Desicritics

Ma Ngobo's Place at Scenery Park

Amitabh Mitra — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 19:37:57 EDT

ma ngobo lives in the far stretches
of scenery park
a tiny house amidst shacks and shanties
seems to challenge still
an unburnt sky
lush greenery in abundance
has taken over the tiredness
of old thoughts
flaming tyres around necks
and a flaming jungle
are as remote
as long lost anc promises
i often drink here to
the laughter of myths
a rebellion of conscience
seems so far.

Poem and Watercolor by Amitabh Mitra

Poem: Erased

Kashkin — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 06:18:32 EDT

The old memory and its words
find its ways in new wards.
like a distant flight of birds
tired upon discovering
new shores and place of refuge
heavy this burden
through those long winter nights

Heavy hands of fate
just a scratch
Neither the ink or knife
needed to remove
only the murmurs
through crimson leaf
the haunting silence
the absolute, the eternal.

Is the Marathi manoos At Stake?

Abhinandan Mishra — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 14:31:09 EDT

A few hours back I was going through a blog of a friend and I came across his recent post in which he had written about how a member of the Thackeray clan, Aditya Thackeray, son of Uddhav Thackeray walking on his ancestral footsteps, forced the prestigious St.Xavier college, Mumbai to stop prescribing to a book because he felt that this particular book is not worthy and suitable to be taught at the college.

Just for the records it was not a cheap publication that are available at the numerous book stalls on the railway station of Dadar. The book is titled “ Such a long journey” written by the well known writer Rohinton Mistry. It was first published in 1991 and was nominated for the Booker and won many recognition including the “ Common wealth writers prize”. In 2007-2008, it was prescribed for the BA ( English) course in Mumbai university. And since then it is being taught there. It is a novel about how a family lives their daily life.

But one fine day a boy who is still struggling with the pull and push of attaining puberty, decided that he has to do something to gain some media attention as he was about to start his political career and add more stench to the already nauseous gutters of “India’s secular politics”. As he was considerate enough to not to resort to use of sticks and swords, he decided to go after “Such a long Journey”.

This guy, Aditya has nothing much to write about him. He is a student of the same college from where Rohinton passed out. And by gods grace he has also managed to churn out a collection of poems which he has aptly named “Black and White”.

Its noteworthy to mention that when Rohinton Mistry was penning down the lines of his book, this dude was probably wetting his nappies while listening to the gory achievements of his father and grand father post 1992 bomb blast.

But then creativity and hooliganism runs deep in this family. His father is a photographer, his grand father too is a cartoonist and his uncle as we all know is a painter. So it was but obvious that Aditya too would inherit this creativity and this rogue character. So, I don’t blame him.

This Thackeray feels that the book talks about the Shiv Sena in a negative sense. No else reason is required. If the Thackeray don’t like something ; then they don’t like it.

I won’t talk or write much about Mr. Poet Thackeray because as much as I know this guy by now has gained enough media coverage and I am sure the sycophants Barati around him would add more color and push him more towards the sky for his success in losing his virginity of hooliganism. He passed his debut test of showing his strength without a blood being shed and a office being vandalized.

Welcome to the world of right is might Mr.Black and white. But as a friendly advice, keep writing heart rendering emotional poems, for you have to show the people that you have a tender side too; just like the other members of your clan.

But I would like to comment on the audacity on the part of the university officials. I mean I just can’t stop admiring their ‘bravery’. They just couldn’t stand a college teen hooligan because he was from the notorious Thackeray clan and was going to start his own group of activist , which he has proudly christened “Yuva sena” . This sena will see to it that India’s cultural value or more specifically Marathi culture is not vandalized, burnt or destroyed.

I would like to commend people on their maturity for still regarding the Sena as a political entity. My immaturity suggests that it ceased to a political party long back. I always thought it was a bunch of mentally deranged goons who had decided to conglomerate on one fine day and start a party. Post the 1992 riots my inexperienced mind told me that soon this ‘party’ will disappear from the political scene of India. But as I now see, I was a fool then.

I was in a good mood today as I watched India successfully concluded the Common wealth games. I was enjoying every moments as I felt goose bumps when the army contingent played the band and I was ‘liking’ every facebook status that my friends were posting about the success of the CWG.

But then reality dawned and I realized that still we are what we were. Still we fear some Hindu clans and still we bow too their fancies without even taking a ‘token’ stand.

I have friends in Maharastra and they are much more forward and liberal than me and they are more into activism than me but I just can’t find questions to my answer that why they keep tight-lipped when they should speak.

I am not in Mumbai, many of us are not. But those who are in Mumbai why don’t they say that “ Ok you may not like it but that doesn’t give you the right to destroy it”. Is it that difficult thing to make people understand?

Is being called ‘Bhartiya’ sounds more derogatory than taking pride in being called a Marathi manoos, UP ke Bhaiya aur Tamil Nadu ka Mallu.

You have to decide that , not those bunch of goons who pride themselves in hurting and destroying everything that doesn’t please them.

It is not Marathi manoos at stake, it is your freedom to oppose tyranny and to speak your mind out that is right now the burning question.

Gone Are The Days Of Innocence!

Being Cynical — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 05:33:36 EDT

This piece is for all those infants who would be enjoying their feeding bottles now

I am searching for the person who said – kids are blessings of God. I don’t know what crime I might have committed in my previous incarnations, I always find myself on the receiving end of these kids. The last time I counted, my elder nephew has already peed on me 52 times. I am sure I can’t be an exception and there could be millions of helpless individuals like me who must have suffered a lot for a species called kids.

You are just back from a long and tiring trans-Atlantic flight travelling inside that cylinder. Taking your much needed sleep to get over your jet-lag and barely showing enough signs to stop your lawyers from reading out your will. ‘Yawwww..Yeiiii..WoW..WoW’, there goes that siren which would make the train whistle sound like a Lata Mangeshkar melody in comparison. You get up from your slumber as if you were thrown right into the middle of a battle zone only to find the mother consoling the inconsolable kid who in turn only seems to be interested in beating the living daylights out of your sleep. I think kids go along a very funny equation – the more sorry you are the happier the kid becomes. I am sure Alok Nath must have the happiest kids in the world. For better results you can take them in your lap and stand in one leg (more like a Nataraj pose) atop broken glass pieces.

You are in the verge of missing your important morning meeting – thanks to that extra large peg Vodka last night. You are in the middle of the hurriedness of your life and commit that cardinal mistake – Slide down the nappy, just to verify if things are fine at the ground level. Mr. Murphy comes handy and from nowhere a projectile of pee lands on you – half on your face and the rest on your ironed Shirt. As you are left with little or no time, you just wonder for a fraction of a second – was he waiting for your face with his cannon ready. Forget the meeting and prepare for your boss’s red eyes. Most frustrating would be the nonchalant attitude of the kid towards your precarious condition, same as those Bangladeshi refugees. Rather than being sorry for his water work he would be delighted at the view of a half drenched idiot in front of him and make all sorts of joyful noises. You can’t shout with joy for that flamboyant cover drive of Sachin as the kid would be sleeping and if you do so then the mother of the creature would run around the room cursing half at you and the rest at Sachin. Not to mention – you have to listen much of the juicy debates on TV with your TV almost in mute position.

I have this unfortunate coincidence of traveling with a screeching kid whenever I pack my bags. I am sure there would be thousands of flights taking off around the globe without a nappy or feeding bottle in sight but the moment I book a ticket, destiny makes sure to attach a howling infant as the flight's payload. The irony is the infant has to be positioned either just in front or behind me and most of the times in the same row. When the lady asks – which seat you would prefer, I politely reply – doesn’t matter as long as I have a howling infant close by. To amuse me, most of the time they comply with my request. In synchronous with the shrilling sound of the jet engine for take-off, the infant makes his voice shriller. ‘Yeeeeeeeeee……Wuuuuuuuuuu…’ and by the time the flight is completely airborne you are half deaf and praying more for the kid to get silent than the flight not crashing into some paddy field. Can’t the mothers of all such creatures take a fistful of those ear buds and stuff it right down the vocal cord of their infants?Like the Jaat community who thinks the solution to every problem is nothing but a couple of tractors full of villagers each with a lathi in hand, these kids think the solution to everything is – cry and screech at the top of your voice. After getting tortured in the hands of these kids for years, I finally decided to fight back. The best solution in my mind is to pay them back in their own coin and let them taste their own medicine. When my nephew once did twist his lips to make that unbearable sound of crying in front of me, I beat him to the punch line. Before he could start crying I howled at him like I never did and made some out of the world noise. Trust me – he not only stopped in his preparation for that cry at once but also went numb for the rest of the day. It is 3 year since I haven’t seen my nephew crying in front of me at least. That’s how you should catch the bull by the horn. Tit-for-Tat pays of at times and more so if the Tat is aimed against a Tit of a infant or toddler.

It is about time you kids mold yourself and stop torturing innocent souls like us. The world is changing and for heaven’s sake change yourself for good as it would look bizarre if we get to hear fathers howling more than their infants to implement that Tit-for-Tat method of mine. I hope some civic sense would prevail with you guys and help make this world a slightly less noisy place to live in. Now enough and get back to your feeding bottles!!

Breasts - Know Them Save Them

RESTLESS MIND — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 19:03:05 EDT

Breasts.

This word means different things to different people.

Development of breasts in a teenaged girl is the time her mother would get worried about her daughter as to how to educate her about sexual health.

For men, this physiological feature of a woman's body has inspired awe, admiration, desire and lust from time immemorial. A woman's external beauty, to a large extent is related to her curves.

If I say that for a woman, her breasts are merely two bundles of soft tissues which need continuous support, I would be dishonest. Women too associate a sense of femininity, beauty, sensuality and pride with her assets!

An infant instantaneously knows from where is he going to get the nectar for his life and it's strangely miraculous that a baby just knows to suckle without being trained to.

The social conditioning based on the accepted norms of traditional Indian society expects girls to cover their breasts or even the curves as visible from her clothing. The dupatta, chunni, odhani, stole, whatever you call it, it is a piece of long cloth used to cover one's breasts from the preening eyes of the opposite sex. The 'Pallu' or "pallav' of the saree also serves the same function covering the curves given by the figure hugging blouse.

The way a dupatta is used to cover the breasts from the eyes of the people around, the same way girls are expected to be ignorant about their own body parts. Mothers would advise their young daughters not to change clothes in front of a mirror. The reason behind this thought could be the fact that sight can invoke sensual desire in a person, even if it's one's own body.

Ironically, this thought remains ingrained in the psyche of a woman for a long time and women generally remain unaware of the intimate parts of their body.... Women feel shy of their own bodies. They remain strangers to their own physical selves.

That is why it is very important that more and more information is written about and read and used about this deadly silent killer called BREAST CANCER. And, the important thing about it is that a woman herself needs to examine herself regularly and keep a watch over any symptoms to diagnose it at any early stage.

UNDERSTANDING BREAST CANCER

Dear reader, there is ample information available on the Internet about the disease and I would not like to reproduce it. However, I have tried to put things simply, the way you can use it.

What is Breast Cancer?

Breast cancer is an uncontrolled growth of breast cells

The term “breast cancer” refers to a malignant tumor that has developed from cells in the breast.

Who Is At Risk?

1. Women having family history of the disease.
2. Onset of menstruation before age 12
3. Onset of menopause after age 55
4. Not having children or first child after age 30
5. Less time spent breastfeeding your kids
6. Birth control Pills
7. Hormone replacement therapies

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

First, don't feel shy to know how your breasts look or feel like, because only then will you be able to observe any change in the parts. Hence a self examination is the first thing you can do. Click here to know how to do self examination. Remember :

a. Do a monthly self examination
b. Get an annual physician check up after 35 years of age
c. Get periodic mammograms done as advised by your gynaecologist. A suggested schedule is:
* begin at 35
* every year or two from age 40 -49
* every year beginning at age 50

Also note that you should get it done during first two weeks of your cycle if you in your menopausal stage.

WHAT SIGNS TO LOOK FOR IN SELF EXAMINATION?

Ladies, do know your body. Being vigilant is important, as otherwise the disease may creep up without notice and get diagnosed only when painful changes occur. Look for these signs, if they occur:

* swelling of all or part of the breast
* skin irritation or dimpling
* breast pain
* nipple pain or the nipple turning inward
* redness, scaliness, or thickening of the nipple or breast skin
* a nipple discharge other than breast milk
* a lump in the underarm area

WHAT CAN WE DO TO AVOID BREAST OR ANY CANCER?

Maintaining a healthy life style is a prerequisite to remain healthy in today's time. The basic fundas of eating right, good sleep, exercising and avoiding smoking and drinking alcohol works here too.

WHAT KIND OF FOOD MAY HELP US?

I dug out the old issues of my favorite health magazine "Prevention" looking for some information. And I understand that although, there is no cure for the disease, but anti oxidants in food helps our body against cancer. So why should we not include them in our diet and of our family members? Here are a few foods which have anti oxidants:

1. Turmeric - Used in every dish in Indian food, but make sure you are using a trusted brand, as there can be easy adulteration.

2. Mushroom - We love this fungi! It beefs up body defenses, suppresses breast and prostate cancer. Suggested recipes - Make sandwich filling with sautéed mushroom ; make regular mushroom pea curry ; add them well chopped in soups, they taste great! (Remember to blanch the washed mushroom before cooking)

3. Papaya - Protects against lung, stomach, prostate cancer. Also is great for digestion.

4. Green Tea - It is not really popular and is a bit expensive than the regular tea we have, but try to include it in your food plan at lest 1-2 times in a week.

5. Pomegranate - Helps kill breast and prostate cancer cells. The fruit can be added to custard, cream etc and can be squeezed to have as juice too.

NEXT TIME YOU KNOW WHAT TO GIFT YOUR MOM?

I know it is not going to sound too good to your ears, but next time you think of giving a gift to your mom or an elder aunt, gift her a MAMMOGRAM (The test to detect breast cancer). We, the younger lot still are very aware and take care of our health, but women generally had given their health the last priority in our society, so it's time YOU educate your family or relatives or friends and give the gift which should bring mental peace to the person and an awareness in this direction.

Sarkari Babus & Beyond Their Fat Ass

Being Cynical — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 18:17:50 EDT

The Sarkari Babus could be the most confused lot in India at present. They don’t know what are their jobs and responsibilities to begin with. They are not sure why they are employed or continue to be employed. Are they supposed to perform some duty (not that they wanted to do anything) or does they have any accountability. Whom they should report (read share) the moment they manage to get hold of some booty by their looting act. What should be the % share of the loot as it shouldn’t happen that Mantriji run away with all the loot leaving him empty handed. And most important - how one should duck himself from the agencies like Vigilance, Enforcement Directorate or any of that nonsense. Pah!! A hell lot of confusion and no wonders our Sarkari Babus are the largest consumer of blood pressure medicines in India.

Fortunately or unfortunately, I had some considerable number of encounters with Babus over the years. Most of the time, I crash upon them during my train journeys. The last Babu that I remember of having an encounter with was a shameless individual. Now you may argue – Babus and shameless, what’s new? Hang-on, to me he seemed like a bit more shameless than any average Babu could be. He in fact was an encyclopedia of shamelessness on motion as was evident starting with the very reason of his journey.

You know, I have this son who studies Engineering in Visakhapatnam and unfortunately he was arrested yesterday in connection with a bike lifting charge. Wow – I never knew I am traveling with the father of a Gladiator, I thought. What made him lift a bike? I asked. Are!! Nothing much. You know how rustic these police chaps are. Being a kid he might have done it out of exuberance and these policewalas are picturing it all in black. Intent is to mint money from me, nothing else- came the shameless reply. Are we talking about Indian kids or kids from Zimbabwe, Somalia or any other civil war torn nation? Kids in India don’t steal bikes for some fun. Do they? But this gentleman, rather being sorry for his son’s misadventure was busy covering up his dirty ass. Can’t blame him entirely though – as being corrupt himself he is bound to view the world in the same prism and more of when he himself might be stealing lakhs of Tax payer’s money, a mere bike lifting won’t come to the equation. Now imagine what this corrupt and shameless man’s son would become when he grows up. As correctly said – corruption is also somewhat hereditary. Seldom would you find a clean man’s son or daughter getting engaged in nefarious activities.

Babus are not only shameless but at the same time grossly notorious also. Their notorious act is not only limited to siphoning of public fund. The pathetic network between Babus of different cities is an equal big a pain. Yaar Sharmaji, my sister’s younger daughter has applied for a clerical post in your local Tahashil office. Could you make sure she gets this job? There you go – Sharmaji can’t just refuse Vermaji as Vermaji once had helped his brother-in-law to get that Desi Daru ka theka license. The girl being at the bottom of the heap in terms of merit, still run away with the job leaving deserving candidates like Janardan clueless. How many times you have found your railway ticket with waiting number # 2 not getting confirmed while some clown comes from behind the queue and takes your seat? Ask the clown about the Babu behind him for this interesting turnaround and you would get exiting answers, starting with how important a figure (a notch below Rahul Gandhi) he is and how many Babus he knows personally.

Few Babus who have turned senior have got the luxury of having a Red light installed atop their official cars. I still struggle to understand the utility of having this Red light for a person having the least of wit or gill to work and corrupt to the core. What a person whose upper body part is nothing but a huge pot belly and fat enough to frighten the sumo wrestlers has got to do with this Red light. If they claim it is for security – then I am sure it rather adds to the security concern than minimizing it. On a second thought – the person inside is good for nothing and worthless enough for any terrorist target. I am sure even the terrorists won't waste their time on these rascals. But ask these Babus to give-up the Red light – they would give you that expression as if you have asked both of their Kidneys instead. Not only the Babu but his wife, daughter and even his pet dog need to be ferried in that Red top car. Owner’s pride – Tax payer’s envy, I must say.

These creatures fondly known as Babus are as big scoundrels and rascals as our politicians are, when it comes to corruption and idiocy. They are masters of looting the common people on daily basis and in turn filling their and Mantriji’s coffer. Duty and responsibility are the two words these guys either learn last or give it the first miss. God only save our country from these homegrown terrorists!!

The Lonely Tribe

RESTLESS MIND — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 20:59:16 EDT

Most of the times, I am a loner. I just love my company. Love to be with myself, and talk to myself. Leave with alone with a book or two (even a newspaper or magazine would do), some music of my choice, a paper and a pen to write, a pencil to sketch, that's all I need. I can sit like this for hours without speaking a word to anyone. I can be silent for hours and never feel the need to fill that space with words. It's bliss for me.

But then I've had my share of loneliness too.... that very silence, which I so love, comes to hound me.... that very space becomes a void..... I get uncomfortable with myself at times, and look of approval outside. I've experienced it all. Now let me ask you, the reader,

WHAT IS LONELINESS?

Have you ever felt alone in a mall bustling with shoppers? Felt the deafening silence of nothingness in a discotheque or a party? Felt nobody needs you and nobody is there for you, chances are you are becoming the part of the lonely tribe which is increasing in numbers all over the world. People are increasingly feeling lonely - age, gender, occupation does not matter.

WHAT CAN BE THE CAUSES OF LONELINESS?

In the age of social networking, virtual friends, round the clock updating of your activities on Face book or Twitter, having a robust number of "Friends" on FB, why are we getting more and more lonely? Even, if you have your occasional friend's get-together, family dinners etc., don't you feel something amiss somewhere. Is it not the genuineness of relationships that we miss these days? The warmth of true and caring relations? What do you say?

Loneliness is increasingly being seen as a clinical condition, no longer as an indulgence. It has bad effect on a person's health and can be contagious too. (On the lighter side, I read that Divorce can also be contagious amongst friends!)

WHO IS GETTING AFFECTED?

Starting from the most obvious age group is elderly people or couples. The nuclear family, children studying or working or staying away are some of the well known factors of loneliness in elderly. Also, the couples who kept the marriage alive or rather chose to be the marriage only for the sake of children's future ultimately tend to feel empty and lonely - devoid of anything to look forward to in their most personal relationship.

FIRSTLY I AM NOT SURE WHAT IS MIDDLE AGE?!

I just don't know how to define this age! If we go by years, then the quality of health services available and the awareness about health issues now are making an urban citizen better off than what it was earlier. I read that the life expectancy has gone up now. So middle age could be 40-45 years, may be.

The other factor of determining, generally, what is middle of one's life can be how old one's kids are. As kids till 11-12 years need a lot of attention, and afterwards learn to handle themselves, as far as basic things like feeding, dressing up, studying etc is concerned. But, the point is that overall the marriageable age of both girls and boys have gone up considerably in last few years. These days it's OK for boys to marry at 30 and 27 is not late for girls, so by the time they have teen-aged kids, they would have reached the mid of their lives, as I think about it.

I AM TRYING TO UNDERSTAND MID LIFE CRISIS!

As I have understood midlife crisis (?) is when your kids don't really need you as a parent so much, and they begin to see you and judge you as a person, and as a person you know you have reached where you headed to years back... and as an individual you have understood and accepted your weaknesses and your shortcomings (as opposed to the days when you believed you can change the world!), you know you have hit the mid age, now it depends on you, what you do with this feeling.

The Youth are Lonely too

The stiff competition in every field, the peer pressure, the role models being the hep film actors, the expensive life style (to keep up with), with parents giving less attention to children's emotional needs or a disturbed family life can be a few factors why youngsters can get lonely at heart. Also, a romantic relationship trouble or not being able to keep pace with studies or a family tragedy, any such thing can affect the psyche of a youngster.

I was reading about Internet addiction today (52% of kids spend about 5 hours daily on Net), Cyber bullying, addiction of online games, thereby lack of social skills are aloofness can certainly affect the life of a youngster, pushing him or her in the shell of loneliness.

DEALING WITH LONELINESS:

People feeling 'lonely', I read somewhere, tend to look within, searching for happiness, finding ways to fill the void, sometimes by material abuse too. Although, personally I have felt that the during the pangs of loneliness I have tried to look for a solution outside, tried to fill up the void by things and activities like reading, watching more TV, involving more with friend circle for frequent outings. It's like I've tried to fill up every possible nook and corner of my mind and my heart with anything available easily to me.

Sometimes, it may help, when you strike the right chord by choosing an activity which fulfills your needs giving you the much needed mental peace. Sometimes, you may be lucky to find that reliable friend who pulls you out of your loneliness, so it depends on you how you think you can be helped.

Yet another way could be associating yourself with helping other people in need. Joining a NGO in whatever little way you can; to some yoga and meditation or gyming may suit. I know, we people are busy and at times, we don't have time to deal with our own mental state, so joining a NGO is quite difficult. But even a visit to a blind school, or an orphanage or a school or institution for small kids of weaker section run by NGOs or an old age home and then spending a few hours with them, learning how can one contribute to their cause, not necessarily financially but otherwise, also makes a depressed person feel better.

I learnt about one such thing, when I visited a Blind School and was told that I can contribute by recording my voice reading the textbook lessons of social Studies or Hindi or Science for the blind school children. You have to believe me that it actually made me feel so good about myself, when I begun to go for these recordings on my weekends.

So, the way to deal with your loneliness can differ, but definitely, it is YOU who knows how to deal with yourself. It's equally important to do some introspection and find out what has left you so empty, so lonely and so desperate and then deal with the issues slowly.

A depressed and lonely person should always remember that there is light at the end of the tunnel, and I should not give up so easily and also "I will be a phoenix when I rise out of my ashes" and YES, it's possible.

I had read a Hindi novel long back, and these lines really touched my soul and I always remember them, when in crisis :

तुमने एक ही बार वेदना में मुझे
जना था माँ
पर मैं बार बार अपने को जनता हूँ
और मरता हूँ
पुनः जनता हूँ और पुनः मरता हूँ
और फिर जनता हूँ
क्योंकि वेदना में मैं अपनी ही माँ हूँ.
( पुस्तक : नदी के द्वीप लेखक : अज्ञेय )

These beautiful lines written by Indian author Agyey mean that a mother gives birth to a baby after bearing the labour pain only once. But, the child grows, and sometimes his life puts him through pain and sufferings, which almost kill him but he endures everything and resurfaces. He gives birth to himself each time he learns to fight back and emerge as a winner, hence throughout his life, in his moments of pain he becomes his own mother in labour.

Have you ever felt lonely? What did you do to deal with it?

Karnataka Politics & The Colony Of Thugs

Being Cynical — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 06:07:13 EDT

Politics is truly the last refuge of scoundrels and what a bunch of scoundrels we are blessed with. Nobody can be more correct than the person who has once said – The world would have been a far better place without a rascal species called politicians. From east to west, from upper to lower hemisphere. Name a problem and you would always find a crook in the form of a politician as the creator. They are such a dangerous species which can even turn heaven nastier than hell within days, let alone any country or state.

You don’t have to go back to history to find exemplary evidence of the destructive qualities of these rascals. The current Karnataka mess can be a good example to start with. Look at the politically elected representatives of the people of Karnataka, whom the world knows as a set of hardworking and intelligent individuals. Look at the rogues these fellows have chosen to represent them. The behaviour displayed by these so called representatives could easily put all the goons and thugs of the Bangaluru streets to shame. Manhandling the marshals. Tearing open their kurtas to do a Salman Khan act. To top it all, being the opposition leader and standing on the desk to show his displeasure all the while shouting at the top of his voice like a fish vendor is not what the people of India deserves. Recklessness went into overdrive when one Congress MLA went ahead and manhandled the commissioner of Bangaluru city. Just sit and ponder – are these our representatives? Do we really need to have such goons representing us? Don’t being honest and law abiding citizens we deserve much better things than these skunks?

Hang-on. I am no way saying Mr. Yeddiyurappa is a saint but at the same time those who were doing a naked display of idiocy are for sure bigger devils. Karnataka politics was always turbulent and this is just another cyclone it is going through. But the thing that baffles other than the goons dancing on the floor of the house is – the gross misuse of constitutional framework by both the parties. To begin with, a man with as big a tainted history as H.R.Bharadwaj (Bofors case - doing everything possible so that the culprits and he himself can duck the law) shouldn’t have been installed in a prestigious position that of a Governor to begin with. So little expected from this proven thug is to talk about honesty and transparency.

When the trust motion was called it should have been left entirely to the speaker of the house to conduct it as per our constitution’s prescription. Mr.Bharadwaj has absolutely got no business to write letters to the speaker a day before to remind him of his responsibilities. Little did Mr.Bharadwaj know that the first person who needs to learn some ethics of politics could be himself. This bizarre and un-wanted display of concern just goes onto prove that, he is getting biased and working on the instructions supplied to him- God knows from where. Being a governor, rather being interested in the stability of the state polity, he is going west and walking that extra mile to see to it that the state remains as unstable as possible. This is for sure not expected from a governor.

Now look at another gem in the fray - Mr. Yeddiyurappa himself. He conveniently decided to sleep over the scoundrel Reddy brothers and their illegal mining issue. Thanks to Sushma Swaraj who seems to be hand-in-glove with the Reddy clowns, the rascals are enjoying the best support thugs don’t deserve. Now why this apathy towards others? Why to sack few MLAs involved in a minor sugarcane scam? That’s precisely what made the whole issue go out of hand. Out of no where 15 MLAs decided to show their thumbs to Mr. Yeddiyurappa and move ahead. Wait – these 15 did not moved out because they are saints and can’t tolerate the corruption this government is supporting, but because there is a conflict of interest. The conflict is – Why only Reddies be allowed to loot the state, why not we lesser mortals?

But this doesn’t give any reasons for seasoned crooks like H.D.Kumaraswamy to come up and talk big about corruption. This H.D father-son duo can very well be more dangerous to our nation than all Pakistan based terrorist organizations put together. This smart ass promptly hurled up the entire rebel MLAs in a posh guest house in Goa, feeding them with exotic food and half of Goa’s grog and won’t be surprised if call girls were also on the speed dial. All trading, starting with horse and ending with pig went round in various places like Goa and Mumbai. The voice of H.D.Kumaraswamy doing his cheap dalali is shown in various press briefings. I am sure Karnataka would be a far better place if this father-son duo be deported to some barren island in Indian Ocean the earliest. This duo should be issued a gag order or better be thrown behind bars without filing a chargesheet for next three months. A classic case of - pot calling the kettle black.

All said and done, this issue is far from over. We are yet to see more naked display of hooliganism and rape of our democracy. But on a second thought – are we citizens have no voice? Can’t we teach these skunks the true value of democracy and send them packing to the place they belong? Can’t we for once stand up and say – enough is enough? Or like our Sarkar all options are open for us with no solution insight? Give it a thought!!

Those who Live in Glass Houses

Indian Liberals — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 16:12:26 EDT

India and Indians have been "offended" once again by a "racial attack". The country is "outraged" by one New Zealand TV anchor's dig at Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit. Paul Henry deliberately mispronounced "Dikshit" as "dick" "shit", not once but over and over again.

A little research on Paul Henry would return all the controversies he was involved in. Clearly, this guy is an attention-seeker and before Sheila Dikshit, those who were at the receiving end included Susan Boyle and Stephanie Mills among others.

But of course, we are Indians and we have to make a big song and dance about anything and everything. We had to create a big drama and we did it very well, Indian ishtyle! Our government summoned the Kiwi high commissioner, gave him an earful, our media made a noise about this incident, we made the kiwis apologize "profusely" and all that crap.

This nauseates me to say the least. There's nothing more shameful than we Indians, the most racist people on the planet, taking offense at some racial slur on a TV show far away from our shores. This incident reminded me of a post I had written last year during the height of the "racist-attacks-in-Australia" incidents and I am duly reproducing them below. Please note that although some of the quoted incidents are dated, the crux of my argument remains the same.

Retrieved from the old post

There has been a lot of anguish and anger in India with respect to the racist attacks on its nationals in Australia. Indian newspapers are full of the horror stories from Australia and apparently one of the victims has urged Indian students not to go to Australia because "there's no life there!"

There's no life in Australia? It comes from the same person who perhaps not too long ago was thinking of settling down in that country for whatever reasons beyond me but definitely not because Australia "didn't have a life"! And it took only a freak knife crime for him to change his opinion so drastically!!

Now I don't mean to be insensitive here. I completely understand his present state of mind and the resultant outrage. But is it decent to judge the entire population of that continent by a few out-of-bounds teenagers? I've been living here in England and not for a minute would disregard the possibility of being a victim of such a crime. Yet, in my brief stay here, I have come across so many welcoming Englishmen and women that one such relatively unlikely event would not change my opinion about the entire country!

I am aware that I might appear to some chauvinistic readers as sympathising with the Australians. Hence, I must clarify that I am not. As the Australian ambassador to India himself accepted, racist elements exist in Australia and that the racist angle to these attacks should not be discounted. And I do condemn all racist behaviour anywhere on this planet.

And therefore, my question here is this. Do Indians really have any right to cry foul over racism, given their own racist mentality? I would like to remind my Indian friends of those several attacks on and resulting deaths of foreigners traveling to India. How many times have you seen any protest by Indians against such crimes in their own country?

In fact, come to think of it, we Indians are the most racist, casteist, xenophobic and hypocrite people in the world (they are also extremely sexiest, to an extent of being misogynist {one of the reasons why sex determination during pregnancy is still illegal in the country!} and homophobic but I could talk about it in a separate blog). Nowhere on this planet would you be discriminated against in your own country on racist grounds than in India. Those northerners who don't agree with me should live in the south for a while and vice versa. I lived in Chennai for nearly two years and it was there that I realised for the first time that I was an 'Aryan' and not 'Dravid'. It is not secret that political parties in India not only exist but also thrive on these racial and caste divides.

Xenophobia takes on an altogether different meaning in India. You don't have to travel from a different country to be a foreigner in India. You could easily get discriminated against or even bashed up if you travel a few hundred kilometres outside your home state. Those Indians who cringe at the 'Paki' slurs thrown at them in the western countries should ask themselves how many times have they themselves referred to their fellow countrymen as 'lungi', 'bhaiyya', 'ghati' or 'baniya' and to foreigners as 'goras' or 'kallus'!

And that's why I think that Indians are the most hypocrites as well. And I'll tell you why. In a very popular "patriotic" Indian movie, aptly titled 'Chak de India', the coach of the Indian women's hockey team that travels to Australia for the world cup proudly points out a 'gora' (a white person) hoisting the Indian flag. And that was supposed to be "patriotic"! If that is not xenophobic and racist, then I wonder what is!

Now consider in that context Amitabh Bachchan, the legendary Indian actor, rejecting an honorary degree offered to him by an Australian university in light of these racist attacks against Indians. Why did he? What was the university's fault? Did the university in any way demonstrate its subscription to such racist ideology? Were the attackers students or employees of that university? The way I look at it, the university's only fault was that it was situated in Australia!

By allowing 'Chak de India' to be released, the Indian movie industry, of which Mr. Bachchan is an icon, actually demonstrated its acceptance of the racist remarks and hence could be considered more felonious than the Australian university. The question that begs to be answered therefore is why didn't Mr. Bachchan reject all the awards conferred upon him by the industry that allowed those racist remarks in 'Chak de India'? Why hasn't he ever publicly or even privately (although I wouldn't know if he did) denounced, let alone criticised, the racial and xenophobic violence in India? I know that the chauvinist readers would be quick to point out that he did denounce the violence on north Indians in Maharashtra but they know as much as I do that he did so only because he himself is a northerner.

The reason is quite clear, at least to me. Hypocrisy comes so naturally to most Indians that they don't even realise it on many occasions.

I can safely assume that Mr. Bachchan didn't see the 'gora' remark in 'Chak de...' as racist (I would be surprised if most Indians did!). That was "patriotism" for most of them and I have no doubts in my mind that Mr. Bacchan was genuinely trying to demonstrate his "patriotism" (once again!) by rejecting the university's offer.

So in a nutshell, if you ever see a racist, xenophobic Indian, he's simply "patriotic" but don't you try to be patriotic in front of an Indian because that would immediately be considered as "racist" behaviour!

So here's my suggestion to all those Indians who are offended by racist activities against them all over the world - instead of demanding the "whites" and "blacks" to treat you with respect, how about you treating each other with respect first? How about rejecting violence against Biharis in Maharashtra first before demanding non-violence against Indians in Australia? How about treating northerners in south and vice versa equally and fairly before demanding equality for yourself in Britain?

Because believe me or not, you are more likely to be treated fairly and respectfully outside your country than you are within your national boundaries.

Poetry: off pedestal

temporal — Sat, 9 Oct 2010 04:59:46 EDT

credit

selectively, blindly

the iqra followers

neither read, hear nor see

words writ large

on clouds, in shadows cast

regurgitating

like meadow cows

from a less polluted time

heart-beats on papyrus

soothing, straight

from the heart-mind

braving and surviving

shamal and chubasco

embers of discontent and

empathy laced love

nerve twitching wisdom

whirl with the silent beat

resonating with silence

rustling over rolling dunes

word worshipers seek more

a pursuit with no end

what do whirling dervishes know?

but they know, they know!

for merrily they go round

…………………………...and round

…………………………...swirling to

word-music reverberating

in their halo

succumbing to the magic

…………………………..of word-ecstasy

[overheard at the next table

friends? what friends?

can you share a grave

with a friend?

………………… a thought

love them, loved them

ensconce them, ensconced them

value them, valued them

worship them, worshiped them!]

amidst all this worshipping

words crumble off the pedestal

and end like tsunami whipped bodies