Modi and Modesty

For quite some time, I have been seeing Mr. Narendra Modi as the prime contender to the post of Prime Minister. However, last night I was brought out of slumber. Infact I was taken aback that if I can live amidst such misunderstandings, what would be the condition of the common man who cannot spare time and even afford to read statistics and reports about the ground reality. The very next day, I had a clear idea of what image has been projected when one of my friends remarked that BJP was secular party.

It was at that point, I decided that I wanted to be vocal about the real face of Vibrant Gujarat. Gujarat has been the cradle of some very famous and talented personalities like Mahatma Gandhi, Dhirubhai Ambani, Sam Pitroda, Dayanand Saraswati, Ratan Tata, Azim Premji, Vikram Sarabhai etc. Not only this in a very short span of time Gujarat has progressed manifolds, especially post Godhra. Chief Minister Narendra Damodar Modi has been globally acknowledged for making Gujarat a global business hub. Be it industry, or energy, or tourism, or culture, Gujarat’s performance has always been outstanding.

Behind this mask of prosperity and well being, we have an ugly face which has deep scars of communalism and inhuman approach. Gujarat is already bearing the dark stains of Godhra mass killings and this barbaric act was proudly supervised by Mr. Modi. Ask your conscience, how fair is it to kill innocent people in the name of law and order? How sane is it order ruthless killings in the name of religion? And how constitutional is it to give way to communal feelings in a secular state?

How would you explain the absence of muslim settlement within the five-kilometer radius of Ahmedabad University. Or how would you explain the over populous Juhapura which accommodates muslims more than it could have afforded to? What has stopped Mr. Modi from implementing the Central Scholarship for Muslim students when over Rs. 10,000 crore meant for scholarships for muslim youth were returned to the Centre while Gujarat is observing that urban poverty in Muslims is fifty percent higher than even OBC’s (and a good 800% higher than Hindus).  Can Mr. Modi deny that Gujarat has become Hindutva’s main production unit which also manufactures inferior status for Muslims?

When we talk about Gujarat’s progress we need to pay heed certain aspects here. How is the prosperity competing with the rise in anaemia in women and children which has gone up from 46.3% to 55% in 2004? While Muslims are exploited and looked down upon, there are hardly a handful of Muslim prosecutors appointed by the state to stand up for their protection. What accounts for this discrimination? How is Mr. Modi going give a justification for this hostility towards Muslims?

On top of this he has started off his Sadbhavna Mission diplomacy. I wonder if he understands what is sadbhavna! If he can ever come out of his fanatic approach and understand the pinch of losing your family behind the veneer of communal riots. How would he justify his insensitive and barbaric orders? How long would he hide his sinful thoughts under the limelight of progress and development? What he is doing in his state will soon spread over the country. No wonder he may order a massacre of Muslims all over and emerge as the General Dyer of Free India and would be assassinated in a similar fashion. We really need to know a lot about the people we appreciate, for we may not at all be aware of the animal instincts behind the mask of a savior.

The Bhagat Phenomenon

I recently met Chetan Bhagat at Jaipur Literature Festival and got a chance to attend his sessions as well. Well, it was almost a dreamlike moment for me because he is one author I look up to. Yes, we can discuss my poor taste later.

As far as what I remember, I read my first CB novel when I was in class 10^th.  Trust me I was taken aback by the concept underlined by the book. I had never thought in that manner earlier. His thought process had somewhere made a mark in my life.  Today, I am doing my masters in English Literature and I am still a fan of his books. Or rather it’s better to say that I am a fan of his ideologies. I have read all his books and often keep reading them all over again.

At the literature festival, he said that he doesn’t write anything close to literature. May be I too agree to him somewhere, being a literature student. However, he doesn’t even want to write something which has literary implications. Each of his novels has a message, but people don’t want to look towards the brighter side, they want to put it on the scale of literary criticism.

He has written about secularism, education system, corruption and regionalism too. Isn’t this great? The idea of bringing about a change through his writing is good enough. Yes he writes fun stuff and puts spice of love stories in his novels but that’s what attracts attention. How is the message supposed to spread if the mass doesn’t read his books only? Basically, his books are youth oriented and that’s what the need of the hour is. No college going guy would read a boring narrative which speaks about the reforms required in the education system.

He might not have been able to impress the critics but I can very well say that all his readers are (in some way or the other) impressed and may be who knows some of them have even changed after reading his books. We are a developing nation and somewhat conservative as well. We need not shed away our culture and tradition, however, we must be open to change and adaptive to new customs for our betterment. His work somewhere seeks validation of this change and doing away with the existing bad logics and malpractices.

As a loyal reader, I am a hard core promoter of this Bhagat phenomenon and would continue to brag about his books.

Gang Rape of Democracy

Welcome to Incredible India! India is the Land of Sadhus, unity in diversity, land of gods, nature’s paradise and numerous beautiful poetic phrases. Let me try and take you to a long drive or may be soon you would want to cut it short.

The capital of India is New Delhi, which has recently completed a century of being the capital. Delhi is by the way not a very safe place for women and for men too (in case they are rich). Well, there is nothing to panic because, crime rate in India is normally above average levels and is generally acceptable. Anyways, what I was saying was that Delhi has showcased very beautiful architectural pieces and one can always cherish the memories of visits to these sites (provided that you do not become a victim of the lapka phenomenon)

The grandeur of Rashtrapati Bhavan or be it the Red fort or the very peaceful Jama Masjid or the very crowded and full of aroma Chandni Chowk is just amazing and only to be found in India. Needless to say that Delhi is also the cultural, literary and political hub of India. Intellectually speaking, Delhi University has polished some very famous diamonds. To name a few, I would say, Aung Sang Sui kyi, Shahrukh Khan (LOL), Manmohan Singh, Rabbi Shergil, Khushwant Singh, Ritu Beri etc.

I would like to register my apologies, for now I’m going to take the steering towards a totally different highway which goes to the political arena of India. Delhi forms the core of Indian Political cosmos. There is always a commotion in the political passages. We live in times of a political upheaval. We have an incompetent government, an impotent opposition, extremely strong pressure groups who are trying to paralyze the established democratic setup by dictating the policies. We are the mute spectators of a gigantic mass movement (though it doesn’t really count if the mass is actually aware about the intricacies involved with the agenda of this (almost) uprising). There is paid news and sponsored assassinations, commissioned scams and much more filth.

Amidst all this, there are speculations and whispers about the next leader of our country who is going to represent India on the global forum. Some pro Gandhi people want Rahul Gandhi to take the lead, irrespective of the fact that he is way too immature and raw for this maddening responsibility unlike his charismatic father Rajeev Gandhi.  Some people are in favour of L.K. Advani who, I believe, is too old and must consider retiring from active politics. The strongest contender of the post of PM is Narendra Modi.

Tracking his record, we can easily map how Gujrat has progressed manifolds under his leadership ( I would give a hint of credit to the team of civil servants as well who are working day in and day out to formulate policies and convincing him to ponder upon the same). However, somewhere the Indian inside me doesn’t seem to be convinced. Picking up Narendra Modi would certainly trample the principle of secularity which is in the preamble of our constitution. No matter how hard I try, I can never forgive him for his barbaric act. The fact that I am a hindu no where allows me to give my consent to his fanaticism.

In addition to these iconic figures, we have some other nominees as well, namely, Sushma Swaraj or Arun Jaitley, Priyanka Gandhi, Pranab Mukherjee etc. No wonder some people might even want a Jumbo Mayawati to be our leader. (A devilish grin) What is more than evident is that everybody is indulged in playing politics and trying to cash on what opportunity they get. These politicians are trying to gang rape the democracy named India. The politicians have no moral and ethical underpinnings. The question is no more about welfare and progress; it solely deals with power and exploitation.

The images they are trying to cast in order to allure votes is so illusionary that the common man can hardly differentiate between the rapist and the savior. What we need to do is to come out of the slumber and go for a reality check. We have to choose those people to represent us who can take our nation to the pinnacle of success rather than dumping us into the heap of backwardness and filth.

Oops, I think I have gone too deep digging into the mines of politics. We were talking about incredible India and this is an indispensible part of our India and we the people. Signing off for now, my dormant volcanoes.