In Gandhi’s India, Why the fuss about Kejriwal’s attire?
So, I read that a person has sent 364 bucks to Mr. Kejriwal to buy a pair of shoes. A lot of similar minded individuals have opined the same. “He should have known to wear better. After all he was attending an official function.”
I am sure there will be debates all through the week on this topic. It will involve a lot of name calling and what not. Today I don’t want to touch the politics of it. I just want to touch the stupidity of all this.
Couple of years back Congress, who put Anna behind bars for his fast-unto-death, totally forgot that it was such fast-unto-deaths by Gandhi which were instrumental in the freedom movement. Now it is such people who totally forgot that simplicity is what Gandhi taught us.
I wonder what such people would have said to Gandhi when he went to round table conferences in Britain wearing almost nothing.
Maybe Kejriwal is doing all this for publicity. But he is doing what Gandhi taught us and is the foundation of our great nation. People, who can’t digest this, are well within their right to digress. But they should not be celebrated. They should be ignored.
Best way to tackle Ban on Woman in Religious places
Ban on woman at a number of places of worship has been in the discussion lately. Women have come out both for and against the practice. When one group of women wants it to be abolished right away, other group wants not to tinker with the tradition.
Both have their arguments. Pro-abolition cites right to equality enshrined in the constitution. Pro-tradition says it has nothing to do with gender discrimination, just a part of tradition like Karwachauth (where women fast for their husband’s long life).
What is the best way to tackle this? I think long lasting traditions (albeit wrong ones), take time to go away. And we should give them this time. It will eventually vanish. If we try and change it forcefully in an instant, it will cause more problems.
Slow reform would be best to junk such traditions. Spread awareness about it. Not forcefully. Women should take lead and make their families aware about these injustices. They can teach their children to junk such traditions. Till will make them go away smoothly.
Another option can be to boycott. Women can persuade their families to boycott such places altogether. Slowly law of economics will catch up and gates will be thrown open to all.
There are a lot of ways we can do it. Traditions should be handled carefully. They have grown up slowly over centuries. They will take some time to go away. And we should give them this time.
Right to Religion: Wrong to Religion
When I was born, my religion was pre-decided. I never asked for a religious identity, yet it was bestowed upon me. Society expected me to show solidarity with the people of my religion. Society expected me to marry within my religion. Society expected me to make friends inside my religion.
As I grew up, I came to know more about my religion via books. I was enlightened about the long running feud between my religion and some other religion. I was expected to join that feud. When I reached college, I was expected to speak up for/against my religion. ‘No opinion’ was laughed at.
When some one spoke against my religion, I was expected to defend it and go ballistic against the other religion. By that time I was conditioned to do it. I saw merit in my religion and called it the best. Other religions were cause of historical bloodsheds.
Then they told me, I have a right to practice any religion. Yet I will be called a ‘convert’ if I choose some other religion. I will be called ‘agnostic’ if I opt for no religion. I will be someone different. An alien!
I wonder what is natural, practicing a religion or ‘not practicing’. Man is not born with a religion, yet ironically he has a religion by birth. Too complex.
I find myself reacting when someone speaks against my religion. And then I end up asking why? I find myself praising my religion. And then I end up asking why? I find myself friends with people of my religion only. And then I end up asking why? I find myself marrying within my religion. And then I end up asking why? I will for sure bestow my religion to my offspring. Just keep on asking why?
Khichdi Govt in 2019?
How the cycle of mistakes repeats can be a research topic in itself. If we remember during the Anna movement or Ramdev agitation, Congress committed one self goal after another. They obviously thought ignoring and rejecting them as motivated struggles, would make them go away. But it was not to happen. The movement got further impetus by each suppression.
Similar mistake is being committed by current dispensation. I am not questioning their intent at this point. But the way student suicide case is being handled, is bound to backfire. Blaming the opposition, calling student protest as motivated, questioning student’s caste, doesn’t all this seem familiar? It’s what UPA used to do. And it failed. So why is NDA repeating these mistakes?
I can only see arrogance and nothing else. As I have said before, the smartness of Vajpayee is missing. India is but a democracy. You have to win elections to keep doing good work. How hard would it have been to take some action or to apologize? I didn’t see any apologies coming in from Government, leave aside some action.
You won’t be able to win elections by calling everyone else motivated. I think, Modi need to guide his ministers, how to win over junta. What they are doing is antagonizing people. This will chip into good work of Modi and will be sad to see a ‘khichdi’ Govt. in 2019.
Modi and Trump: Why they don’t care about Media?
Modi and Trump have a lot in common. Both portray themselves as outsiders. Both vows to fight against the accepted norms.
One thing that both fight against is the Media. And they have been highly successful at that. Voters have supported them whenever they have lasted out against News giants. From Modi’s news-traders barb to Trump’s open fight against Fox News, they have gained public support. This begs the question how/why?
Well a lot can be owed to the rise in competition in News Sphere and to the downfall of journalism in the traditional sense. News gave way to News-Entertainment to earn more advertisement revenues. Nowadays, if you ask any common man about the biggest problem that ails our society, most common reply is “Sensationalist Media”. Zillions of channels in search of breaking news destroying the very pillar that stood for.
Moreover everyone knows how fat pay packages are earned by media professional these days. People no longer see them as poor guys fighting against big corporations and politicians. The ‘behind the scenes funding’ of media houses have become public thanks to social media. This has further damaged credibility of the news that we read/listen. Media itself has become THE INSIDER. Since Modi and Trump portray themselves as outsiders, they out-win the media.
Thus Trump breaks no sweat when withdrawing from Fox News debate, which would seem like a political suicide for any other politician. Similarly Modi has no problems in not taking media along on foreign tours as part of his entourage. They both fight against the insiders.
This is the hope they instill in public. To do what no one else dares to do.
The Frustrated Indian, India Against Presstitutes etc: You are Blocked
Facebook was such a sweet place where I could see updates/pics from my friends and stay in touch with people I met sometime in my life. Then came the surge of paid Profiles/Pages, with propaganda to sell.
AAP and BJP supporters were the ones that destroyed the utopia that facebook used to be for their election marketing. And then people in my friend list started liking such posts/sharing them, which then started showing up on my page. Mudslinging, name calling and what not. Newsfeed was getting hogged by such alien posts that I never wished for.
I have started unfollowing such accounts/pages one by one. Below are the few Pages that I have unfollowed (unfollowed would be a wrong word as I never followed them, they just started appearing whenever any of my friends liked/shared them).
- The Frustrated Indian: Dude you are seriously frustrated. Time to get laid. You spread negativity and in a bid to defend him, you end up damaging our PM’s reputation and make him look intolerant.
- India Against Presstitutes: Was nice when it began. Press reporters are anyways pathetic. But you have gone overboard and more and more negative. Time to buzz off my facebook.
- AAP is No More for Aam Aadmi: Again the same dumbshi*. Modi don’t need you guys. He just doesn’t need you to defend him. Period.
- Indian Youth Congress: Never knew such a thing existed. Budding cronies, buzz off.
- OpIndia: Right wing extremism to its best. Negative, negative, more negative.
- A lady whose name I forgot, who suddenly became messiah for pro-Government.
- A lot of them I forgot
Main reason is not for what they post, but for how they post. Insulting, crass and cringe-worthy. Sometimes I feel these accounts are managed by another insulting, crass, loud, negative media men, Mr. Goswami.
I can use internet. I am relatively well off. I am not a frustrated elite. I don’t need such leeches to feed off me. Not the least on facebook.
Modiji, please shed the coterie
I see a lot of fighting these days in social media. Pro-Modi, Pro-AAP people berating the leaders. Personal offensive remarks of Bhakt, AAptard and what not. Seriously fed up with this, I have started unfollowing certain mischief accounts. I know triggers are created by paid profiles, but why to blindly forward them and spam your friend’s timeline. So much negativity!
Back to the point. Personally I am okay with Modi’s performance, in his personal capacity. He has made world take notice of India, lifted the country from a sense of gloom, made Swachh Bharat the cool thing among a lot others.
We all know how he went overboard during elections and promised the people of this country, the stars. We all know it’s not possible to deliver in a short span of time. People have a right to criticize as they were not told, “You will get stars after 5-10 years”. They were promised instant relief which can’t happen in reality. No point bashing the electorate. If they are fools now in criticizing Modi, how were they not fools when they voted for him?
Modi, I feel, is falling short of few selfless men like him in his Government. The biggest crook of them all is our FM. He is edging away a lot of Modi’s charisma. Piyush Goyal is working superbly at grass root. Smriti Irani is competent.
Railway ministry is working only for facebook and twitter crowd but nothing for poor who travel via General Class (90%). We need a revolution in railways. Loyal vote bank of BJP, the middle class has been neglected and left to fend for itself, which is not nice. More importantly the attitude of his Ministers and spokespersons is not right. They seem just like Congress. Equally arrogant.
Given the history of Modi and BJP, it is there responsibility to win over 69% who didn’t vote for them. But our great FM calls it manufactured dissent. Why name calling. When you in power, it does not look nice if you start berating people. Modi knows that but he is being misguided by coterie around. FM was the one who aggravated the situation by badmouthing people returning awards. Political mastery of Vajpayee was missing. All it needed was to call them all for a talk. Soothe their ego if need be. They would have gone silent.
Same goes with communal politics of BJP. It’s great when in opposition but boomerangs when in power. I hoped BJP would have learned this by now.
I have my hopes and faith in Modi. But not so much in his coterie. I am sure Modi will find a way!
IndianExpress and the Mockery of News
Just looking at the headlines in Newpapers these days makes me cringe. The sheer shamelessness and biasness leaves me aghast. These ‘relics of the past’ as I always call them, still have ideological hold over a lot of news that circulates in regular media and it worries me. Read the below two headlines from Indian Express website on the same day,
Rohith Vemula is not alone, this is happening in every university, says Rahul Gandhi
V/S
Muzaffarnagar: Rape video goes public, BJP leader jumps in
My simple question to the editor of the “self certified awesome” paper is, why not approach it the other way round.
Hyderabad: Student commits suicide, Rahul Gandhi jumps in
V/S
BJP leader calls for justice to Hindu women who committed suicide post rape video going public
I have no love lost for BJP, Congress of for that matter any of these thugs who wants votes just to make merry. But reading such headlines appalls me. Why couldn’t it simply have been below? Or some other headline without bias to either issue.
Rohith Vemula suicide case: Rahul Gandhi alleges casteism happening in every university
V/S
Muzaffarnagar rape and suicide case: Justice for the Hindu women, demands Virendra Singh.
We have no respect for our politicians but these newspaper editors still hold some respect in society and I wish they are stripped of this respect. Social media is breaking their citadel brick by brick. Hope it happens sooner than later.
Casteism: Does it really happen in Colleges in India?
With the sad demise of a PhD scholar coming in from Hyderabad, a debate has been raging if the monster of casteism is still alive in the temples of education? That it used to be rampant in the past is a documented fact which no one denies. But since the days of Mandal, have things changed or are they the same.
I can tell from my college experience that I didn’t notice any such incident. And mind you, I was very vocal on such issues and Editor of College Newspaper. But then my campus was not at the center of politics. It was a laid back campus just concerned about studies. That I was one of the most political guy in the campus won’t be an smug statement.
I am not overtly qualified in passing judgements for other colleges. But based on what I have observed, I am not too positive that it takes place in other colleges too. But again the dead students’ family and friends will be the best people to comment on this particular case. It might have happened or it might not have.
What I don’t like is the politicization of college campuses. It’s fine during times of uprising and revolutions; It really hurts during peace time. I have been an advocate of ending student body elections and political groups. It hampers academics. I know there are arguments for it also, but cons are too glaring. Students will be able to contribute more if they stick to studies.
If students need to do politics, it should out of the campus. Same goes for ministers and college administration. Keep your politics out of it. Hence my open dislike for recently organized talk on Temple formation in a college in Delhi. Also my open dislike for the students/faculties of that very college for they are the ones who have relegated their campus to political playground for a long time now.
Until politics is taken out of college campuses, our nation will continue to lose the sons of the soil.
Then I woke up
After quite a while, I had a bad dream last night. Funnily enough, I remember quite a few details of it. With those details in mind, I try to understand the reason behind the dream.
I have not been in a great spirits last few weeks with a lot of things bothering me, and I guess this dream might be connected to it.
The setting was in a neighborhood that I have lived in long back. But it was O! So drastically changing. It was not completely changed, mind you. But huge infrastructural change was going on in front of me. I was there discussing with an unknown young fellow about landmarks which were no longer there.
Then there was a murder case which that guy told me about. A murder that took place in the same neighborhood recently, but in a house that was not there during my time. It was a two story house overlooking a lake. But there was no lake when I lived there. A guy killed a girl and then shot himself. They were both students who lived on rent there. Then there was a tale of the ‘girl that lived’. Apparently this guy open fired, one girl died on the stop and the other girl remain unscathed.
I found myself talking to that dead girl. Séance of some kind. She was telling me how that guy entered her room, told her he has already killed two others and shot her dead. She didn’t know anything else. There was no reference of two others killed anywhere in my dream.
I found myself crying for some reason with all the sadness around. Then I woke up.
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