is desperate to win Punjab. So he is in election mode all the time.
His approach towards election is to point out the failures of other contenders, which is understandable. But where he is lacking is how he takles Delhi. There is no doubt that Central Govt is not letting him function but then why should they? They have Constitutional powers and are using them. Initially when Kejriwal berated Modi for not letting Delhi work, we had some sympathy. But same thing repeated again and again started sounding boring. He has started sounding less mature and repetetive.
He has to solve the issues himself. Either go to court or get some political accumen. Don’t come crying to public every other day. If court can’t also help you then function within the realms of reality or try something else. Modi asked for vote in 2014 berating Gandhi, Vadra, Lalu, Mulayam and others. He did the same in Maharashtra, Haryana, Jharkhand. When he did that in Bihar too, people had had enough. He course corrected in Assam and results were there for everyone to see.
I feel the cries have gone one for long now. You saw the support dwindling in MCD by-elections. It’s time now to spread positive publicity by your good actions. Take the public welfare to next level and let people compare facilties in Delhi with that in their own state. If you continue to choose crying path, you have the right, but you would be going in wrong direction. The support would dwindle. If you still wan’t to point out the BJP negatives, let your surrogates do it. Don’t do the dirty deed yourself. It takes away from your personal positives.
I would like you to learn from Modi in this regard. After the bad PR of his high profile foreign visits, Madisson Square or drum beats, he has made his travels low key affairs. He has let state units fight state elections after Bihar fiasco. He didn’t even put Vadra or Pawar behind bars as he needs Rajya Sabha support. You also have to find other ways to function even if Central Govt is not letting you to function. Preempt the repurcussions rather than come crying to public. We have only so much tissues to offer.
Britain’s moment of Trump(h)
Britain has voted for exiting the European Union putting to rest months of uncertainty and leading the global economy towards unchartered territory.
A lot was said as to how bad Brexit would be for UK economy and UK political standing. People campaigning for Leave were termed racists, xenophobic and what not. Still people decided to leave. Just as we did not ask when Trump won Republican Primary, we are still not asking the right questions. I see a lot of analysts and pundits calling it a dark day and a bug loss for humanity. Seriously? People of a nation determining their future, if that is a black day, then something wrong with the analysis.
Those who wanted to Remain and a huge number of them, have to introspect why they lost. No point blaming the other side. Why was it that people chose to leave? To understand that well off ones have to come out of their palaces. This includes media pundits. Stop demonizing the poor’s as racists. These people want jobs, security. Why call them xenophobic?
How I read this outcome is, majority of population have been left behind. Majority of population has not benefitted from European Union. A lot of them have benefitted and it is evident from 52-48 split. But the majority has been left behind and ignored. When they raise voices, they were called bad names. Hence they took matter to the ballot.
Same happened in case of Trump. He invigorated the silent majority. People who have been left far behind. People who were at the fag end of economic spectrum. People who have gained nothing for decades. I felt bad when Trump voters were demonized as racists in the similar way. Pundits could have called Trump a racist, but calling the voters names was outright wrong.
Now is the time for course correction. Its up to the 48% people now. Do they want to take 52% along towards prosperity or not? Further alienation and subjugation might lead to much worse consequences. I am not much too happy with Brexit myself. But will be happy if this is taken as a sign to stop taking the bourgeois for granted.
Degree Row: Kejriwal and Modi’s cat and mouse game
Time to set the facts straight on the Modi degree row. Kejriwal raked up the issue as BJP forced his minister Tomar to resign on a similar issue earlier. Fuss was made by BJP on Sonia Gandhi degree issue too. Tables turned with Smriti and Modi degree fiasco. I have seen too much rubbish being written on social media and heard a lot of trash on News channels related to this. BJP and AAP have been at each other throats for few months.
My take on this is, Kejriwal is wrong and BJP is wronger. Let me tell you why. When Jaitley and Shah held out some piece of paper claiming it to be Modi’s degree, it seemed Modi was absolved and Kejriwal was shamed. Alas! This was not to be. What even conventional media failed to highlight is the fact that this degree has not been provided till now in reply to official RTI query. And nobody is pointing out this simple fact.
I have made it very clear in my earlier posts that Modi having degree or not, do not matter to me, he seems to be doing good. Same was my stand with Tomar, Sonia, Smriti. But since BJP, Congress and AAP has decided to slug it out, I feel the facts must come out.
I am not saying Modi don’t have a degree. He might very well have. The point is, why has it not been provided to the RTI query. I’ll tell you why. Coz it will make it official. The DU registrar has to certify it and in case of any wrongdoing, he will be liable for prosecution. Hence I say BJP is obfuscating things. When they flashed degree in press conference, it is not official and hence not liable for any prosecution.
That flashy news conference was just a political stunt, nothing else. BJP shouldn’t have started it with Tomar. Now that they have, they have to bear it when the sides are turned.
Why DU is hesitant on replying to RTI query begs a question. I could have blamed Kejriwal for this petty politics, but BJP and Congress have been pettier when it came to Tomar, Smriti and Sonia. So I am left to just point out the facts.
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