Saturday, February 14, 2015

Kejriwal and then..

A few hours after a pretentious 'Bharat Mata Ki Jay' is welcome by a rapturous reception, a man muffles 'hope' for many and 'despair' of others, my presumptions and fear over AAP get seemingly wilder, I know I am not alone. Few posts or tweets that reciprocate the thoughts

https://twitter.com/tufailelif/status/564979280199708672
https://www.facebook.com/majgengagandeep.bakshi/posts/10206027344072022

But probably the ones that summed up the best were one tweet by Ananth Ranganathan
"BJP has many bad elements, the fake Sadhus and Sadhvis, Jaitley delivered a poor budget, but still AAP has got nothing right, I repeat nothing"
and this most nuanced post from Venkat
https://www.facebook.com/lvraghavan/posts/10153087357631252

However, when we look at the social media activities of developed countries, we mostly see an indifference to political scenes from the technical people; not sure whether that is the way the civilised people should behave OR the poorer you are, the more you crib OR an overdose of activism was injected upon us couple of years ago -for good or for bad- the credit must go to Arvind Kejriwal and the Anna movement.

This post of mine is an attempt at an accumulated response to a few TV shows and social media shares (some much before the Delhi elections) and a speculations on what is in the store post the Delhi massacre.
The instances were like these: (For some I cringed and for some I chuckled and hid it :)
  • On Aajtak, a senior journalist says 'meritocracy' is uncertain and a mere hypothesis
  • On IBN7, a congressman cries 'we need socialism since we have got many poor people' and students clap
  • The CJI says 'you can spend 100crs for Republic Day parade but why less compensation to farmers'
  • Some pals in FB: 'Modi is only speaking and has done nothing for corruption', 'we will complain against somebody in SM and the govt must answer'
  • AK's victory  is a sign of another non-violent revolution which we Indians are so good at (probably the funniest of the lot)
The first two show why 'Cronyism' is more rampant in socialist countries and crony-capitalism is such an over-hyped jargon, the third cites the blatant lack of objectivity even at the highest echelon of our system and the rest show how the fundamentalism of our perspectives drives our assertions -either way.

Coming back to Delhi elections, the core BJPian blaming the collective mindset of Delhites and giving an excuse of vote share is unsubstantial, the fact is, BJP did add some votes post the LS elections, but lost many. However, eventually, what mattered was the discreetly planned campaign strategy by AAP, it was a lesson on media management and on-ground movements from the rookies, nothing short of Amit Shah's a year ago.
Their primary approach was to show the the opponent in a bad light so that 'the other'gets all the hue. The careful dismantling of Modi's image of a man rising from a humble background was shattered by continuous coverage of the fake 10 lakh suit, then making a Strong lady like Bedi look like a victim and the decision a panic one, propagating a fear that BJP is misogynist and Hindutwavadi by focusing on Sakshi Maharaj's comments and adding a communal angle to provocateur thefts; with all this, AK and his team boiled the hearts of reactionary Delhi junta. Then, BJP's pathetic spokespersons, poor negative strategies and Modi's personal jibes made another negative campaign by AAP look like a relatively positive one. To give credit to AAP and how well they understood the mood of the masses was well illustrated by the TVF show with Kejriwal which was nothing great, but still a handy PR exercise which looked like somebody having the ability to laugh at himself. Another thing inconspicuously played its part was Modi's school-teacher like monitoring of the bureaucrats which might please the commoners reading it on a newspaper but not the recipients.

On the hindsight though, did the BJP at center(not the Delhi one) deserve this? They have been very impressive on many aspects, there have been numerous important steps taken, India seemed to getting its mojo back in the international arena, they formed the SIT on black money as soon as they landed and have already got 3500 crs and some 10000 crs expected by March, Ganga cleaning has taken pace and many more. To me, the problem is still very ideological; for an impatient socialistic society, addition of 100 jobs is overlooked at the expense of a 2 rupees increase in milk prices. Having two universities JNU and DU that are driven by left-wing intellectuals does add to the mass perception. Then probably the worst case of cronyism this country has ever faced comes in the face of abominably unethical leftist media who has created a new meaning for secularism and made the public gulp it too.

So can the 'right' change the course of the game ? unlikely. "The right always sees the only right way he discerns where as the left sees 'what is left' :). This creates a greater no. of fundamentalists right-wings -which should not be confused with ISIS or Hindu Mahasabha, they are conservatists- who are hardly dangerous, but throw a disposition of arrogance among others, where as you would see a fewer number of left-wing fundamentalists but they pose much greater threats to the society. BJP and its fellow supporters' lack of willingness to create an alternative tele media source and the unnerving verbiage by the present media can very well be attributed to these differences. Until the former gets into shape, the Ford foundation cases, Kejriwal's Church connections, Kejriwal's plagiarism, the NGO frauds, Teesta Setelvad's conspiracies, AAP's Naxal and terrorist connections, why AAP refused Bukhari since they had MIM, AAP's views on Kashmir, NDTV's 2000cr scam, Modi's auctioning of gifts for charity, stories of Jyoti Basu-the gentle tyrant, all these will just vanish in oblivion.

So, will AAP be a success in Delhi ? AAP's alleged radical left ideology can at best reach Congress' socialism and remember that would still be impressive considering Sheila Dixit was a very successful CM. To throw another perspective, the three-tier governing bodies -MCD, the Delhi govt and the center- is one of peculiar stupidity, this places AAP sandwiched between two types of saffron bodies, one effective and the other not. So will that allow Kejriwal to quetch a lot more?, my guess is he will allow his colleagues in the media houses (Rajdeep and Barkha) to handle that bit and keeping himself in a convenient position to make use of the good works from either side. It's a win-win situation for him. He will continue playing the victim card for statehood though, which to me, should be shelved at any cost. Delhi covers 1.2 % of the electorate, does not have any issues of roads, railways or new airports or ports or even industry, it has got lesser probability of a natural disaster, its per capital income is 3 times higher the national average. The issues it lives with today are of sanitation, water, electricity, slums, traffic which are their in every city, even my own hometown of Cuttack almost raises the same concerns. Delhi does not come in the category of other small states of North-East nor anyway in the league of bigger neighbouring states, it should just be a union territory, as it is now, however, we can get rid of the MCD making the CM, a de facto mayor.

The bigger issue however is where does AAP take you nationally ?, it depends on how the public respond to the two flanks of activism - participative democracy and fight against corruption.
The fight against corruption goes nowhere when the party sets a marker of what is acceptable and what not; allowing the Autowalas to go amuck and break the rules for vote banks and shouting against one corporate and being mum on the other for funds is just being convenient and not honest. Corruption as many have cited is a symptom that has run so deep that it is perceived as the real disease. The solution though lies in addressing the real maladies of unemployment, poverty and education and not ignoring to alleviate the symptoms for creating a positive impression, that is how a patient is treated, isn't it ?
Participative democracy is a shadowy term for communism; a country where literacy is still a concern and even amongst the literates, hardly a minuscule percentage have got any idea of the constitution and then the perceived and propagated class difference creating a skewed knowledge of economics, bringing in ineligible candidates for decision making is a sham of an idea. Like many democracies in the world, the conventional representative form is still the best bet. What the governing system needs is the transparency among the crowd but not the crowd itself.

But what are we staring at ? These hyperboles might create a mass hysteria, sometimes unrest, sometimes distrust and sometimes rebellion (non-violent revolution you know :) ). I expect Anna Hazare, the Sonia-man, to be back in action against the Govt with tacit support from AAP and Congress through its volunteers and the Naxals and their brother Commies joining the bandwagon. Then there would be some more lunacies by the fringed Hindu elements who are still sidelined by the Govt. All these have the potential of another IAC like movement just before the Bihar election and continuing further. Read this one by Professor Nalpat who shares my apprehension with much detailed data http://www.sunday-guardian.com/news/multiple-groups-plan-hot-summer-for-modi

In the political landscape, there are four seemingly distant conjectures of the above exercise.

1) AAP plans its move wisely and participates in all municipality elections and leaves states. You should not be surprised to see a Congress' revival of sort in Bihar with BJP going down and people not relying on JDU entirely.
2) AAP growing and shadowing BJP and taking the claim of the nation by 2019 and then failing, eventually helping Congress back from the slumber once again.
3) AAP as alleged by Congress helped BJP by dampening their case in the LS and then helped by BJP to come to power. The see-saw game between them will continue.
4) AAP tries in all the states and fails and in turn helps BJP.

I may be wrong, so were many, who could never decipher what the Dilwale-Delhites deemed right
'you might need a 56-inch chest to bear every lie and propaganda thrown at you, but you need 'GUTS' to say a 'sorry' after blunders'.
Kejriwal, to me, is a smart politician who can lie for years and realign his priorities as time demands but still remains intellectually vulnerable if not dud; nevertheless, he is here to stay, it's his whims and musings that will move the masses and we can just hope it's for the better.

Monday, April 7, 2014

They..

Why is it that the intelligentsia who support AAP, Congress or more recently hate Modi are the ones
  • Who consider Arundhatee Roy a Goddess,
  • For whom, Rajdeep Sardesai is an epitome of journalism,
  • For whom, the soldiers who died saving our parliament were plainly doing their job, but Afzal Guru was a freedom fighter,
  • For whom, the persons with Red Tikka are outdated, goondas and Hindu chauvinists but the ones with skull caps are rooted and cultured,
  • For whom, celebrating our soldiers fighting at the border is militarism,
  • Who prefer to ignore the news of two little girls being killed in a school for playing Holi, but go berserk when a petty goon Muthalik attacks college students partying at 11 a.m.,
  • For whom, the 'Pink chaddi' campaign was about being vocal and modern,
  • Who shout for freedom of expression when some idiot Hindu attention-hogger asks for a ban on MF Hussain, but they cry for respecting the society when it comes to Rushdie's book and they again ignore when the same author deigns Ganesh and Shiva,
  • For whom, the Maoists are great rebels for a cause but the innocents killed by them are nothing but collateral damage,
  • Who condemn the term 'Hindu and Nationalist' as polarising but praise the ones meeting a convicted Maulana as inclusive,
  • For whom the concept of 'development for all and appeasement of none' is impassive and divisive,
  • For whom, the ones citing Churchil's quotes are modern but the ones reciting a verse from the Vedas or that of Chanakya are olden,
  • For whom, it is marvelous and gracious to be 'Rich and Patronizing'.
And probably for them, 'NATION' is notion thrust upon us.

You can damn this piece of shit with another exact opposite piece of shit. I bother the least since in my most grounded emotions, I can take them as different schools of thoughts incoherent with that of me.
For me, these elites will always be a mass of different kind, and I will always refer them as THEY.. And yes, sadly we are polarised !

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

What a Conundrum ?

US is no more strong enough to swarm dollars on war.
Pak is seen more like an old prostitute than an enraged mistress. However, a trailing nostalgia and a lot of skeletons (or should we say graveyards) in the cupboards would remain to haunt the diplomats.
The old bitch unleashes her daughter; dashing, mischievous, dynamic and almost vamp-ish; she snubs the past, trades a new path to woo a different world.
Pak accuses US of pro-India. India never believed US was not.
Pak turns to China.

World turns to China.

India tries to repair the branch that probably "turns to China".
Dear MMS (Had he not happened to India, I would not be writing this crap) openly criticizes US' interference in other countries' affairs, starts supporting Palestine, more importantly plans a visit to Iran.
The nuclear deal has been nothing but moving.
Krishna meets Clinton and supposedly spoke about their kids,holidays and everything else but external affairs.
Obama tries to create jobs for the Americans with a notion that it is only possible by snatching from Indians.
Up here, millions of Indians still dream of their kids shouting "Born in the USA".
Corporate Business in India is probably non-existent without US, but can they sustain without a China-centric vision ?
The so called biggest democracy is boiling with hyperboles both politically and ecologically. Where are we ?

Far east, Japan is slowly losing its venom,would lose the third spot to India,but they will find a way out.
Somewhere there in the west, Europe cries for need-based economy, the able and the smart walk off.
All those historical monuments and sophistications seem like mountains of fool's gold.
US sees fallacy in Europe's plans. Europe says "you are no better".

Amidst all these corners though, Technology evolves, reaches civilizations, people use them to shout, sometimes groan. Conflicts and confusions get bombarded in theoretical spaces. The degree of change of randomness has never been that vicious since the early years of birth of universe or time.

Probably together we support the paradox of being.

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

My Marriage with Prajna :: You are invited



When I was a kid I thought "This is just too much ado for nothing"
Then there was a juvenile teen in me that uttered "Oh!! I know everything about it"
Few years passed by and I and many fellow smug adults often smirked and sneered at the events but enjoyed the dinners
                       Then there were
The early victims who for some reason felt Princely for the Stupidity they considered Serene
The fairly grown-ups were either permanently Startled or Satiated with the burden of life unless they were drunk
Then there was a faint decrepit old man who wished to be reborn just for the sheer joy of "I do" or "Qubul Hai" or "The Mantras""
  
And who knows, probably this is about being re-born to experience love and a new friendship in the guise  of  compromise, sacrifice
                      
                       In short to scavenge through reality...
                       May be this is the Wisest Mistake
                       The  MARRIAGE






Monday, January 17, 2011

You have won

 Mother India singing a lullaby for all her poor sons.
_____________________________________________________________

Son, you may have never won anything, 

often you would feel you have never owned anything.
Your biggest victory or rather the only form of victory is the
victory over your frustration, 
victory over your failures.
I am proud as ever for the sheer purity of it, 
this is so genuinely yours, 
so profoundly thoughtless to the intellect, 
so outrageously indifferent to the rest.

You are not alone,
There are millions like you, probably there are just a few who have the success they wish.
Even Murphy would say there are more failures in life to the very countable successes.
But hell ya I know, you are one of the few combatant seers from the creed.
You ridicule the moment you fail, you know the success is just a breath away..
You stand up again to grab the only thing you ever own  "HOPE"..
                                     Yes Son,You have won
_____________________________________________________________

It was dark and I was fresh from 4 consecutive defeats in Table Tennis and a hopeless day at office. I found myself stranded and sandwiched between a Malayalam Radio that probably transmitted vibes from some other planet and a monster who was believably sleeping in his hangover. That was not all, the bus guy went Green and switched off all the lights just the moment I opened my "A Thousand Splendid Suns". But then, my laptop with 33 minutes of battery charge cried 'you are still not alone'.
Soon, an ever Capitalist me, was speaking the language of Communism, the language of all those losers who have never lost.

Friday, December 31, 2010

OfWorldsElseWhere

Incandescent
____________________________________________________

Sabyasachi, up there 250000 miles away from home..Owning an
un-realestate hardly u wo'd ever imagine..
I see my country, of course not the most beautiful, a bit smokey and
much brighter though..
Smell of prosperity is too pungent and so very classy..

Its 2031,an unsophisticated gentleman with a weird dream to sail
through the space made the costliest bargain with the moon.
I see the space exquisitely boring.. I see the moon hopelessly bland..
I set my eyes on India lovely lively..
I have seen "INDIA POISED" , "INDIA SMILING" ... , "INDIA
DROWNING",..,"INDIA GLITTERS" to "INDIA SHINING".
Now its "BHARAT SHINING" and we are the most respected and celebrated
country with a defined cultural dignity..
Now I am the third Indian and the seventh crazy lay-man in the world
to travel moon..
ISROnNASA aiming at taking it as a profitable business.Thanks to the
excellent Managerial fellas we possess and groom.


Tomorrow I ll be back.. I take a sneaky pick at my past..
I haven't seen Shimla,Darjeeling,Kashmir,Kanyakumari,ven't even been
to the beautiful Bird sanctuary near my native..
Forget the niagra or the Amazon..
Almost been a nerd with a hell lot of money..Hmmm..I don believe,I
have seen the earth as a whole ..
I hit my dream.. I smile..a smile of delirium..


-------------------------
I got a kick..

"Night's up.. wake up mate..

start off..Its never too late"

____________________________________________________

Dreams

(A note for all the passer-bys : This was my orkut profile some 4 years back, I named it  "Incandescent Dreams" then; Now, somehow I feel a dream so brilliant should rather be enveloped than be left conspicuous )

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

XYZGossips

Mr. X: After several worldly defeats, I cry,
            “I do not compete with anybody but me”
Mr. Y: Is it a loser’s escapism or a victor’s narcissism?
Mr. Z: Ask the one with a similar redemption, the GOD himself, who has both won and lost with you,for you


Mr. X: Creation of God or rather the very concept is an anachronism.
Mr. Y: Ironically, it is often conceived as modern.
Mr. Z: So, there you go... Smiles


Mr. X: He must have been a true genius, a whole of himself, who created this big “XXX”
Mr. Y: Or did he just make himself the He?
Mr. Z: Well guys, you are mighty close… Smiles


Mr. X: You know, I do not envy him, since one day I would just be able to better Me
Mr. Y: Buddy, you have just done so
Mr. Z: And you are not far either


Mr. X: Stares wildly at the horizon, thinks, smirks at himself, twitches his mustache muscles and then flushes the most content smile ever and shrugs
Mr. Z: Closes his eyes, winks for once “I reckon I have never lost to myself”
Mr. Y: Takes a deep deep breath, relieves a sensation.. Utters "And I reckon, Godliness is a state of mind"


Mr. X: Nods
Mr. Z: "And I lost it a moment ago";he just manages to stand firm
Mr. Y: And you find it back another moment ago.


Mr. X: All we crave is an uninterrupted perfection
Mr. Y: A better me
Mr. Z: An un-fatigued, un-intrigued state of mind


And then there was just a small dot like it has ever been.