Yet another Bossless existence

Yes, you got that right. I find myself in the same boss less position that I was a little over a year ago. The lords in the heavens above have once again deprived me of a caring, understanding boss, with the result that I am left alone to fend for myself. There is one difference from the boss less existence that I am leading now and the bossless existence that I had endured last year. Last year, my boss less existence won me pity and sympathy from all quarters. This year's boss less existence has only earned me a pointed question- Why does this keep happening to you? Some friends, have been less than diplomatic in telling me that "तुम फिर से अपने बॉस को खा गए?" I would have considered this as a friendly banter, had this question been raised only once or twice, but the fact that almost everyone has been asking me the same question means that I am forced to introspect. How is it that any boss who has worked with me for more than 2 months has inevitably abandoned me! 

The following 2 theories are running in my mind to explain this strange co-incidence-

1. My bosses are amazed at my sheer talents and abilities and realize the worthlessness of their positions as my boss. Since they don't get enough opportunities to practice and hone their  bossing skills, they move on to careers where their are better opportunities to improve their bossing-skills.  They move on, not because I am unbearable or something, but as I mentioned earlier, simply because they don't get enough self-developmental opportunities.

While this is the theory that I subscribe to, I can already see my ex-bosses guffawing and rofling! 

2. My bosses are amazed (once again) at my sheer stupidities and realize the worthlessness of their positions as my boss. Since they realize that their performance for the year will inevitably get <beeped>, thanks in no small part to me, they decide to move on to better careers, simply to ensure that they stay employable in the job market and that their standing in the market is not sullied. They move on, to put it simply, because I am a hopeless case! 

While this is the theory that all my ex-bosses subscribe to, I would like to firmly reject all such insinuations!

Irrespective of what is really the reason behind my bosses orphaning me, I would, for once and for all, want to rid myself of this "बॉस- खाऊ " tag. I would want to loudly announce that a hard(ly) working, (in)sincere and (un)intelligent subordinate is available in the market. All he wants is a boss who will work hard, not complain, not demand and not yell! Hence, on this day, I take a भीष्म प्रतिज्ञा that I shall do whatever it takes to retain a boss and redeem myself in this corporate world! 

Incidentally, this is my 150th post! :) 

ठीक नहीं है प्रधानमंत्रीजी

पल पल है भारी जो विपदा है आई 

• देश की राजधानी में लड़कियों का घर से बाहर निकलने में खौफ खाना 
• आपकी पुलिस का निहत्थे प्रदर्शनकारियों पर लाठियां बरसाना 
• राष्ट्रीय दामाद को ज़मीन कौड़ियों के दाम पर मिल जाना 
• 2-G स्पेक्ट्रम में देश के करोड़ों रुपयें गबन होना 
• लोकपाल बिल का ओछी राजनीती का शिकार बन जाना 
• आपके गृह मंत्री का आतंकवादियों के सरगना हाफिज़ सईद को 'श्री' की उपाधि देना 
• FDI  के नाम पर विदेशी ताकतों के सामने झुक कर देश के हितों को बेच देना 
• गरीबों को मासिक 600 रुपैये में परिवार चलाने को कहना  
• आप ही के देश में आ कर रहमान मलिक का 26/11 और बाबरी मस्जिद की तुलना करना 
• देश की सुदृढ़ अर्थव्यवस्था का चौपट होने वाला हाल होना 

और देश के किये इससे ज्यादा विडम्बना की बात क्या हो सकती है  कि आप जैसा सुशिक्षित टेक्नोक्रैट अपनी आँखें मूंदें, ध्रुतराष्ट्र बना बैठा है। आप तो उस नीरो समान हैं, जो, जब रोम जल रहा था, तब वह बांसुरी बजा रहा था। प्रधानमंत्रीजी, अभी भी समय है,  और देश का बेडा गर्क होने से रोकिये, वरना भविष्य आपको कभी माफ़ नहीं करेगा।  

End of the world

You see that bright, shiny object near the horizon? Yes, the one that seems to have grown bigger than yesterday. That is Nibiru. The star, the Babylonians, millennia ago identified as the seat of the Highest God. That star is now hurtling towards one of God's own creations- Earth. In a few days, Nibiru will bring this sordid saga we call life to an abrupt halt. It will end aeons of human civilization and barbarity and reduce this resplendent, blue planet we call home to space debris. All traces of human existence will be wiped off. No one will ever know we existed, much less our travails and our achievements.

If you are worried that the end will be long and painful, bingo! you aren't mistaken. As Nibiru will inch ever so close to Earth, its gravitational pull will wreak havoc on earth. Oceans and seas will rise to kiss the sky and strike land with unimaginable ferocity. We, who so conveniently forget the gentle gravity  that keeps our feet on the ground, will now experience an upward pull that will drive us mad. Atmosphere will thin out as Nibiru tears through it. We will be left gasping for air as Nibiru strikes Earth with all its might and blows it to smithereens.

There will be no day of judgment, no son of God will descend to reward the faithful and damn the disbelievers, No God will appear to rescue humanity, No missiles, no aircrafts, no armies and no governments will save us. We will be all alone, helpless, powerless and yes, very very scared. The end will come slowly, like a blunt knife, making a thousand cuts on the body.  There will be no Noah's ark, no secret hideout where a small race of humans will survive and revive life. There will only be death, destruction and annihilation.

The end of the world is upon us. From dust we came, and to dust we shall return

I read therefore I am!

A couple of months ago, it was 1953 and I was sitting in Stalin's dacha in Kuntsevo. Bulganin, Khrushchev and Beria were there too. There was palpable tension in the room. Something was wrong. It seemed to me that these men knew that they needed to act but were holding themselves back, fearful of the wrath they would incur if they acted. Suddenly, Beria went inside Stalin's bedroom and returned in a couple of minutes. His face was drained of all emotions, yet he seemed ecstatic. He boasted, 'I took him out'. Khrushchev and Bulganin almost fell on the floor. Stalin, the Iron man, the victor of WWII, the father of the Soviet people, their murderer was no more.

A few weeks ago, it was 1812, and I was in again in Moscow, accompanying Napoleon and his Grande Armée as they laid siege to Moscow. The poorly armed, demoralized Russian army was no match for the invincible French forces. They simply fled at the sight of the French. I could see the pride in Napoleon's eyes as he prepared to enter the city and add Russia to his spate of conquests. But no delegation came forth to offer him the surrender of the city. The initial euphoria turned to anxiety and eventually shock and disgust as Napoleon realized that the Russians had robbed him of a significant ceremonial victory by refusing to hand over the keys of Moscow to him. I could see Napoleon's eyes burning with anger and an esprit de revanche as he had been denied what was rightfully his.

Last week, it was 1977 and I was with Indira Gandhi as she sat in her residence cum office, waiting for the election verdict that the masses would give. Outwardly, she appeared confident, but her face was haggard. There were dark circles under her eyes. It was almost as if she knew that all was not well. And then the results started trickling in. Her Congress party seemed to be doing badly in the North, but at least she was leading in her Rai Bareli constituency. A couple of hours later, her lead had narrowed down. By 4 in the evening, it was clear, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was all set to lose in her own constituency. Mrs. Gandhi was shell shocked. Neither Sanjay, nor Rajiv nor their wives had anything to say. Rahul and Priyanka sat close to their Grandmother, oblivious to the goings-on in the household. I could see that Indira Gandhi had aged suddenly during the day. She seemed frail, vulnerable and despondent, A far cry from the Durga-incarnate who had defeated the Pakistanis and created Bangladesh.

And then, just yesterday, I was in Istanbul, with author Orhan Pamuk as he showed me his childhood homes in Nisantasi and Cihangir, overlooking the Bosphorous. He spoke of the Ottoman yalis, the streets in which Turkish Muslims, Greeks, Albanians, Armenians, Kurds and Firangis would roam freely, of Steamships (and later Soviet tankers) that would move up and down the strait, of Sultans and their harems, of Westerners who brought their culture, of Turks who wanted to ape the Western culture, of the First World War and the dismemberment of the Ottoman empire, of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and his Westernizing reforms and of the rich, proud Istanbul of yore with its hüzün and the impoverished, confused Istanbul of today. Orhan Pamuk spoke in tones that made me see Istanbul less of a city and more of a person witnessing history being made.

Well, that, is the magic that books bring. They make you forget who you are, where you are and what you were doing. They take away all sorrows, all worries and transport you magically into places, lives of peoples, times and settings. You lose yourself in the pages of these books and live through the lives of others as you flip its pages. 

Well, the one emotion that I have always felt, when I am browsing through the books in a Crosswords or Landmark, or even on flipkart… "So many books, So little time!"

History Beckons!

Arvind Kejriwal is the man of the moment. He has successfully rallied the masses against the corrupt, self-serving rule of our politicians and has demanded reinstatement of the ideals of liberty, equality and justice, ideals on which this great democracy was founded. The middle class sees him as their saviour. Youngsters see him as their ideal. Many feel that finally someone has raised cudgels against the venal establishment that leads this nation. We are simply wowed by his commitment to his ideals, his recently formed "Aam Aadmi Party" and its impeccably worded constitution. 

I, for one, choose to be a bit cynical. Mr. Kejriwal's statements have been less than democratic on many occasions and I seriously doubt his commitment to democracy. He seems to forget that India, for all her inherent strength, is deeply divided on multiple counts. A 'one size fits all' kind of a approach is unlikely to work in our country. While Mr. Kejriwal's tirade against corruption may have won him support throughout the nation, it is highly unlikely that any policy decisions of his would gain widespread support unless he chooses to pursue the democratic path. What is needed is an emphasis on returning to the democratic ideals of discussion, deliberation and respect for the opposition. Over the past 60 years, we have succeeded in putting strong democratic systems in place, the need of the hour is to strengthen and sustain them. What India needs today is continuous evolution, not a revolution!

Maximilen de Robespierre was a nondescript character who came to the fore at the time of the French revolution in 1789. A skilled orator and an avowed revolutionary, he galvanized the masses, sickened as they were by the misrule of the King Louis XVI into creating a revolutionary France, governed by ideals of "Liberty, Equality and Fraternity". After having dispatched the King to the depths of hell, he turned his attention to the counter-revolutionaries in their midst. A reign of terror was instituted and thousands  of men and women alike were guillotined on flimsy charges. Idealism turned to a thirst for blood. All opposition became counter-revolutionary. The Guillotines in France worked overtime. The revolutionaries were now devouring the masses who had supported them in the first place. Any sign of dissent would land you on the guillotine. How did the madness end, you ask? The revolution ultimately consumed its own. Robespierre was guillotined by his own former supporters for having compromised the ideals of the republic. And the republic, where did it go? It would go down the drain as France, once again would became an empire, under Napoleon in a few years' time.

Mr. Kejriwal is no Robespierre. At least not today. But Robespierre was no Robespierre as we know him today when he first appeared on the political scene. India does not need a revolution today. It seeks stability, continuity and continuous and incremental change. It needs democracy to survive, It needs acceptance of problems and joint efforts for devising solutions. That is the only way forward.

One of Robespierre's quotes that resonates through history: "Citoyens, vouliez-vous une révolution sans révolution?" (Citizens, Did you want a revolution, without revolution?)

The heart of Africa

Dark clouds are gathering once again over the Congo river. The river is once again in spate, unleashing its waters violently across the land that had taken its name. Its once quiet, picturesque, meandering waters are now drowning homes, villages and towns, wrecking havoc like never before.

In a way, the Congo river mirrors the history of the country that has chosen to name itself after the river that brought sustenance to much of the country. Every now and then, marauding armies of rebels surface and challenge the puny government forces and civil war breaks out, bringing destruction and devastation similar to the fury, the river will soon unleash.

They say the Congo was plagued from its inception. An artificial Belgian created colony that overlooked tribal boundaries, its fate in the initial years was emblematic of the misfortune wrecked by naked colonial aggression. Congo was established as a personal fiefdom of the Belgian king who used all the might of his colonial enterprise of rob Congo of its rubber and its mineral resources. Congolese men and women  were maimed for life for failing to meet the colonial rubber quota. The Congo river drank the limbs that were thrown in its bosom, forced to swallow them as bitter poison.

Independence should have led to joy and national unification, but the century of Belgian rule had further exacerbated deep fissures within this artificial entity. Cold war struggles added their own complexities to what as already a boiling pot. Provinces, encouraged by the Europeans, fought for secession. The immensely popular but ideologically dogmatic Patrice Lumumba, the country's first Prime Minister was kidnapped and subsequently assassinated. They say, his remarks to the Belgian King, during the country's independence ceremony, "Nous ne sommes plus vos singes (We are no longer your monkeys)", earned him the ire of the Belgians, who were still in control of the nascent Congolese army. The Soviet attempt to create a Soviet satellite in the heart of Africa fizzled out with Lumumba's death. This paved he way for US proxy-intervention and the rise of the kleptocracy of Mobutu Sese Seko. Lip service was paid to the ideas of Lumumba but Congo was no more. In its place came Sese Seko's Zaire, corrupt and dictatorial. The river lost its identity too, it became the Zaire river and reflected the avarice and the greed of the nation as it devoured thousands in floods which it unleashed at its pleasure. 

And then the civil wars returned. Hutus fought Tutsis in neighboring Rwanda. Kabila fought Mobutu in Zaire as rebel movements sprouted everywhere. A tiny glimmer of light emerged as a government established its authority and resurrected the Congo. However, the joy was short-lived. Wars broke out in the north, the south, the East and the West. Flawed elections fueled public discontent. Rebels gained courage to declare war on the government. They resorted to violence, rape, arson and loot. Children were kidnapped, Women disappeared. The artificial calm that had existed for years was shattered again. Neighbours financed rebels as Congolese fought Congolese. River Congo wept bitterly seeing the death, the destruction and the devastation wrecked by her own children on their own land.

They say the Congo will continue to flood and devour victims till peace returns to its namesake nation. The international community cannot afford to look at the Congo conflict as an experimentation in nation hood. Democracy and the rule of law have to prevail in Congo. The international community must commit itself to that. Congo has been ravaged enough, for its minerals, for its rubber. Now is the time for Congo to join the community of nations as a truly independent nation, standing on its own two feet. The failure of Congo will be a costly affair, there is no doubt that If Congo goes, it will take most of Africa, with its borders cutting across tribal homelands and language groups,  down with it. 

Philosophical ramblings!

So, Who am I? Am I just a character, put on this planet by a mysterious force (lets call it God), to play my part in the script written down by him. Or am I a thinking being who can decide for himself, who is susceptible to influences and who can influence outcomes? Or, is it that I am the ruler of my destiny, the determiner of all outcomes and the ruler of my fate.

Which brings us to the nebulous concept of fate. Is there anything like fate? Eastern thought imparts an automatic feeling of there being mysterious forces beyond the control of a man. However, more often than not, when things go right, they are attributable to a man's wisdom, his attitude, his drive, but the moment things do not work out, it is fate at play. Western thought lays emphasis on the being. Communists for instance see fate as something that the upper classes threw in the face of the poorer sections of the society to keep them in abject poverty. It is the man, in western thought, who can bring about results by his own determination.

Which now brings us to the abstraction of determination. Why is it that a man might show determination to do one thing, while lacking any willingness to do another. Or, why is it that we exert ourselves to do something at one point of time, while showing no inclination for the same thing some other time. If you attribute this to 'mood', then why is it that our mood fluctuates so wildly. Why is it that we are so prone to external influences. Why is it that the mind, sometimes, behaves as though it were independent of the body, while at times, it behaves as though it were a prisoner of the same body? Determination appears to be a function of many factors, most of which lie beyond one's control. Ultimately, do we decide our own actions or not, or is there something more sinister at play, something that we have already called fate.

Is there fate? If so, who scripts this fate? Is there God? If there is, what/where/how/who is he? 

Or, once again, am I just a character put on this planet, playing out my part. Doubting others, when the script asks me to, doubting myself, when the script so commands. Pausing at the right moments and rushing at the right parts… All as per the script!

Goodbye Lenin!

Imagine you wake up one day to find that the world as you knew it has turned upside down…. That which was profane is suddenly sacred, that which was fiendish is suddenly saintly, that which was adored has now been cast aside… What would you do? This is what happened to Christiane Kerner, when she awoke from her 8 month long coma in an East Berlin Hospital in the autumn of 1989… She was a proud, socialist citizen of the German Democratic Republic, but within these 8 months, her Socialist homeland, the paradise of workers and farmers had ceased to exist.. except in her head… 'Goodbye Lenin!'  is an amazing description of the travails of the Kerner family and the emotional roller coaster that the family embarks on to preserve the now-dead Socialist fatherland for the sake of Christiane.

It is easy for us, 20 years later, to say that the wretched communist system was bound to fail before the burgeoning power of the Capitalist West. But for those who lived it, It was the only life they knew. State subsidized education, State sponsored welfare, long queues for foodstuffs, cars, whose deliveries took decades… so on and so forth… May be they hated it, may be they loved it… What is important is, they lived it… They got used to a style of living, where life proceeded at its leisurely pace… There was none of this madness about time and advertising and marketing…Even our parents' generation, used to a semi-socialist Nehruvian lifestyle are today at times amazed at how "easily" we get things and how there are maddening choices and cut throat competition for everything!

This life suddenly met its full stop in the revolutions that engulfed East Europe in 1989-90. A whole lifestyle came to an abrupt end. And with this end, an entire generation that had breathed and lived this lifestyle, found itself struggling to comprehend the enormity of change that had overcome them… Most of them stayed afloat, armed with the skills that their previous lifestyle had provided them… A few went down under… Christiane Kerner was one of them… She lived for her Socialist homeland, and even though she personally detested it, she remained loyal and committed to it till the end came… Both for her and her Socialist fatherland.

Goodbye Lenin! along with Das Leben der anderen and Der Baader-Meinhoff Komplex are some of the best movies to watch on a country whose very existence was an aberration but which lived its life, sometimes reaching for the stars and at other times convulsed in epileptic seizures… And while we are still on the subject of the German Democratic Republic, I strongly recommend a reading of Stasiland by Anna Funder to understand better the strange but enrapturing world of the German Socialist Fatherland!

Here is to the GDR!

"Alles mit dem Volk

Alles durch das Volk

Alles für das Volk! "

Ganpati Bappa Morya!

Ganesh idols in different hues

Hawa Mahal shaped Pandal

Dagdu Sheth Ganpati inside the Pandal

Old Pune was the place to be in today. Streets decked up, shops decorated, crowds milling, giant pandals and what not. The whole place seemed to be reverberating with some mysterious energy. Everyone knew today was Ganesh Chaturthi, but the pandals were still empty, their emptiness magnified by their immense size. But the crowds, they kept on growing- Ladies in traditional attire, holding plates of offering, Men with their foreheads decked with tilaks and the kids mingling with the crowds, yelling "Ganpati Bappa Morya".

And then suddenly, the crowds went berserk... A huge shout erupted from one end of the street... Before you could even make sense of what was going on, the sound of drums broke through the place. Dholaks and Mridangs and young men representing their Mandal beating their instruments ferociously as Lord Ganesh came into view- aesthetically coloured, decked with ornaments, stationed on a beautifully furnished cart, making its way to its ornately decorated Pandal- as though announcing his presence!

Cries of 'Ganpati Bappa Morya' resonated through the air as Ganesh made its way to the pandal. Crowds, spontaneously broke into a dance. There was no caste, no class, no religion- just India- The way it is and the way it should be. The foreigners, bemused looked on, as some of their compatriots joined the dancing crowds.

It reminded me of Durga Puja in Kolkata 3 years ago. There too, I had seen the same level of fervour, excitement and oneness that just grows on you. For a farji Marathi like me, this was my first Ganesh Chaturthi and I loved every moment of it!

Damn the Autowallah!

Thats it! The vilest, most evil and the most god forsaken bunch of people on the face of this earth are the autowallahs! Yep, they are a distinct group- bloodsucking, rash driving, rude talking, bunch of thieves- Thats what they are. And I am not going to apologize for generalizing so brazenly! Be it Delhi, Bangalore, Bhopal or Pune, these autowallahs are there not to serve people but to fleece them! They don't give a damn to sarkari rates and their meter is just another gizmo or another accoutrement in their glitzy vehicle adorned with pics of ex-heroines who are now grandmothers! 

It just keeps happening! You haggle with an autowallah, agree to pay 100 for what you know for sure costs 80 and then when you get down, you haggle again, 'coz either the distance was longer or there was a traffic jam or its suddenly turned dark or the clouds are on the horizon! And don't be deceived when an autowallah agrees to go by the meter, it only means you're screwed! A meter that runs is more dangerous than the dead one! Oh and when you desperately need an auto, the autowallah will bluntly refuse to indulge you, if you insist, he will quote an outrageous price that will make your blood boil! And the worst part is, that in this country of Anna Hazare and Arvind Kejriwal, there is noone to raise his voice against the tyranny of these autowallahs. I mean they are all politically-connected. Everytime they want to raise fares for whatever flimsy reason, they just go on a strike and you are left with long queues of people waiting to get to office or home or wherever. The government is only glad to buckle under the pressure- they are an important vote bank now aren't they!

And so there seems to be no end in sight to the tyranny of these autowallahs. Well, lets admit it, those who can afford it, will call those cool cabs and those who can't will travel by state buses. It leaves only those who are sandwiched in between. And since these losers (myself included) definitely don't count, I guess La terreur of autowallahs will continue!

Press release by Digvijay Singh

Countrymen, Today we should hang our heads in shame. This nation of Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and oh yes Mahatma Gandhi has been disgraced today. Our honourable Supreme Court has passed a decision that smacks of communalism and religious bigotry. Ajmal Kasab has been handed the death sentence. I, for one, find it shocking. Does it not dishonour our collective national conscience that a member of the minority committee has been sentenced to death by the highest court of law of a secular nation? Is this what it has come to? This is brazen abuse of the ideals of secularism that the fathers of our constitution had scripted. Are we a Saudi Arabia or a Pakistan, where members of the minority community have no rights? 

Facts first. Ajmal Kasab was caught allegedly during the Mumbai carnage in 2008, this has yet to be proven. I have substantial evidence on how TV clippings were doctored to incriminate an innocent member of the minority community. Who is to prove that he was not one of the victims of the carnage? The very fact that the Maharashtra Police arrested him and kept him in prison for 4 years makes him a victim of the Mumbai attacks. Oh! What tortures he would have had to bear, and that too when he is a member of the minority community! And for God's sakes, he was fed Biryani at a time when even school going kids eat only Subways! Hasn't the country gravely harmed the physical well being of a member of the minority committee by doing so? And to top it all, he is being sentenced to death. What a mockery of justice!

To wash away the sins of this nation, I propose the following-

i. Death sentence of Ajmal Kasab to be cast aside. He will be nominated by my Congress party as a candidate for Lok Sabha for 2014 elections from Mumbai South constituency.

ii. Minority quota of 67% to be introduced for all legislative assemblies and Parliament. This will be over and above the quota for SC/ST/OBC etc.

iii. Mumbai to be renamed Ajmalabad or Kasababad. 

Long Live Madam Sonia Gandhi!

Its raining expectations

Its scary. All these expectations, I tell you. 3 years of corporate life has meant that I am (decently) financially independent. And just when you thought you could do whatever it was you wanted to do for all these years, expectations pop up. Well actually, they pour down… incessantly…. Buy a car….Get your own place to stay… Book a flat… Get married… Settle down…. Get a better job...Get serious about life… Blah blah  blah blah…. Family goes crazy, peer pressure mounts... I mean, how is a man to live like this!

The worst are the comparisons. You know him, he has bought his second car…. That friend of his, he got engaged last month…. That person who stays near our place, he booked a flat…. That acquaintance switched jobs, he now earns gazillions...Can't even believe you are still living like an animal…

And so the expectations keep pouring in.. One after the other… Sometimes, I get irritated, at other times, I get depressed…Some times, I laugh them off… At other times, I confront, I argue, even ask people to shut up… But mostly, I listen, I smile and tell myself… This too shall pass :)

Oh India!

I guess India was founded on ideals that were too lofty, too idealistic and unsustainable in the long run. I mean there is probably no other nation in the world which has been forged together with such disparate groups whose interests are so different, and at most times antagonistic to each other. Probably, the Balkanization of India is inevitable. We can only pray that it doesn't happen in our lifetime, because it is guaranteed to be messy, bloody and chaotic!

Lets accept it, the concept of India as a nation is only 60 years old. There has never existed an Indian nation, ever in the history. There have been empires of Ashoka, the Mughals, the Marathas etc., but there has never been an India, united in mind, or in body. Hindu nationalists point towards the great empire of Shivaji's descendants, who united India, 'from Attock to Cuttack', as they say. This was barely a state, with warlords ruling and with the local populace having no common cause with the plundering, ravaging raids of the Maratha army. The Mughal empire united the entire subcontinent, but the overwhelming majority remained hostile to the rule of outsiders, whose customs and rituals, they could never relate to. British India, was never even a state. It was a patchwork of territories occupied by cunning Britishers, fiefdoms and despotic kingdoms.

The concept of India or Akhand Bharat, personified by Bharat Mata, came to the fore only at the time of Independence. Fanned by Congress and Hindu nationalists alike, it succeeded in laying the foundation of the concept of the Indian nation, but antagonized the Muslims, many of whom eventually seceded from what they perceived would be Hindu hegemony. And thus was born India, for the first time in history- divided by caste, creed, religion, customs and what not, United, only by its recent struggle for independence.

The moth eaten India (unlike the envisaged Akhand Bharat) could endure for eternity if the ruling political classes chose to 'Put India first'. But they chose to put the interests of their vote banks before the nation. So you have Mayawati, courting the Dalits, bringing disgrace to Babasaheb Ambedkar's legacy that she proclaims to uphold, you have Narendra Modi, who, till a few years ago, was spewing venom against the Muslims, you have Rahul Baba, who sometimes woos Muslims, and sometimes woos Dalits- Well whatever gets him a seat in UP! This race of politicians, united in their rejection of the idea of India has threatened the very existence of the nation.

The Assam violence and the corresponding flight of North easterners should not be viewed as an isolated event. Along with instances such as the Gujarat riots, the flight of the Kashmiri Pandits, the anti-sikh pogrom etc.,  it threatens to tear this nation apart. For whatever be the ideals, lofty, idealistic or unsustainable, this nation has endured for 60 years! It has given hope and opportunity to millions. India is already surrounded by a string of failed states on all sides. Look at what their leaders have done to their people, what abject misery those populations have been reduced to. For all its shortcomings and structural fallacies, India needs to endure. There is no other alternative.

A tale of two Queens-Part I

"If they don't have bread, let them eat cake"… This statement attributed to Marie Antoinette is apocryphal. She never did utter these words… The Austrian born, Queen of France, wasn't even aware of the state of affairs in France outside her luxurious, opulent royal palace at Versailles. All she probably cared for was her jewels, her dresses, her husband and her children…

France detested her… The Parisians, tired of the rising prices of bread and the apparent impoverishment of the once magnificent nation, called her L'autre chienne (the other bitch!), a pun on the word "L'Autrichienne (The Austrian)… There were stories on the extent of debauchery within the royal household… There were tales that called her a whore...and a drunken whore at that. Frankly, France had never taken a liking to this Austrian princess who had married into French royalty. The wedding, albeit, a political masterpiece that ended centuries of hostility between France and Austria, had failed to impress the masses…She remained too distant, too aloof for the masses to even attempt to like her…

France, for all that Marie cared, could rot in hell. She never did like the formal, aristocratic court culture in Versailles. She didn't like the continuous intrusions into her private life. She didn't like it that she was constantly told to behave like a Queen of France. She did not like the restrictions that were placed on her. And she did not like it that her own Husband would not indulge her… While France alleged that the Queen was barren, when she failed to produce a heir for several years after marriage, she knew that the fault lay with the King of France. Her personal life, probably had more in common with the life of her subjects outside Versailles- impoverished, unhappy and frustrating. What she couldn't find in her husband and the royal court, she found in jewels and dresses and later, in her own children.

France, in the meanwhile continued to smolder... Dissatisfaction gave way to full blown mutiny...Marie was shocked at the extent of disenchantment and discontentment with which the masses greeted her when the French Revolution broke out… Evicted from Versailles, the royal family lived under the vigilant eyes of revolutionary Parisians. The Austrian invasion against revolutionary France, coupled with the threat that Paris would be obliterated if any harm came to the royal couple did not endear the Queen to her captors. The revolutionaries came to regard L'autre chienne as the traitor of the worst order. Her life, they reasoned would imply death for revolutionary France...

And so, even though the revolution had already devoured her husband, the King, it proceeded to try the Queen. She was accused of being an Austrian spy, of having sold out the wealth of France to Austria, of having done disservice to her adopted nation and the most ridiculous of them all, of having indulged in incestuous relationship with her children. Marie, who had so far listened to the charges, with her head bowed low, with an acceptance of the fate that awaited her, now broke her silence. Trembling with rage, it was the mother and not the Queen who now addressed the court. She accused the revolutionaries of having dishonored her, of having taken her children away from her, of having reduced her to a wretched existence, of having made her a widow and probably having already murdered her children too. She looked at the common womenfolk who had assembled to watch the trial and asked them what her crime was. She demanded compassion, she demanded justice… She demanded liberty…

There was a collective gasp from the assembled womenfolk… The revolutionary court would not permit the revolution to be unravelled in its very own presence. The judgment was swift and crisp. Marie knew the outcome…She was to be guillotined.

A wooden cart used to transport criminals to the Guillotine awaited the former Queen of France. Her "revolutionary" captors thought this would befit a former Queen who had now been reduced to a citizen. She was marched through the streets of Paris. Among boos and jeers, she tried to maintain her dignity. She remained calm. She had hated behaving like the Queen of France all her life, but she was ready to greet death as nothing less than the Queen of France.

The Guillotine came down with a loud thud. Marie Antoinette never did get a chance to like France.

Hammer and the tickle- I

I have been reading a lot on humour in the former Communist countries of East Europe and the Soviet union (I have also been pasting a lot of it on my FB wall!!)... I though it would be a good idea to put some of the jokes here!... Please note that I claim no credit for these jokes (or for that matter even the title of the post!)... I guess that would make this post more readable than the rest ;)


Radio Yerevan Humour:

1. Q.) Is it true that half of the members of the Central Committee are idiots?
    A.) Rubbish. Half of the central committee are not idiots

2. Q.) I don’t know what’s the matter with me. I don’t love the Party any more. I feel nothing at all for        
          Comrade Brezhnev or any of the other leaders of the Party. What should I do?
    A.) Please send us your name and address.

3. Q.) What is the definition of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR?
    A.) The Supreme Soviet is a collective organ of Soviet authority, consisting of two types of people: those
         who are absolutely incapable of anything, and those who are capable of absolutely everything.

4. Q.) In the glorious Soviet Union, Which four factors inhibit the agricultural development?
    A.) Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter.

5. Q.) Is it true that Adam and Eve were the first communists?
    A.) Probably, yes. They both dressed very sparingly, they had modest requirements toward food, they
          never had their own house, and on top of all that, they believed that they were living in the paradise.

6. Q.) When the final phase of socialism, namely communism, is built, will there still be thefts and pilfering?
    A.) No, because everything will be already pilfered during socialism.

7. Q.) Would it be possible to bring Socialism to the Sahara?
    A.) But after the first five year plan, they'll have to import sand.

8. Q.) Can Communism also be in the USA?
    A.) Yes. But who would give the glorious Soviet Union wheat then?

9. Q.) Why did they establish a Ministry of Navy in landlocked Armenia?
    A.) To spite Azerbaijan. They established a Ministry of Culture!!!

10. Q.) We are told that the communism is already seen at the horizon. What then is a horizon?
      A.) Horizon is an imaginary line which moves away each time you approach it.

11. Q.) What is the most permanent feature of our socialist economy?
      A.) Temporary shortages!!!

12. Q.) What is the difference between the capitalist and the socialist trade?
      A.) Capitalist trade means everything is to be sold...Socialist trade means everything is to be bought!!!

13. Q.) What should we do if the Western borders of the USSR were opened?
    A.) Rush to Siberia at once in order not to be crushed in the stampede

14. Q.) Will the police still exist when communism is built?
      A.) Of course, not.By that time, all citizens will have learned how to arrest themselves

15. Q.) Is it possible to build socialism in Switzerland?
    A.) It's possible, but why? Did Switzerland really do something wrong to you?

16. Q.) What is the duration of the workday in a socialist country?
      A.) Of course, it's an eight-hour workday: from eight am to eight pm.

17. Q.) Why do we need two central newspapers, Pravda (Truth) and Izvestiya (News) if both are organs of the same Party?
    A.) Because in Pravda there is no news, and in Izvestiya there is no truth.

18. Q.) What to do if a man you don't know takes a seat at your table in a pub and starts to sigh?
      A.) Immediately Ask him to cease with the anti-Soviet propaganda.

19. Q.) Radio, Yerevan, Why did you not broadcast for such a long time?
      A.) We had to make some changes in our staff.   The previous broadcaster, while reading an article that
             contained the words ‘Socialism is nothing as compared with communism,’ made a pause too long
             after the word ‘nothing'...

20. Q.) Radio Yerevan, Is it possible to solve a problem which has no solution?
      A.) We don't answer questions related to Soviet agriculture!!!

More will follow!!! :D

Random Musings- Letting go!

The past always has its way of creeping back to our present. Try as we might, we find it difficult to cut the past off and commence life in the present. I guess a part of us is left behind in the past and it just refuses to let go… It clings on to the past, making it difficult to adapt to the present. I guess thats how most of us are, we crib about the present, glorify the past and fear the future…

I think at some level, the past never ends… it just continues in a parallel space-time continuum… its stays exactly where and how you left it… And when past and your present intersect, the past takes over… It is as if the present never existed… It appears as though there never was a break…

This failure to give up the past and this itch to continue to live in the past and let go probably manifests in our behavior… I guess that is what people mean when they talk of baggage… Our experiences shape our views and we continue to cling desperately to those views even if the evidence overwhelmingly points towards something else… I guess we end up stepping on other people's toes… We forget that time changes everything, even though outwardly everything remains the same… What you felt was right at one point of time, need not necessarily be agreeable to someone else at the same place… And probably, it isn't even your place to say it… But you can't hold back now, Can you?

We must leave behind the people, the place, the setting and everything else…They are all ephemeral... The only thing we must carry and cherish are the memories… 

April Fools!

Remember the other day, I was cribbing about how my gharwallahs are itching to get me "settled" and get done with "their" responsibility! Well,this shaadi topic had been going on for way too long and I had mostly been at the receiving end of all discussions around the topic… So, I decided to strike and take revenge as and when the opportunity presented itself… And what better day to embarrass my tormentors than 1st April… and so that is what I did!

I called up a cousin of mine, who is very active on the "Aashay ki Shaadi karvao front" and told her that I wanted to discuss some serious matter with her… I told her that I had a serious "affair" going on with a Tamil female since college days and that now things had suddenly begun to go haywire as her parents were putting pressure on her to get married and close the chapter (Classic story innit?)… I told my cousin that I needed time and that what was the hurry anyways… She asked me the name… I improvised… JayantHi (yep the 'H' makes it Tam)… She asked me the surname, in a mater of nanoseconds, I ran down the list of my Tam friends who have surnames (there aren't many I tell you!!!), and settled down on Iyer… She asked me, where is the girl from… I told her Chennai (couldn't think of any other place)… she asked where was the girl based out of currently… I answered with the planned response… 'she works in PwC at Kolkata' (as advised by a friend with whom I had gone over the plan once)…But then when she asked where are her parents based out of, I realized that her list of questions would be endless and that I would run out of improvisations sooner rather than later…. So, I stopped her then and there and asked for her advice… For 10 minutes, as she rattled off advice after advice… the need to plan ahead… the need to inform my parents and the need to keep the whole damn thing a secret... I could barely stifle my laughter…. the need to sound believable meant that I frequently ran out of breath and had to keep the phone at a distance to be able to release that suppressed giggle…

I hung up after around 10 minutes of chit-chat… I thanked her from the bottom of my heart and told her that I would keep her posted… I then proceeded to call up my other cousins and tell them of the killer April Fool for the day… We had a good round of laughs at the expense of my poor, concerned cousin, who I realized later had lost her appetite and nap because of the bomb that I had dropped on her…

Hours after the conversation, when I realized that my cousin had still not figured the whole thing out, I dropped in an innocuous little message "Aaj date kya hai"… And then came her phone call, accompanied with a flurry of choicest vegetarian marathi abuses…. I guess she felt 'used' and 'cheated'… She got even more worked up when I told her that I had shared her advice with the rest of the family!… At the end of it all, there was good round of laughter and a well spent April Fools day!

All in good jest!

Vehicular Woes

I am sick (again!) of having to wrack my head on buying a new car… Ordinarily, the purchase of first car from "own" money should evoke feelings of joy and pride… but I am just plain sick of having to consider and re-consider decisions… The more number of people you ask, the more number of views you get… And let me assure you that all views are mutually contradictory… First it was Maruti, before it was trashed as being "too conservative"… then it was Chevrolet, before it was criticized for "not being worth it"… Hyundais came and went as did Hondas and Fords and Toyotas… Mostly it was the money, sometimes it was the color… and at other times the shape of the car (Ritz, e.g. appears perennially dented from behind!)… Detailed discussion happened on used cars… Some supported it…others rejected it outright.. The net result is that I am still car-less and at the mercy of Pune's chor autowallahs…

The fact is that all cars are too expensive… unless you go for models such as Wagon-R, which are cheaper, but then "older" so to speak… I know for a fact that my first car will end up being heavily dented and hence I am definitely not in the mood to splurge… If my experience during Engineering is anything to go by, I am expecting ending up at the Hospital, once every 6 months at the very least and at the Service center at twice that frequency… And believe me, I know how much it hurts to get a scratch on a brand new vehicle… With all this playing at the back of my mind, and with the latent interest in appearing "cool", decision-making as far as car purchase is concerned just isn't happening!

Another important decision point which is adding to all the confusion is whether to go in for a high/middle end version of a low end car or for a low end version of a high end car… The price range roughly ends up being the same, but honestly, there is no point flaunting a Toyota Liva with no power windows!!! I've even tried to convince myself to go in for an Alto, but my legs simply refuse to feel comfortable!… I, honestly, tried to think of buying an Indica (knowing fully well that I will be flagged down on the middle of a road and will be mistaken as a Cab driver), before my Boss warned me of poor performance rating (He's not prepared to have an Indica-driving subordinate!)

And to all the confusion was added the new chapter on buying used cars… I am ok with that, but it seems that most used cars are Altos and Zens… Add to it the fact that the "better" used cars cost up to 3.5-4L… I guess it is complete non sense to spend 3.5 L on a used car, when you can get a brand new car by spending another 50-75k!

Anyways, so that is what is keeping me busy these days… Scouring dealers… bugging sales centers on phones and speaking to as many people as I can in trying to reach a "consensual" decision….Sadly though, consensus, in this matter is proving to be elusive!

Lets see what the future has in store!

Khamosh Paani

Probably no other event has caused such widespread human hardship in India as the partition… Millions of people were forcibly uprooted from villages, towns and cities that they had called home for centuries and forced to become refugees in a foreign land that they were now supposed to identify as their own only because of their religion… While millions undertook this journey in search of relative security for themselves and their families, many died and probably many more were left behind in a country that refused to call them their own…

Khamosh Paani (2003) is a story of one such Sikh woman who is left behind in West Punjab after she refuses to obey her father's command and mother's example by jumping in the village well… Soon, she is caught by the Muslims, one of whom, out of the goodness of his heart marries her… She becomes a devout Muslim and raises a family, forgetting her past till one day it returns to haunt her… Her brother, a part of a jatha of Sikhs allowed by Zia-ul-Haq to visit holy shrines discovers her and begs her to return to India to see her dying father… At this point, she asks him " Father wanted me to die… I ran away… Tomorrow when I die, to which heaven will I go?- The Sikh heaven or the Muslim heaven"… At the end, she jumps into the same well, which she had refused to jump into some 30 years ago when she had chosen life over suicide...dying as a broken soul… Rejected by the Sikhs for having forsaken their religion by becoming a Muslim… And discredited by the Muslims, thanks to the rising Islamic Extremism in Zia-ul Haq's Pakistan, for not having rejected Sikhism enough…She was an apostate to both religions in spite of her trying hard to stay true to both her faiths…

This must be the tale of so many women and girls who would have been left behind in "enemy territory"… Used and exploited by the men as the loot of war, they would have been subject to the worst of tortures and when finally they would have begun to accept their fate, they would have been rejected as impure and cast aside… Unlike the comfort women of Japanese occupation of Korea, China and South East Asia during WWII, this topic has never received any attention, due also in part due to the social stigma attached to dishonor of women in the subcontinent … 

As the generation which experienced the horrors of partition fades into oblivion, the stories of these women would probably die with them, with probably no chance of them getting justice and at the very least, a heartfelt apology from their adopted countries for having inflicted unspeakable horrors upon them...

Ides of March

The recent election results in UP, Manipur, Punjab, Uttarakhand and Goa are a clear testament to the declining influence of national parties in the country. Congress and BJP have been humiliated by the voters and obliterated by them at least in UP. The surprising and the seemingly irreversible decline of both BJP and Congress shows the high level of disenchantment of the masses who prefer voting for local parties with regional mindsets than to strengthen the hand of national parties.

Both Congress and BJP have only themselves to blame for their shoddy state of affairs. Congress, marred by corruption, sycophancy and lack of political and ideological vision for the nation also faces a mounting obstacle in the form of a very strong anti-incumbency wave. BJP, sadly has been unable to step into the shoes of a strong responsible and attractive alternative to the Congress and is marred by dissent, both political and ideological, within its ranks. 

Rahul Gandhi was expected to turn the fortunes of Congress around in UP. Sadly, he cost them even the sure shot government slot in Punjab. BJP, bereft of a strong regional leader in UP was bound to lose, but the nature and the extent of loss, that is decline in number of seats and the overall vote share is a slap in the face of BJP-UP stalwarts like Rajnath Singh, Kalraj Mishra and many others. Even the belated arrival of Uma Bharti did little to improve the situation for the party.

The states which are ruled by Congress and the BJP are those wherein the local units of these parties have become strong regional parties in their own right. For example, the BJP of Narendra Modi in Gujarat or the Congress of Taurn Gogoi in Assam do not represent the state of decay and degeneration that their national counterparts face. The victory of Parrikar in Goa and Ibobi Singh in Manipur must be seen in that perspective. Both are capable, state level leaders and the voters have voted them into power, not necessarily the parties that they represent.

Going by the way things look now, 2014 will deliver another United Front type government- cobbled up by various parties opposed to both the BJP and the Congress… Given its likely narrow vision and focus on regional issues, it is likely to mark the arrival of another era of political instability at the national level which does not bode well for a strong, confident and stable India claiming its rightful place at the international stage

Never Again!

Imagine being stuck in a small room which you are not allowed to leave… The small room has only one solitary window from where you can see the lives of the rest pass by… some shopping, others playing with their kids, still others taking a leisurely stroll, many enjoying the light breeze, some enjoying the sun … but you can never be a part of all of this… you are only a spectator… you can watch by the sidelines… but you can never be a part of this life…

What would your reaction be? Probably you'd be jealous, eventually you'd curse your fate, sometimes you would cry, at other times you'd howl, but to no avail… In the eyes of the state you shouldn't be where you are... you should have been dead since long… you don't exist for the state… your existence has been obliterated… If they discovered that you were still alive, you'd be packed off to Auschwtiz or Bergen Belsen or Dachau… Your neighbors and friends, aware as they might be of your existence choose to forget you… Its safest for them that way… You are a part of their life that they have long forgotten… Some who still care drop off food and drinks once in a while, but they know that they do it at a  great risk to themselves… 

Of what use would such an existence be? Some would say that it is better to be incinerated or gassed at once rather than live through the pain of having to die through a million cuts… But you still want to live don't you? You want to see that sun shine down on your face, that gentle evening breeze ruffling your hair, that friendly pat on the back, that smile on someone's face when they greet you… But would you be able to see all that? You don't know… It is a constant battle between the will to survive and the unending doubt on making it through… 

And then one fine day…. There are knocks on the door!

Anne Frank's diary is one of the most read books in modern times… The life of a teenage girl as she grapples through a plethora of complex emotions may not make an interesting read but the fact that she had hopes, aspirations and the dream to see the sunshine make her diary one of the most touching books… The knock on the door that sent her and her family and friends to their deaths in Nazi Concentration Camps is an example of how men can trample on someone's hopes and desires and how there is always more to it than the seemingly simple stratification of society into us and them, Palestinians and Israelis, Hindus and Muslims, Jews and the others...

If only the we had understood Anne's story, there would be no Congo, no Darfur, no Rwanda…They say that history delivers the most powerful lessons, only that we choose to ignore it!

I crib, therefore I am

I am not liking this settling down business one bit...2 years of free, unencumbered existence has suddenly come to an end... All of a sudden, I need to worry about food, grocery, laundry, house rent, commute and god only knows what all... Let me be honest, I really don't care about all this! All I want is everything to be in order so that I can do whatever it is that I want to do...What is the point of working hard (actually hardly, but whatever) the whole day if you have to return to a dump in the evening to run around for grocery and stuff...

I am not exactly a big fan of change (although I do feel that I cope with it well)... And I hate the fact that I am so very jobless at this moment... After a very exciting previous stint, my experience here so far has been mind numbingly boring... If it were not for the fact, that my office is covered with glass instead of a brick wall on 2 sides, I would probably have arranged for a nice afternoon nap everyday! All this bloody free time leads to, is reminscing about days gone by which again I hate, because it seems very retired people-y to keep talking about what is past!

Although one thing I am loving so far is the city! It is good to be back to Pune! I loved the 2 years I had spent here last and I hope I love this stint as well (well,eventually!)... Its good to be only 2 hours away from home (I have already been to Delhi once and by the looks of it, I will not be home only once in 6 months anymore!) and its good to have options to hang out and meet people... 

Another thing that I am loving is that the 1-hour commute from Pune to Ranjangaon gives me enough time to catch up with my books (my precious!)... And now that I am in a city, I can purchase a book whenever I want to!... My already decent collection of books has now become decently large and assuming that I don't get tired of reading, I will have a huge collection of books by the time I move out!

It is difficult to forget Munger though... The last few months were awesome, the people, the parties, and the general timepass and I think that is the period that I will remember whenever I think of Munger! Like they say... 'You can take a man out of Munger, but you can't take Munger out of the man!'... Deep emotional scars- I say ;)

Band Baaja Baraat!

Its official... My folks at home are getting desperate to get me married at the earliest. Many of them suspect that I have a secret girlfriend hidden away somewhere and that my disinterest in getting married stems from that. I have been working overtime trying to convince them logically, emotionally and financially that I am not interested in getting married right now and that they should hold their horses for sometime... But do they listen- NO!


The following reasons are given by them to "enable" me to make up my mind for a marriage as quickly as possible-


i. Hum buddhe ho rahein hain. Shaadi me bahut kaam hota hai. Hum uth hi nahin payenge toh kaam kaun karega? Hamare knees/hands/back/bones/body ke baare me soch. Hum ab jawaan nahin hai... Tereko kab akkal aayegi!


ii. Shopping kar ke bahut time ho gaya hai humein. Market me kya mast saarees aayi hain. Abhi hamare bacche bhi chhote hain. Kal woh bade ho jayenge toh unki padhai me kharch karenge yaa teri shaadi me!


iii. Abhi tu gaon mein bhi nahi hai, sheher aa gaya hai. Tere ko khaane, laundry ki kitni problem hai dekh. Shaadi kar lega toh sab tension khatm (which is when I interject and say that that I think you're confusing bai with wife!)


iv. Sone ka daam kitna badh gaya hai. Jaldi shaadi karega toh saste me ho jayegi. Jitna late shaadi karega utna sabke paise kharch honge!


v. Hum hi akele kyun bhugtein? Tu bhi suffer kar thoda... bahut ho gayi aish teri!


vi. Late shaadi karega toh saari auntiyaa milengi. Fir humein mat bolna!


vii. Is saal duniya khatm ho jayegi. Usse pehle shaadi toh kar le kam se kam!!


viii. Naye saal ki leaves baaki hain abhi. Chutti khatam ho jayegi toh Baad me mat bolna ki shaadi me nahi aaye. Haan bol abhi se...


ix. Bas...apne doston ki shaadi attend kar... woh kya moorkh hain jo shaadi kar rahein hain...


x. And the cheapest of them all... Hamari aankhein taras gayi hai bahu dekhne ki... kab hamari tamanna poori karega beta!


This is what has been going on for some time now.... All conversations end in the topic of marriage... And the only weapon at my disposal is the simple line "Kya jaldi hai yaar... kar lenge..."... Lets see woh line bhi kitne time tak kaam aati hai... 

Reservations on Reservation!

10 years! 10 years is what the framers of the constitution had in mind, when they put in place a comprehensive system of 'affirmative action', seeking to correct centuries' worth of wrongs and raise the downtrodden and the ill-treated to their rightful place in the modern Indian state. Reservation was perhaps the only way in which a nation, used to treating some of its own, worse than even the dirt on their feet, could begin to accept and acknowledge their presence. Over a period of time, vote bank politics have overridden the glorious objectives with which reservation had been introduced in India. 6 decades since the constitution was brought into force, Reservation is the symbol of how the political class has distorted the meaning of reservation and has used and abused it to its own petty advantage.

6 decades ago, one would be ashamed to say that he belonged to a so-called lower class, so strong and overbearing was the control of the society. Today, you have the erstwhile upper classes clamoring to be included in the list of scheduled castes and tribes, to bring to them the benefits of education, jobs and what not. Was the purpose of introducing reservations to turn the social order upside down or was it bring the downtrodden at par with the upper castes and eliminate inequality? In today's modern democratic India, who are the downtrodden? Are they necessarily the ones who belong to a lower caste or are they those who cannot afford 2 square meals a day? In that light, how does it matter if I am a Brahmin or a Harijan? I deserve to get the state's attention because of my plight and I certainly don't deserve the state's apathy because I was born in a so-called affluent caste!

The concept of reservation has been used and abused badly. Congress and its stooges have been heard supporting the cause of reservation on religious basis! To play vote bank politics is one thing, to put the existence of a nation at risk is completely different! Had Congress supported the Muslim League's demand for reservation for Muslims and community-based reservation in the 40s, we might have had a United India with a Congress-Muslim League coalition as the ruling combine!

You can choose to dismiss the need for Lokpal. But, You cannot dismiss it on the grounds that reservation for weaker sections is not in place in the Lokpal- to be!

Reservation is completely justifiable. But it is acceptable only on economic grounds. Any other type of reservation implies that vote bank pandering is being resorted to.

Given today's fractured polity, it seems unlikely that any political dispensation would support the cause of re-defining reservation. That move would be suicidal!

But only if someone could, if for nothing else, for the sake of the nation!