The Wise Man Speaketh.

At least thats what we are told by the chosen few. I think the problem is we as a people do not get mad enough; enough. How long do we have to be treated like lowly subjects of the fucking government; like they are doing us a favor. One has to switch on the TV to see the ruling party's spokespeople wax eloquent about how magnanimous our PM is! It is his damn job for fucks sake. And there is a section of the media (NDTV, TOI, in particular) who have sold their souls for handouts from the government, giving in, being a colostomy bag for the sheer shit that comes from the idiots who speak on behalf of the govt. Today has been probably the most sickening collective display of sycophancy and self serving bias.

Many people might not know or care but today our elected leader of the government chose to speak to the people through five hand picked print media editors. Without cameras. I wouldnt have had a problem with the closed door meeting  if the government had not created so much hype about the forthcoming 'event'. This was supposed to be when the PM would answer all questions, silence his critics and fool the general public into thinking he is still in control. What we got instead was a secretive meeting with little credibility as to what really happened in there. I mean one of the editors came out and said 'The PM was so jovial. He was joking'. Even the most innocent supporter of the PM wouldnt believe that this man has a sense of humor.

The PMO website has posted the PM's opening statement, which runs more than 1,800 words! Given his pace of speaking, one wonders (as pointed by a TV commentator) where was the time for others to ask questions? There is also a preliminary transcript posted on the website, clearly prepared by a bored elementary school student copying notes off the blackboard. Maybe it was RG. The disrespect and disdain displayed by the PMO is unprecedented. Why are they keen on patting themselves on the back for addressing the media? It is in the job profile. This is the 21st century, someone needs to tell them. Well somebody did. When pointed out on a TV discussion that even Obama tweets, the congress spokesperson said 'we are doing better than them in economic matters and he (obama) should worry about that'. What the fuck does that have to do with anything! Its not Dr. Singh's style, they say. Well appoint someone else or ask him to get the fuck out.

The government, any government has to realize their duty to the people. They have to make people a part of the process, a part of governance. Governance cant be exclusionary, cant be the privilege of  bureaucrats and politicians. It has to be participative. Today's effort is too little and so elementary  that we as a democracy should not be discussing when the PM speaks. The government has to get over their high of being in power, feeling large hearted for speaking to us lowly people. This government has failed in its basic requirement of providing us with a functional government. With record scams, corrupt ministers, non-existent leadership this regime has lost its mandate to be in power. It is when governance has completely failed that people turn to whatever they have, viz. people like BR.

If this govt. really places the best interests of the country ahead of the party's (or the Gandhi family's) they should quit. The bunch of them. Like i said we dont get angry enough, enough.

Ready

This is not about Salman Khan's latest. Though it is hilarious as some claim the movie to be. Ready is what Digvijay Singh thinks Rahul Gandhi is, to 'assume' primeministership that is. Since Mr. Singh was kicked out of chief ministership, some ten years back, he has adopted the collective role of a coterie. On RBs 41st birthday Mr. Singh grandly announced his opinion that RB was ready to be prime minister. It is of little concern to him that the 2014 general elections are actually going to be held, well in 2014.

Also of little concern is Rahul Baba's track record. He has led, not led in reality because assuming responsibility would lead to accountability, he has guided the Congress' quest for power in UP & Bihar straight into the dustbin. Maybe Mr. Singh was impressed with Rahul Baba's daredevilery during the Greater Noida agitation. He didnt wear a helmet on that bike trip after all! Let us not forget the many nights RB has spent in poor dalit homes across the country. Coming from Delhi, the air-conditioned upper caste residential hub those night spends must have really given him perspective.

One might argue that the need of the hour is a young leader, to lead the country in this era of growth. Young is good. Inexperienced is not. Compare RB with Tony Blair (TB). TB became the PM of UK at the age of 43. He was a MP at 30, RB at 34. But the big and the most vital difference is how the two leaders came up the power ladder. While Mr. Blair climbed it gradually, assuming his party's leadership after 11 years of working for the party, RB is already at the top waiting for the ladder to be built so that he can hop on. The fact that his mother leads the party must make him the most secure leader in any country (including Kim Jong II). Not that RB is unaware of his priveleged status. In an interview few years back, he lamented the reality of dynasty politics in Indian democracy. But he finds himself helpless in view of pleas from people like Mr. Singh.

What we all overlook at times like these is that there is infact a Prime Minister in place in New Delhi. His name is...umm....Dr. Singh. He must feel appropriately emasculated that a succession plan is being put in place without him consenting to it or even being informed of it. It is still better than the time when ministers of his cabinet had called for RB to become PM some years ago.

In a country where we pride ourselves on a dynamic democracy, free press, functioning though overburdened judiciary, it would be a shame if the Congress' planned succession goes through with no questions asked. I am not a believer of 'we deserve the leaders we get' line of thought for the simple reason, political parties, especially the Congress do not allow new leaders to come to the fore. Cheap people like Mr. Singh add to the problem when they think announcing RBs readiness to be PM would be a gift enough for his birthday. Get him a helmet or a pillow atleast.

Shoot the messenger.

That seems to be the government's mantra now days. As much as one may disagree with the methods of the anti-corruption lobby, one cannot ignore the way the government is dealing with the issue. When cajoling and threatening did not work the government resorted to letting their dirty tricks department take over. As soon as a protest/activist becomes bigger than what they can manage, we start reading about their undisclosed assets, misappropriation of funds, shady aides and so on. I am not sure about what one would term the activists dharnas as, but this is definitely criminal blackmail and intentional mudslinging.

The fact that the govt. believes that releasing such information will dent people's faith in these individuals, is a testament of their short-sightedness. The govt.'s first instinct to a protest is 'stop this as quickly as we can'. The intention is always to stop the protest from taking place in public view. That is when we see sleazy politicians emerge, meet the activists, telling them 'let us take this inside'. Deals are promised, brokered, broken. I realize that both sides are involved in this whole tamasha, but the govt. is expected to behave in a much more responsible manner.

What also has got my goat is the fact the govt. had all the dope on these guys. If they knew or were certain that these activists were involved in illegal activities/have undisclosed assets; why has it waited for so long to take action. This is criminal negligence of the highest order. Indeed it is willful participation in suppressing the facts. The fact the govt. has prepared dossiers on activists, does not surprise me, the fact no one in the media brought it up, does. The message is clear: do not oppose us, we have dirt on you. This fifties style McCarthyism is a dangerous trend in our democracy.

Compare the campaign against the activists with what is happening to the politicians who are implicated in far more serious crimes. Suresh Kalmadi, A Raja, Kanimozhi. All of these people had years to cover their tracks before they even were booked! And here is our elected government threatening lowly civil activists, evicting them using force, publishing their financial records, and generally behaving like a bully who has been shamed by a much smaller kid. The congress spokesperson recently called Hazare an unelected tyrant. Ironically that term describes our existing power centers perfectly, Dr. Singh (unelected) and Ms. Gandhi (tyrant).

The government needs to acknowledge the issues being raised are legitimate and needs to stop undermining the people who raise them. After years of striking deals, buying over opponents, forming coalition govts with the opposition, the government has forgotten what dialogue means. The govt needs to rise above the individuals and give us answers. The leaders who raise them might be tainted, the questions are definetly not! 

Let the games begin!

Now that baba ramdev (BR) has been ejected from Delhi and the grounds cleared, the real games can begin in earnest. About time. It has been almost two years since BR announced his plans to launch a political party before the 2014 elections. Now he has been provided, on a very giant platter may I add, a perfect opportunity to claim the necessary mandate and reason to do so immediately. I can almost see Congress old timers getting nostalgic and thinking how good the summer of 1977 was. Emergency was in the air, opposition was in the jail, and people generally did not give a fuck. Unfortunately the last bit has changed and how.

In the coming days there will be serious repurcussions for the government and its political masters. The congress has unwittingly created another political rival who will pose a very credible threat to Rahul Baba's (RB) dreams of conquering UP. Not only has the party been shamed by it's sanjay gandhi-esque disdain for democracy, or civil behaviour for that matter, they have also provided BR with a legitamate cause to expand his one-act play to be novelized and then made into a film, with five sequels. The party's negotiators got it wrong from the start and ensured that the end was as spectacularly stupid. They did not see through BR's intentions of grabbing as much media attention, knowing fully well that his demands have been vague/irrational/changing with every demand met. Their inability to thwart a new political opponent has been challenged and they have failed. Miserably. Now what we, the citizens, will get is not our black money back, but yet another politician who indulges in hyperbole and can generally make a lot of noise.

What happened at the ramlila maidan was absolutely unnecessary. It is going to lead to an overtly righteous vindictive backlash. The cause is forgotten, it is egos now that will take centrestage. It would not be long before BR's campaign against corruption transforms into a campaign against the congress. And we can expect the congress party to respond in typical fashion, blaming the RSS types being a part of this protest, badmouthing BR (Digvijay Singh, please shut the fuck up) and being in absolute denial. The leadership as has been the trend; is nowhere to be seen. Sonia Ji (SJ) and RB have not uttered a single highly accented word to the media. Where is the midnight motorcycle ride, where is the meeting with the PM with ladies who got thrashed and tear gassed on saturday?

As always is the case with political slugfests, we are the only losers. BR is already being percieved as the wronged one. The congress now does not have to do anything about the list of its ministers who hold black money in overseas accounts. They might lose face, or worse the elections in 2014, but that will be enough time to move onto larger, better executed scams!

Why Pranayam Just Might Save Us!

To all the people who have been scoffing at baba ramdev and anna hazare; please get your myopia treated. I am no supporter of religious leaders or socialists or health conscious people for that matter. I am just very pleasantly surprised to hear someone, anyone, stand up and take a stand against corruption. And be heard. But more on that in a bit. First a couple of facts -

1. The Jan Lok Pal Bill was introduced in 1968. that is when the beatles were still relevant, Russia was a superpower, padosan was a hit, basically a long time back in the history of this country
2. The Supreme Court of India recently announced famously during a hearing on the black money case "What the hell is going on in the country?" The court went on to castigate the government over its 'reluctance' to declare the name of offenders with illegal accounts in banks overseas

It is in the view of these facts that I, lend my support to the ongoing anti-corruption campaigns. The campaigns, not the people. In my opinion, most people opposed to this new wave of activism have missed the picture in its entirety. Since independence, this is probably the first time we have witnessed people get together for a common cause. Not for reservation for Jats/Meenas/OBCs/Muslims/Women/Tribals or for any of the other thousand causes our well oiled social activist machinery kicks in. This affects all of us. The people of this country. I am going to go out on a limb and say this is the most significant moment in India's history since its independence.

We as a nation have never spoken in one voice, indeed we do not even have one language. The fifties saw the nation being divided into states on linguistic lines and even today we see demands for separate states. Parties like the DMK and Shiv Sena in the sixties rose to prominence on extremist regionalism. The seventies saw all parties (barring of course Indira's congress) get together for a very brief period of time only to pull down each other quicker than the months they managed to stay together for. The eighties was hijacked by Rajiv Gandhi & LK Advani together. Religion had become the new language and we will pay the price for that for sometime to come. The nineties and a good part of the following decade were spent by the Indian public and politicians alike, making money. The economy had just been opened up and no one was complaining. For a brief period in the Narsihma Rao government, people were exposed to 'scams'. But we let it slide. No one remembers any protests, strikes, anshans, satyagraha or the like. We all were happy to watch cable TV, drive cars other than Maruti, working in BPOs, etc.We as a nation, let it slide.

For the first time, in 2011, after 64 years, we have had a glimpse of people power. For the first time in 64 years, we are witnessing people talk about something common. Something that affects all of us. Man, woman, child, hindu, christian, muslim, athiests, jats, meenas, sc/st, tribals, maharashtrians, meghalayans...you get the point. Do we really have to nitpick and say anna hazare is a sexist, socialist, activist of an era gone by? Do we have to scoff at ramdev and call him attention seeking, yoga nut? really? I am amazed at our irrestible tendency to sit around passing judgements on people, pulling them down, looking for mistakes. We need to realize that what is happening; is bigger than these select people. It is a movement.

When was the last time we saw people of all walks of life assemble at Jantar Mantar for a common cause, other than of course to visit Jantar Mantar. Arm-chair activists and academics always seem to miss the bus and be cynical about such 'spontaneous' protests. Everybody has ulterior motives, but that does not mean the cause is any lesser. Or the response to the cause is not genuine. I was at Jantar Mantar for two days. I went alone, not aligned with any party or organization. It was just amazing to see so many more like me. The shared frustation was comforting. The fact that we didn't just sit at home and complain about corruption, didn't think whether this meant we support anna hazare, was liberating. We complain too much and have for too long now. It is important that we don't be petty and crib about who is leading the movement. It is not about that one person or organization. It is like when secular types crticize vande matram and forget what that one communal slogan did for us in the past.

May I also remind people, that post the anna hazare fast, the Government of India backed down. When was the last time that happened? Our indifferent, corrupt, bullying government backed down. They are scared. They have seen what happened in Tamil Nadu recently and do not want a repeat at the centre in 2014. Is it not a moment to cherish? Was this even concievable, up till five years back? Come on!

No revolution is perfect, or led by perfect people. We too will find our feet. We may have to tolerate the babas, the annas, the arundhatis, the patkars, but we will get there. Or not. Atleast we are waking up. Talking about common things. Shaking up the goverment machinery! Today, is an important day for the country. Lets not be cynical. Let us support a frail, hairy contortionist. He is taking on the Goverment. He can use another shoulder, even if for a second. We might not get the black money back. Corruption obviously can never be wished away. But, it is a start. Start of a push that may need to last the better part of this decade for any real change to materialize. At least it is a start. When was the last time we tried.