Post Pune blast, Uddhav Thackeray has pointed finger at government inaction. Government inaction it may be, but it was a direct result of the state machinery’s extreme preoccupation with capping a combustible situation of Sena’s own making. Who then is a bigger culprit – the government with its inaction or Shiv Sena, which kept the governmental forces occupied with non-issues? If Shiv Sena is pointing a finger to the state government it should point the other three towards itself.

The Pune blast has shown us that with our needless infighting we expose ourselves and make ourselves vulnerable to outside attacks. In this case the extremists were handed the opportunity to strike on a platter. A film, a statement, a person and quest for petty political gains became bigger than national security.

Sena and MNS supremos are vain enough to project themselves as messiahs of Marathi manoos in general and the Mumbai city in particular. Messiahs do not hide, hibernate or play accusatory games when their people are in trouble – instead, they role up their sleeves and get down to action. Sena and MNS kept snoring when Mumbai was under siege during the 26/11 mayhem. This time too it was the Sena threats that kept the government and forces occupied, unnecessarily it seems. The Thackeray clan is prone to make noises about non-issues and is adept at threatening fellow Indians like Sachin, Shahrukh and Rahul, whose nationality and patriotism is indubitable. A word or a statement does not make them a traitor. It is easy to scare the Australian and Pakistani cricket teams with dire consequences when it is certain that no legitimate member of either team is likely to pose a serious threat to Indian sovereignty or security. They are careful to limit their threatening stance towards individuals and groups that are sure not to retaliate in action.

Scaring the law abiding citizens out of their wits is the easiest yet the most heinous of crimes. The litmus test lies in scaring the wrongdoers and the mischief-makers. It is easy to be a tiger within the comforts and confines of our homes. The test of a tiger’s ferociousness lies in its combat with another tiger. Empty threats over non-issues are eroding the Thackeray image and their bastion day after day. Marathi manoos will be the first to stop taking them seriously in times to come. If the sainiks and their leaders were so damn concerned about Maharashtra (let alone India) it would be better if they were to vow that not one terrorist would ever be able to set foot on Maharashtrian soil. The day the Sena and MNS workers will vow to not only fight but also prevent any terrorist attacks is the day their threats will mean something. Till then its all big empty words.

Veni! Vidi! Vici! – a cliché yes – but is a perfect fit to describe what Rahul Gandhi did today. He came! He saw! He conquered!

And what a comeuppance it is, what an ambush – simply wonderful. To enter into the Thackeray’s (supposed) bastion in the face of dire threats and impending warnings and then go about like any common Mumbaikar – going to an ATM, riding the local train – it sure required lots of guts.

The congress scion grew multifold in his political stature today. The young politician has shown he means business. He has displayed a shrewd political acumen by this act of his. The ‘prince’ has truly come of age unlike the ‘self-proclaimed’ tiger cubs and their dissident relatives.

He successfully pulled a political stunt of the highest order. And in doing so he not only thumbed his nose at the self-styled Thackeray chieftains but has in effect slapped their faces resoundingly. Mumbai is for all Indians indeed and all those inhabiting it are Mumbaikars.

In a war of words it is actions that count most. After all actions do speak louder than words. If only some of Rahul’s political cronies too were to imbibe such daring from him…there is hope for India yet!

So what if Ekta Kapoor has stopped churning out her regular soaps. IPL is living up to its promise of the great entertainer and providing audience with a daily dose of high drama with a current track hogging the limelight within the ambit of an overall story scheme. The drama unfolding currently is about the Pakistani players’ (non)inclusion – all within the higher story scheme of transmuting Indian Premier League into Indian Polemic League. The IPL is thriving on one controversy or the other from day one.

The much-debated current track involves a horde of performers like the Pakistani players, its cricket board, its government, its general public, the Indian government, the IPL franchisees and Indian public to name a few. Much like a daily soap – each day ends with a high point in the story. One day the Pakistani players are sidelined. Next day they and their entire nation cries foul. The third day no less than the Indian government defends itself. The fourth day Badshah Khan expresses empathy with them. The week rounds off with the inclusion of one of them in an IPL team.

But as with soaps, one can follow and enjoy this story only in one way – we need to put our thinking caps aside and let our mind go to sleep. Else our thinking minds are apt to put forward questions that will be uncomfortable to the performers.

What is with these Pakistanis – they will play when they want (IPL 1), will stay away when they want (IPL2) and cry foul when ignored (IPL3). The Pakistanis need to understand that IPL is about business and profit before it is about sports and nationality. After they were barred from playing in the second edition by their board and government, was it any surprise that the franchisees were wary of including them in their team. Which team owner would like to invest in resources that may (be forced to) play truant at the last moment – that too high risk and inflammatory resources bearing in mind the Shiv Sena / MNS threats.

À la the mindless soaps, I fail to understand too why the Knight Rider didn’t choose a Pakistani player himself when he had the opportunity if he feels so empathetically for them. And why train the gun on IPL officials now and lay blame at other franchisees doorstep. And if the Pakistani pride is so hurt why are they now willing to be a part of the tournament? Is it the lure of money? Even at the cost of hurt national pride? So with the inclusion of Abdul Razzak in Deccan Chargers – is this track over? For more on the IPL-Pakistani players saga please tune into the same show/ same channel/ same media tomorrow at the same time.       

And how does all this fit into the larger IPL story. The first edition was a story by itself. The second season thrived on security issues, date clash with elections and shifting venue to international shore. Like in any business its products and services need to occupy top of the mind recall in its customers mind – so is true with IPL. It needs to make its fair share of hullabaloo to gain visibility. More the controversy more the interest – better for IPL business. And nothing fires imaginations better than an Indo-Pak saga. Who can say that all the ongoing drama is not scripted – to perfection -  by the IPL bosses to garner as much possible hype. In this they have been successful. Once again IPL bags the award for the hottest conversation topic!

No comparisons of any sort but there was once a face that had launched a thousand ships and now there is this smirk that was enough to enrage many and take up the fight for justice on behalf of the beleaguered family. Herein lies a great lesson for all students of communication, body language and for all those who never understood how a picture is more powerful than a thousand words.

I am all praise for the extremely alert photo snappers who captured Rathore’s taunting smug look. Their alertness is the lone catalytic factor that will bring some semblance of justice to a two-decades old crime. In this case let us all be thankful for Rathore’s final audacity – that he came out of the court smiling as if justice was done to him instead of him being the crime perpetrator. He was on the home-run, scot-free!! Had the wretched man not come out of the court smirking, the Ruchika case might have gone unnoticed like so many others. It is a socially responsible reporting by media at its best.

From being a mere mockery of justice, the case now has a far greater chance of a fairer judgment even though the ultimate justice in this case may be years too late or the punishment not enough to wipe out decades of misery for the victims.

The fight there is a classical one – the haves vs the have-nots. Each one is trying for a best deal for themselves and their ilk. Bullying, arm-twisting, cheekiness and downright slyness – we are witnessing it all. As always, the ‘haves’ do not want to give. Only this time the ‘have-nots’ are well aware of their rights and are determined to protect them. Bravo to them!

But in the mean time the damage to our lovely planet is on too. What each human has to remember is that there is no other world to escape to – when climate becomes unbearable here, possibly not right away as in tomorrow or the year after but definitely by the time our grandkids are ready to take their first steps. And the time when our grandkids start appearing in this world is not so much in distant future. That time is so near in future, that our generation will be very much alive.

This is what the 15000 odd delegates in Copenhagen, from both the ‘haves’ and the ‘have-not’ sides, seem to have lost sight of. There is no time for you vs. me any longer. A win-win solution to the current stalemate is the only answer.

While they fight it out there or find a win-win solution, what stops us from doing our bit towards this cause – it will all be in self-interest too!! Any little change – never much by itself – but if adopted by even a few hundred million out of a world population of 6.8 billion humans has a strong propensity to make a distinct even measurable difference.

I wonder why I cannot adopt most of the following measures:

·  Say no to plastic bags. All it requires of me is to carry a couple of spare cloth bags in my bag / car. Plastic bags are the single biggest urban menace to environment.

·  Opt for e-billing for my utilities like electricity, water and phone. Saves paper and trees.

·  Opt for e-statement for my bank accounts and credit cards. I don’t open the paper statements anyways!!

·  Make a habit of switching off any extra lights on. The only risk here is my family members and my colleagues will label me ‘maniac’ but that too only till I convert them into believers.

·  Replace bulbs with CFLs. CFLs though costing more than a bulb, are cost effective in the long run.

·  Make sure to check the energy label while buying any new appliance. After all I do check the ISI mark. 

·  Keep my vehicle pollution free. It needs a regular pollution check and spot rectification, if any required.

·  Check if CNG is a better option to run my car on.

·  Explore options for carpool. Even if the arrangement works out for just a couple of days every week it saves both money and fuel.

·  Indulge in an invigorating walk to the corner grocery store rather than jumping into my car every time I need something.

·  Have a bucket bath instead of a shower.  All right not everyday!! Lets do it on alternate days.

·  Keep the tap off while brushing teeth. Can replace the background music produced by running water with lovely music playing on radio.

We just have to put up our thinking caps on to find simple easy everyday solutions to ease the planets misery. These small simple ways may not be cataclysmic in nature but if the 6.8 billion humans inhabiting the world were to adopt a few small simple measures as a way of their life things are bound to take a brighter turn. Expecting the government alone to fight our battles at Copenhagen and then implementing rules is not the answer to this humungous problem. It is just a matter of awakening our conscience and doing at least a couple of things right!!

But the Centre’s decision to initiate the process of formation of Telangana state has awakened a number of sleeping (wannabe) tigers.

All those harbouring even a germ of an idea of a separate state on the lines of language, region or culture have received a shot in their arms for their respective demands. Demands for Vidarbha and Gorkhaland are likely to be the loudest followed by, in lower decibels, demands for Coorg, Harit Pradesh, Bodoland, Gondwana etc etc.

How much real progress and growth is actually clocked in after creation of newer states is anybody’s guess and nobody’s business. Prior to Nov 2000, there was one set of politicians lining up their pockets in the then Bihar state. Now two sets of politicians are thriving within the same geographical area comprising the states of Bihar and Jharkhand.

While in theory all this hiving-off of large states for better governance and uniformity sounds great, the subsequent amelioration and advancement have been no better than the original situation, neither in the newly formed entities nor in the residual state. Unless state divisions are based on real solutions to problems and time bound goals, merely hiving off a geographical territory will not be an answer for all the real and imagined ills of any region.

As a natural corollary to KCR’s triumph, a unique race, demanding a unique skill set, must be on within all the groups desirous of a state on the basis of a separate language or culture or color or food or whatever else they believe in. There must be a clamoring to prove who is a champion fast observer in each of these groups. I would say they should call upon the services of their women workers. Indian women are well versed in the art of fasting – not that KCR has done badly. Earlier, a separatist group has a poster boy/girl “faster”, earlier the chances of realizing their dream for a separate state.

I wonder if this is good time for me to put up a demand for a utopian state myself. Sadly, I being a true Indian – originating from Bihar, living in Delhi and working all over India – don’t have maniacal affinities to my language or my caste or my class. So a utopian island for me and some other likeminded individuals would be the best bet for me. I raise a demand for a utopian state that has no bad roads, 24 hours water supply, 24 hours electricity supply, has enough food for all, education and employment opportunities for all etc etc. And I seek this state right where I live, in the middle of Delhi city. It may be my best and only chance to ever be a Chief Minister.

All it requires from me is to develop an ability to survive without food for a dozen days. Anything in the name of a higher cause!!

We Indians are wont to bemoan that the country is no longer a land of plenty as in times of yore. But we take such wastage of public money in our strides. Those holding public offices may argue that Rupees eight crores is a miniscule amount when even 1000s of crores fall short for successful completion of social projects. But my commonsensical layman understanding of money and its purchasing power says that if not a huge project, small yet significant differences can still be made with a kitty of even eight crores. This amount could have given a decent education to at least a 1000 kids or solved potable water problem for a dozen villages or provided permanent shelter to a couple of 1000 homeless persons.

But all this was lost in a ‘quest’ to bring the guilty to book. And all the report does is mouth some platitudes, has triggered numerous allegations and counter allegations in political circles and some heated debate in Parliament, most of which will lie forgotten in a month’s time.

If so much is possible with eight crores, imagine what more can be done with 116 crores, an amount 14 times of eight crores. The demand for 116 crores to build a memorial to a tragedy seems more ludicrous when the victims of the tragedy are still crying out for help and when the toxic materials at the abandoned Union Carbide factory continue to lethally pollute the environment and ground water in its vicinity. What Bhopal needs is not a destination for Disaster Tourism but a thorough clean-up of the gas tragedy site so that the city’s future generations may live and breathe easy. What the victims of the tragedy need is not a reminder of the grim tragedy but all sorts of state help to regain whatever health they can. What use is homage to dead when those alive are being forced to encounter a 1000 deaths in this lifetime itself.

And isn’t a memorial built to signify a befitting end to its raison d’être. It seems then that the H’nble minister is in a hurry to close down his own ministry despite the reason for its existence nowhere near completion.

It would have made for a bigger memorial if the minister had made an impassioned plea for the same money on behalf of the victims. What use a memorial that stands on the dead hopes of very much alive but continually suffering victims?

Mr. Gaur, do explore your human side – especially as you hold a public office – and answer truthfully what do people of Bhopal need more – a memorial for the dead or a homage to the living?

Therefore, more intriguing and interesting than the findings and recommendations of the Liberhan report is its ‘leakage’ and the timing of its leak.

As suggested by media reports, the leakage serves to shatter the recent opposition unity as displayed in the sugarcane prices issue. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Liberhan-report-leak-source-still-a-mystery/articleshow/5265606.cms

If we conduct a close examination of the timing of this leakage and the consequent infighting and name calling amongst the political parties, there are some major gains from this discord for the perpetrator of this leak.

The first and the most important gain is that this infighting will ensure that the government will face a lesser degree of heat as the nation faces the first anniversary of Mumbai terror attacks – a sore point in the Indian hearts.

Two, it diverts attention from a close scrutiny of PM’s US visit.

Three, it will also ensure that the ruling party is not pulled up on important issues like inflation, high price rise in essential items and the recessionary state of the economy in the ongoing session of the parliament.

Four, the dramatisation of the leak and the subsequent reactions have once again brought the Hindu-Muslim factor to the forefront. Politicos stand to gain only if the communities remain divided in India.

And of course the most obvious of the lot is to further weaken an already battered major opposition party. 

The drama here lies not in the content of the report but in the timing of the ‘leak’. It makes for a good example of the opportunistic nature of politics. The game of politics has been played extremely adroitly!

BCCI may be puzzled but it is not so unthinkable – at least at BCCI’s current asking price. Gone are the days when miniature radios literally grew out of common man’s ears for the entire five days duration of a test match. Or half the office personnel took a ‘sick leave’ because a crucial one – dayer was on. 

The nation was cricket-mad for long but in recent times interest in the game is witnessing a continual decline. There is an overdose of cricket. And overdoses KILL. Add in not enough match wins and fewer championship wins and the public has enough and valid reasons to lose interest in the game. In recent times the laurels brought in by Team India have been few and far between. The first T20 World Cup seems a thing of the distant past.

The marketer is savvy too. He has an option of lot more avenues to choose from for his rupee and for his brand’s visibility – especially in these economically hard times.

This is the most obvious explanation as to why the marketers have shied away from the BCCI tender.

BUT there might be a deeper and more valid reason for the marketer to be afraid of committing hara-kiri!! If someone like Sachin Tendulkar is being berated for being an Indian first and Marathi next – what if there comes a time when there is no ‘Indian’ team left! The sponsor would then be left with holding empty jerseys with no ‘Indians’ to adorn them.

It is the senior politico Bal Thackarey who seems to have lost his comprehension of the words nationality and ethnicity, their meanings and the differences between the two.

Licking his wounds from the complete rout in the recent state elections, Bal Thackarey is indulging in cheap ways in a bid to gain lost grounds. He is guilty of fostering unforgivable separatist sentiments. The educated people realize the dirty intentions behind such comments and ‘friendly advices’. All educated maharashtrians today must have felt ashamed at letting such people as Bal Thackarey be their leader. But the uneducated masses can be gravely affected by such irrational thoughts. This is one fire that can spread like a wild fire and cause widespread damage.

Infact we are all guilty of contributing to this non-issue. If the media were to ignore such ramblings not many would be able to add much to this non-issue. We all are actually playing into the hands of the Raj and Bal Thackarey combine by giving them and their separatist sentiments enough importance and news space. It is not Sachin whom the Sena supremo is interested in giving a ‘friendly advice’; it is the marathi junta he is keen to address. And we are doing a superb job of doing their dirty work. Instead of ignoring such ramblings, the media is giving them enough news bytes and column space  to spread the word to even those who have not heard so earlier.

Let us all unanimously dare the Thackarey duo to publicly deny their nationality and proclaim their ethnicity instead. And then they should be stripped off their Indian passports. Let them be outsiders in their own country if they so desire.

They aren’t alive anyways – as Sir Walter Scott said so poignantly:

BREATHES there the man with soul so dead,

Who never to himself hath said,

‘This is my own, my native land!’

Whose heart hath ne’er within him burn’d

As home his footsteps he hath turn’d

From wandering on a foreign strand?

If such there breathe, go, mark him well;

For him no Minstrel raptures swell;

High though his titles, proud his name,

Boundless his wealth as wish can claim;

Despite those titles, power, and pelf,

The wretch, concentred all in self,

Living, shall forfeit fair renown,

And, doubly dying, shall go down

To the vile dust from whence he sprung,

Unwept, unhonour’d, and unsung.