As my American counterparts proudly sing the "The star spangled banner", I am sinfully ashamed of raising my voice to break their chorus. In the tough times, they up their crescendo and in even tougher times, they notch the decibels of even higher levels.
On the contrary, I meekly hum the Jan gan man, not entirely convinced about the greatness that my anthem showers upon my motherland. I find myself and my belief in doldrums where there is not even an iota of breeze to bring along a comforting level of optimism along with it. I gather myself to shake up the crumbling dinghy but to my utter disappointment I found myself caught in the strong currents generated by the mammoths ship traveling in opposite direction. The dreaded direction is marked with many a danger signs of an abysmal pit and no one should venture into it.
I saw my countrymen proudly signing their beloved version of "The start spangled banner and their love for their country 'India' was evident. They were so happy that ignored all my yelling and headed ignorantly towards the same dreaded direction. Instead, I saw a look of pity towards me on some of those cheerful faces, some even smirked with a lot f apathy on offer. I concluded there is point in yelling any further but the agony of losing them forever was too much to bear. I had a fair chance to look at the stone faced captain. He seemed to me a man of integrity, with a trimmed mustache and a dapper yet economical outfit with no frills attached to it. From the view that my dinghy offered, it was clear to me that none of the ship's passenger had an idea of where this ship was headed towards. However, the ship's captain had a clear picture of the forebodings from the front deck of ship.
The captain was confidently steering the ship towards the same dreaded direction yet he was keeping a watchful eye on the nearby lighthouse and sent some coded signals to it. After a while, I further surrender to the sea sickness and rest my tired body on the planks of my dinghy and passively stare at the dreaded fate that this mammoth ship was going to meet. After a few nautical miles, though still not out of my eyesight, this ship finally reached its destination and fell into the pit. I saw some distant bodies jumping from the ship, heard some desperate cries of help. There were some lifeboats came into action , a few helicopters flew by and picked a few of the lucky souls but most of the passengers saw the white light and willingly or unwillingly traveled through it.
Suddenly, I found my 20 month old daughter shouting baba and offering me two dollops of sweetest thing on the planet on my cheeks. Well, out of a writer's habit, I feel obligated to dramatize a majority of my dream as any story teller wouldn't mind my amateurish attempts.
However, in the current context of Indian politics, next few months may prove to be even more dramatic than my humble dream or anxiety filled than my even humbler attempt to add most of the bits here and there to my bland dream. Yes, I am talking about the upcoming assembly elections and then the general elections which are due next year. To make my readers more aware of my political ideologies, I come from a family where politics and sports are discussed alike on dining table. My father, being a voracious reader had made up a certain ideology about almost all the politicians and all the parties. He knows the leaders from the remote states and their brief roles on the national level. So, knowingly or unknowingly, I had been on and against his side on many political discussion that we had while munching the finger licking food that my mom cooked. Not to drag this father son episode any further, I can sum up that his stand on two major political parties has been pretty clear. Congress has got enough chances and now BJP should get its fair share. However, he made it a point that when it comes to voting, do look out for best possible choice even he/she is from congress and then pray that the permutation and combination of the complex democracy will give us a stable and good government. To his disappointment, it had hardly happened in India.
On the other hand, my ideology has been more of a person as well as system based ideology. I have always maintained that even though we are plagued with corruption, illiteracy, poverty and what not, I still haven't lost any faith in the democratic setup of my country.
To qualify my statement of faith in Indian system, let me quote a few recent examples. I hate it when Raj Thackrey shouts for the blood of North Indians. I feel ashamed not as a maharashtrian but as an Indian. However, does Raj Thackrey's statement legitimate as per Indian constitution. No, my constitution is pretty intact and very rightly provides me the right to settle and acquire property in any part of the country. If we tighten up the judiciary a bit more and infuse the required political will then no such non-sense will be tolerated.
Another example is the incident when M.F Hussain. allegedly drew some nude paintings of Indian gods and goddesses and he had to leave the country because of some hoodlums forced him to do so. Again, I am ashamed that whatever he had done as an artist should have been challenged within the purview of the law and our country couldn't protect the legal rights of MF. However, did my government asked MF to leave the country? Also, did my country's police or judiciary asked him to leave the country? No, MF left because he was threatened by so called protectors of Indian culture. Our system's deficiency was highlighted when it failed to act against these political goons. I never got a chance to hear MF''s side of the story. Definitely, MF didn't meant to earn the ire of the hindus all of a sudden. However, we never got to know the motivation behind those paintings.
There are so many examples where either the political will's absence or system's paralysis or unwillingness to act has been highlighted but what we fail to notice that the same system had a lot to offer if used properly and this is the foundation of my belief in our country's democracy and its entire system. There is an urgent need to fix the gaps, oil the jammed machinery but to uproot it altogether will make us another Syria or another Pakistan. I dread the day, if we are made to realize the importance of a lost democracy and its advantages.
I have tried to cover a few points about my belif in system. Let me wrap this story by talking a few points about a few persons who are at the center stage and have a big role to play in the future of this county. Though, to talk about persons is termed as the job of the intellectual bankrupt writers or media persons but as I neither, I can take the liberty to talk about a few persons.
Some two years back, we saw a huge uprising which forced the youths and old alike to take their protest to roads and demand for a systemic change. Mahesh Giri coined the term LOKPAL, a few days back, Mahesh Giri joined BJP. However, that''s a separate topic altogether. I also bought a few candles and stood on the historic Junglee Maharaj Road on Pune for close to 2 hours and felt elated that I had done something good. However, that joy didn't last long as I asked myself, against whom I was protesting? Were they Britishers or any other breed of oppressor? No, they were my own countrymen. I again asked, were they parachuted to the parliament? Again, No, I and my fellow countrymen only voted them in. I asked again, so if they are not listening to me, what should I do? fight them legally or fight them electorally. Well, I cannot do either of the choices.
So, where do I saw a ray of hope. I saw that ray in Narendra Damodardas Modi. Though, he still has a lot to catch up to stand in the line that has the likes of Shastri or Atal Bihari. Modi has still done enough to outdo his relatively weaker opponents. Here, I see a man who has done credible work and that too with in the purview of same system which others term as non-functional and paralysed. He has single handedly stamped gujrat's mark on all the parts of the country. You talk about Infrastructure, electricity, education, law and order and all the major areas of governance. There is still lot of work required on the health care and education sectors in gujrat as well but in 13 years time, he has shown lots of tangible results which no other state has managed to do. However, I see him surrounded by many corrupt people. Agreed, but I also see a habit that this man manages to get his work done with these inefficient and corrupt people as well. The government machinery of gujrat is not air-dropped from somre forgein land. Same people, same mentality, same work ethics but here they are forced to work to execute the plans and to my amusement, gujrat goverment has lots of plans in the first place. So, this man Narendra Modi justifies my belief in system and couples it with my second core of my belief i.e. people. BJP does have corrupt people but only a fool will not give chance to modi so that he can work along with the likes of Manohar Parrikar, Raman Singh, Arun shorie, Jagmohan and other philosophers from Think Tank.
At the same time, I also see another credible man Arvind Kejriwal who is more obsessed with just two things. First shout that almost everybody is corrupt and second, I am not just the honest person. Rather, I am the only honest person and only my party people should be honest as it's my copyright. If you ask Kejriwal about his model of governance, he talks very nicely about Panchayati Raj and Gram Swaraj. The same things which legendary JP had talked about and later he also talked about the grass root level problems in complete decentralization and also suggested a few possible ways of doing it. However, if you prod him more then he averts the questions by saying, Janta will decide. If you ask him about any possible topic related to governance, he bluntly says Janta will decide. Is it not insanity that to expect a country where all the houses of a colony are not united on any issue of common interest will be united on economic policy and in the entire decision making process. That's where Parliament and its houses comes in picture and that's where a certain degree of respect and sanctity should be maintained by both side 'Janta' as well as their elected representatives. This AAP movement has not looted money from people, it has looted the core belief in the democracy and the entire system. This situation is really very dangerous and any strikes or bandhs or satyagrah movement against its own system creates anarchy.
Another theory which I think holds more ground that this gimmick of creating a dummy opponent is done by congress only. They have successfully done it twice in the past. Once in Maharashtra by creating NCP. NCP abused congress at every level and well intended voters trusted NCP. In the end, NCP supported congress at every level. Similarly, in Andhra, Prajarajyam was created by Chiranjeevi and people had high hopes that their reel life hero will turn into real life saviour for them but they were again betrayed. This time, the same experiment in underway in Delhi and as expected, People are willing to fall for this gimmick again.
This enigma of constant Nihilism irks me and agitates me to make people around me to think more prudently this time around but I fail to undestand their stubborn attitude when they blatantly refuse to hear any word against their new hero Kejriwal and very happily turn a blind eye to the facts. I wish I could jump out of my dinghy and swim across the sea to board the mammoth ship of my dream. I dream of grabbing the stone faced captain with dapper yet economical attire, with his trimmed mustache, and turn the steering wheel of the ship to avert the abysmal pit. I wish, I could do it, I just wish!!
On the contrary, I meekly hum the Jan gan man, not entirely convinced about the greatness that my anthem showers upon my motherland. I find myself and my belief in doldrums where there is not even an iota of breeze to bring along a comforting level of optimism along with it. I gather myself to shake up the crumbling dinghy but to my utter disappointment I found myself caught in the strong currents generated by the mammoths ship traveling in opposite direction. The dreaded direction is marked with many a danger signs of an abysmal pit and no one should venture into it.
I saw my countrymen proudly signing their beloved version of "The start spangled banner and their love for their country 'India' was evident. They were so happy that ignored all my yelling and headed ignorantly towards the same dreaded direction. Instead, I saw a look of pity towards me on some of those cheerful faces, some even smirked with a lot f apathy on offer. I concluded there is point in yelling any further but the agony of losing them forever was too much to bear. I had a fair chance to look at the stone faced captain. He seemed to me a man of integrity, with a trimmed mustache and a dapper yet economical outfit with no frills attached to it. From the view that my dinghy offered, it was clear to me that none of the ship's passenger had an idea of where this ship was headed towards. However, the ship's captain had a clear picture of the forebodings from the front deck of ship.
The captain was confidently steering the ship towards the same dreaded direction yet he was keeping a watchful eye on the nearby lighthouse and sent some coded signals to it. After a while, I further surrender to the sea sickness and rest my tired body on the planks of my dinghy and passively stare at the dreaded fate that this mammoth ship was going to meet. After a few nautical miles, though still not out of my eyesight, this ship finally reached its destination and fell into the pit. I saw some distant bodies jumping from the ship, heard some desperate cries of help. There were some lifeboats came into action , a few helicopters flew by and picked a few of the lucky souls but most of the passengers saw the white light and willingly or unwillingly traveled through it.
Suddenly, I found my 20 month old daughter shouting baba and offering me two dollops of sweetest thing on the planet on my cheeks. Well, out of a writer's habit, I feel obligated to dramatize a majority of my dream as any story teller wouldn't mind my amateurish attempts.
However, in the current context of Indian politics, next few months may prove to be even more dramatic than my humble dream or anxiety filled than my even humbler attempt to add most of the bits here and there to my bland dream. Yes, I am talking about the upcoming assembly elections and then the general elections which are due next year. To make my readers more aware of my political ideologies, I come from a family where politics and sports are discussed alike on dining table. My father, being a voracious reader had made up a certain ideology about almost all the politicians and all the parties. He knows the leaders from the remote states and their brief roles on the national level. So, knowingly or unknowingly, I had been on and against his side on many political discussion that we had while munching the finger licking food that my mom cooked. Not to drag this father son episode any further, I can sum up that his stand on two major political parties has been pretty clear. Congress has got enough chances and now BJP should get its fair share. However, he made it a point that when it comes to voting, do look out for best possible choice even he/she is from congress and then pray that the permutation and combination of the complex democracy will give us a stable and good government. To his disappointment, it had hardly happened in India.
On the other hand, my ideology has been more of a person as well as system based ideology. I have always maintained that even though we are plagued with corruption, illiteracy, poverty and what not, I still haven't lost any faith in the democratic setup of my country.
To qualify my statement of faith in Indian system, let me quote a few recent examples. I hate it when Raj Thackrey shouts for the blood of North Indians. I feel ashamed not as a maharashtrian but as an Indian. However, does Raj Thackrey's statement legitimate as per Indian constitution. No, my constitution is pretty intact and very rightly provides me the right to settle and acquire property in any part of the country. If we tighten up the judiciary a bit more and infuse the required political will then no such non-sense will be tolerated.
Another example is the incident when M.F Hussain. allegedly drew some nude paintings of Indian gods and goddesses and he had to leave the country because of some hoodlums forced him to do so. Again, I am ashamed that whatever he had done as an artist should have been challenged within the purview of the law and our country couldn't protect the legal rights of MF. However, did my government asked MF to leave the country? Also, did my country's police or judiciary asked him to leave the country? No, MF left because he was threatened by so called protectors of Indian culture. Our system's deficiency was highlighted when it failed to act against these political goons. I never got a chance to hear MF''s side of the story. Definitely, MF didn't meant to earn the ire of the hindus all of a sudden. However, we never got to know the motivation behind those paintings.
There are so many examples where either the political will's absence or system's paralysis or unwillingness to act has been highlighted but what we fail to notice that the same system had a lot to offer if used properly and this is the foundation of my belief in our country's democracy and its entire system. There is an urgent need to fix the gaps, oil the jammed machinery but to uproot it altogether will make us another Syria or another Pakistan. I dread the day, if we are made to realize the importance of a lost democracy and its advantages.
I have tried to cover a few points about my belif in system. Let me wrap this story by talking a few points about a few persons who are at the center stage and have a big role to play in the future of this county. Though, to talk about persons is termed as the job of the intellectual bankrupt writers or media persons but as I neither, I can take the liberty to talk about a few persons.
Some two years back, we saw a huge uprising which forced the youths and old alike to take their protest to roads and demand for a systemic change. Mahesh Giri coined the term LOKPAL, a few days back, Mahesh Giri joined BJP. However, that''s a separate topic altogether. I also bought a few candles and stood on the historic Junglee Maharaj Road on Pune for close to 2 hours and felt elated that I had done something good. However, that joy didn't last long as I asked myself, against whom I was protesting? Were they Britishers or any other breed of oppressor? No, they were my own countrymen. I again asked, were they parachuted to the parliament? Again, No, I and my fellow countrymen only voted them in. I asked again, so if they are not listening to me, what should I do? fight them legally or fight them electorally. Well, I cannot do either of the choices.
So, where do I saw a ray of hope. I saw that ray in Narendra Damodardas Modi. Though, he still has a lot to catch up to stand in the line that has the likes of Shastri or Atal Bihari. Modi has still done enough to outdo his relatively weaker opponents. Here, I see a man who has done credible work and that too with in the purview of same system which others term as non-functional and paralysed. He has single handedly stamped gujrat's mark on all the parts of the country. You talk about Infrastructure, electricity, education, law and order and all the major areas of governance. There is still lot of work required on the health care and education sectors in gujrat as well but in 13 years time, he has shown lots of tangible results which no other state has managed to do. However, I see him surrounded by many corrupt people. Agreed, but I also see a habit that this man manages to get his work done with these inefficient and corrupt people as well. The government machinery of gujrat is not air-dropped from somre forgein land. Same people, same mentality, same work ethics but here they are forced to work to execute the plans and to my amusement, gujrat goverment has lots of plans in the first place. So, this man Narendra Modi justifies my belief in system and couples it with my second core of my belief i.e. people. BJP does have corrupt people but only a fool will not give chance to modi so that he can work along with the likes of Manohar Parrikar, Raman Singh, Arun shorie, Jagmohan and other philosophers from Think Tank.
At the same time, I also see another credible man Arvind Kejriwal who is more obsessed with just two things. First shout that almost everybody is corrupt and second, I am not just the honest person. Rather, I am the only honest person and only my party people should be honest as it's my copyright. If you ask Kejriwal about his model of governance, he talks very nicely about Panchayati Raj and Gram Swaraj. The same things which legendary JP had talked about and later he also talked about the grass root level problems in complete decentralization and also suggested a few possible ways of doing it. However, if you prod him more then he averts the questions by saying, Janta will decide. If you ask him about any possible topic related to governance, he bluntly says Janta will decide. Is it not insanity that to expect a country where all the houses of a colony are not united on any issue of common interest will be united on economic policy and in the entire decision making process. That's where Parliament and its houses comes in picture and that's where a certain degree of respect and sanctity should be maintained by both side 'Janta' as well as their elected representatives. This AAP movement has not looted money from people, it has looted the core belief in the democracy and the entire system. This situation is really very dangerous and any strikes or bandhs or satyagrah movement against its own system creates anarchy.
Another theory which I think holds more ground that this gimmick of creating a dummy opponent is done by congress only. They have successfully done it twice in the past. Once in Maharashtra by creating NCP. NCP abused congress at every level and well intended voters trusted NCP. In the end, NCP supported congress at every level. Similarly, in Andhra, Prajarajyam was created by Chiranjeevi and people had high hopes that their reel life hero will turn into real life saviour for them but they were again betrayed. This time, the same experiment in underway in Delhi and as expected, People are willing to fall for this gimmick again.
This enigma of constant Nihilism irks me and agitates me to make people around me to think more prudently this time around but I fail to undestand their stubborn attitude when they blatantly refuse to hear any word against their new hero Kejriwal and very happily turn a blind eye to the facts. I wish I could jump out of my dinghy and swim across the sea to board the mammoth ship of my dream. I dream of grabbing the stone faced captain with dapper yet economical attire, with his trimmed mustache, and turn the steering wheel of the ship to avert the abysmal pit. I wish, I could do it, I just wish!!
