By the grotesque manifesto of spreading hate for personal and political gains. By the ambiguity contained within statements made by political rookies and stalwarts alike. By the lack of adequate power in my voice and actions to do anything worthwhile.
Varun Gandhi may have made that acrimonious speech in Pilibhit as a grossly miscalculated move without imagining the magnitude of the repurcussions which would follow, or with complete calculation to launch his political career with sound advice by veterans. We would never find a definite answer for this, and I wouldn’t care for it either. What bothers is the fact that the deed is done, and even after all these years of independence and a democratic establishment, with incidents like Gujarat, Babri Masjid, 1984, Graham Staines, and many similar ones occupying tonnes of newsprint and facing huge public outcry, there is still one ace which politicians can’t seem to go wrong with. Who is to be blamed? The general public, which still doesn’t see through all this, and even now roots for such politicians, taking out rallies as they court arrest as if they were going to prison for a noble cause. Or the politicians, who rather than sensitizing the general masses to issues of a socio-economic nature which should occupy a larger interest in their minds, keep them confined to one sentiment which is closest to their purpose of existence.
Double entendre has always been the mainstay of politics; in India, it just assumes a bigger proportion. Varun Gandhi has been exemplifying this since the time he has been fumbling for excuses. First you deny, then you court arrest proclaiming to the world that you wouldn’t mind getting jailed for your ‘principles’. What principles would they be Varun?; it would be nice if you could kindly bring them out in front of the world. Clearly the case of a kid who sunk his teeth into a pie, biting off a piece so big, he doesn’t know whether to swallow (and how to?) or throw it away. The BJP, caught in a quagmire which seemed to have been spinning out of their control, initially steps back washing their hands off the incident having nothing to do with it (obvious reaction of a politically correct nature; after all, they have the garb of a broad based moderate now), then slowly backing Varun’s candidature, first by party spokesmen, and now even by their prime ministerial candidate, LK Advani – someone for whom the biggest achievement as part of a political career was the demolition of a mosque and the subsequent riots which consumed hundreds of lives. It shouldn’t be surprising if BJP shifts to retro gear and starts chanting its Hindutva manifesto once again as the race to the elections picks up; who knows, after all politics here is always a matter of speaking what the electorate wants to listen to. Once in power, governments have seldom been able to give anything anyway.
Election time, and the nation of a billion people get to witness the biggest and most gripping reality show ever. What we have now are mere teasers though. Politics has always been something which hasn’t gone down well, specially at this season. After all, it is one of the most ludicrous portrayal of the levels you could see fellow human beings stoop down to.
Youth – the next big thing to take over politics, with euphemisms of every possible manner being bestowed upon them, seem to be the buzzword on everyone’s imagination – after all, isn’t young blood supposed to inject new life? What we rather get to see are videos of incendiary speeches by an LSE grad! All of which is followed by a series of denials and half baked fumbling for excuses. And finally a condemnation by the EC. Is this the kind of youth who aspires to lead our nation, or are we naive enough to be lead by them?
Riots – and nobody likes getting the skeletons out of the closet. Justice though, is imperative. Even though the skeletons in this case may not be as figurative as they usually refer to in the adage. And a political candidate being termed a ‘terrorist’ by a court of law for leading a mob during one of the most heinous pogroms in the nation’s history.
Even then, we don’t get to hear any valid acceptance of a lapse anywhere. Just denials and a stance of being on the defensive. Why is it so difficult to admit that you fucked up? Unless of course, you are rotten fucked.
Amar Singh agrees that they have all been responsible for fielding ‘controversial’ candidates, but now all the criminals belong to Mayawati’s party (NDTV 24×7, Left Right Center, 28 Mar ’09)! Even now, we are not spared the politics of mud slinging. We should really learn how not to leave focus from these guys! Best of all, Ravi Shankar Prasad, while taking out his resentment on Mani Shankar Aiyar, and blaming the Congress for all the ailments afflicting the country, mentions the issue of ‘economic downturn’. What could have anybody, let alone the Congress have done anything to avert this global phenomenon? And what is it that the BJP has on its cards that it thinks would brings the Indian economy (which has still been lucky enough to not have dipped to the levels of other more developed nations)? If it does, Obama’s administration would sure lend more than a listening ear for some sound advice.
Distressing – and disturbing when you think this is just the beginning.
I wrote sex, but then changed it to s-e-x remembering the manner in which Rasika of the impossibly plunging cleavage (which might have bared her navel if it would have been a couple of inches deeper and her shoulders if a few inches wider - all of which in a salwar suit) stressed upon the word by converting its monosyllabic status to tri-syllabic. After all, this is about Dev D, and as a friend of mind remarked a couple of weeks back, it was all about sex.
But is it? Or is it just a journey of hedonism by a self obsessed youth blinded by the glare of the gilted environment provided by a filthy rich industrial family; a self obsession which addled his mind to a sociopathic, narcissist status ? Or is it the rejection of a naive girl, which subsequently bought about the downfall of the suitor-turned-rejector? Or is it a portrayal of how society, and to an extent family despite being the primary support system shuns an individual’s lapse of judgement, not providing her with an opportunity for self abnegation?
Sex, being one of the strongest drivers just played its part, like it does in any normal individual’s life. Maybe.
As is usual while having dinner, I was switching channels and happened to stop at HBO’s telecast of the ‘We Are One’ concert, of which I had seen pictures in the morning papers, and knowing that there was a superlatively impressive lineup of performance artistes, with Stevie Wonder (an artiste who has never failed to unimpress me) bang on center of the stage at that moment, I just managed to linger on. Yes, it is historic and everything; however, for the record I would just say this. Human tendency is to look for anything which can provide a sliver of hope during times of duress. In many ways, yes, the election of a Black American as a president is symbolic of Change in many manners. What bothers me is the immense brouhaha that has surrounded this, and the thrusting of hope on a single individual from all corners of the world. No offense to anybody’s capabilities, but what could the average African or Asian expect from this change, and frankly the US itself is in dire need of change, and it should suffice if just the US gets back up on its feet. Plus, times of economic meltdown don’t really warrant pre-presidential-swearing-in ceremony expenses in the region of $50Mn.
While Americans do have something to look forward to, it looks like a group of people pushed out of their land on the other side of the Atlantic also have something which just might be something to look forward to, though the vision might just comprise of a huge void filled with concrete rubble and human carnage. Israel has declared ceasefire, and Hamas goes on to declare victory. All this after more than 1300 casualties (including a sizable percentage of children), 5000+ injuries, incalculable infrastructural damage, strikes on UN run school and refugee shelters, the UN crying hoarse that its ‘unacceptable’, the Israeli PMs ’apologies’ on the ’unintentional mistake’, and nobody having the power of an audible voice caring (or daring) to say anything. Which makes Bono’s act during the We Are One concert somewhat confusing.
Though there wasn’t supposed to be any political partisanship during this concert, Bono did manage to ruffle a few feathers with his proclamation of freedom to be an Israeli dream, as well as a…Palestinian dream, although that poignantly awkward, achingly pronounced pause before the mention of Palestine did leave me thinking about its possible cause. And if Bono seriously does feel for Palestine, it is worth asking about why he kept his quiet all this time for the past three weeks, in contrast with his usual image of working for the alleviation of misery worldwide. I mean, why now?
As far as speaking about dreams is concerned, Israel probably achieved its vision some sixty years back, and for Palestine, there probably isn’t anything left to dream about anyway.
As if the pain caused by Mumbai wasn’t enough, we have another another version happening some way across the globe over the past couple of weeks. And this time we don’t have terrorists discreetly charting naval territory in some inflatable run-of-the-mill boats. They arrive in sophisticated F-16s and Apaches, dump tonnes of firepower on hapless beings, the majority of whom don’t have anything better than a rock to use as anti-aircraft artillery, some of whom had probably just about started attending primary school, entire families wiped out, all in the name of being ‘forced’ to don the garb of murdererers.
What does worry me a bit, and what I would want to know is the response there is to an atrocity of this nature here. Going by the outcry witnessed post Mumbai, I hope there is some kind of a public opinion which gets vented (something which I haven’t seen or heard yet, or maybe I haven’t tapped the right information sources yet).
2008 is over, with all the news it made for all the wrong reasons. Here’s hoping 2009 doesn’t have as many (or rather none) of the manner of headlining events we witnessed last year.
What a regal way of according a farewell which would remain memorable for times to come. For all of what George W Bush would have been responsible for inflicting upon the people of Iraq, this was probably the most apt manner in which someone could have expressed the frustrated anguish seething within, while remaining within the confines of democratically free expression. Throwing shoes to express contempt, it seems, isn’t a custom which is ‘sole’ly confined to the Indian subcontinent. Blackening the face, tonsuring and a donkey ride – whether these are part of the Middle Eastern culture isn’t something known yet. Yet, much interest evoking though they maybe, they just might be edging a bit on the unattainable (for obvious reasons).
What remains interesting is the remark made by Mr. President on his way out, that he saw the attacker’s sole. Its a pity he’s still been unable to see the soul.
One of the most potent impacts of an emotion which refuses to spill over is to leave you speechless. Paradoxically, the exact opposite is also one of the fallouts of a similar situation, when all you can do is just scream your lungs out in a fit of rage.
The past few days, as the country has been raving over the abhorrently appalling state of affairs we have all been subjected to, I have watched as the lump in my throat kept on growing. And much that I wanted to scream out, I just couldn’t (or maybe I was trying to suppress that urge, I don’t know, but it had an inverse effect of increasing my urge). Watched as I was reminded once again about how the value of human life stood absolutely depleted, when it gets confronted by the absolute vileness of the inhumane (and this probably is a very polite manner of putting it). And like me, there have been millions who have been subjected to a misery which our generation might term the worst to have been etched on its soul.
Everyone has had something to say, and I have just been silent – observing and assimilating. Anger is a good thing, as long as you know that you are channelling it in the proper manner; most of the times, though, you tend to act foolishly under its influence. I think its time enough for me to vent out some bit of whatever has been running through my head.
Mumbai Under Siege. More than 24 hours since the first blasts made that ever-returning feeling of terror make its comeback once again on the soil of Mumbai, the echoes of which would be heard for a long time to come (and should remain in suspended reverberation, not drown away in the babble of ‘life goes on’, as it has happened till now), and with a nation brought to a practical standstill with governance literally on its knees, the situation is still not completely under control.
It therefore quite naturally feels ironic for me while I was going through this particular picture which I had taken at a friend’s place on a random evening a couple of days back. Some of you might recognize what the complete card says and from where it was taken; that’s not the point however. What just stood out in that picture for me were (i) the word ERASE - a word which is short and crisp, and very powerful, and (ii) the pair of eyes which were ‘torn’ out from a smiling face. Qualities which could easily make this a powerful image, and of course made this a special one in that collection.
Looking at it now, I can’t but help ask myself the question ‘Would You Erase Me?’. After all, there have been countless incidents over this past year (and I have seriously lost count, which I realized when speaking with colleagues at work today), and many more such in the past years, the intensity and impact varying with each incident. Nothing though comes to my memory which would have achieved anything even close in magnitude to this (yes, we did have the attack on the Parliament, although most people I know wouldn’t really mind a few MPs less, specially now after we have had the cash-for-votes case this year). Each time however, the power of resilience so inherent to the human spirit has kept us moving, with a smile on our faces, even as we turn a ‘somewhat’ blind eye to the past in a bid to embrace the future.
So, would you erase me, is what I have to ask of them, this time around. And would we continue to smile and move on, turning a blind eye is what I have to ask of us.
I think I got a bit carried away by emotion last night. It was after all a feeling reserved for Massa, something which he did mention with an overwhelming sense of candidness at the ensuing press conference at the end of the race.
“We need to be proud of our race and our championship. It’s one more day of our life when I will learn a lot but for sure I’m very emotional.”
Lot to learn for sure:
- For starters, never be sure of the finish till you have the last man in. History is filled with epithets which rattle the same story, and we now have this being ratified in the most modern of settings known to humankind today. The last laugh, anyone? Surely does ring in your ears loud and clear now.
- If its a team you are working with while winning, the team should save the skin on your back. This would definitely sound very outrageous, but consider for a moment if Raikkonen would have slid back from his third position and just blocked Hamilton’s entry into the Top 5. He didn’t stand a chance at the title (although I know I would have been happiest to see him do an encore this year too), but his act in ‘good’ faith could have propelled his team mate to clinch the championship. Yeah yeah, I know I was talking about ethics last night, but like I said I got a bit emotional. And since we do operate in a cut throat world where the result is what matters, I think this should be acceptable. After all, this isn’t exactly ‘unethical’ in the sense of the word. In a team sport, team mates are supposed to watch each other’s back. Might sound preposterous, but yes.
- The final lesson (at least of whatever I could think of till now), is the power of exercising your discretion in the most discreet of matters in the most discreet manner. Till last night, I had been having thoughts rambling through my head about what possible promises would Glock have got from Team McLaren for forgoing his fourth position just inches away from the chequered flag. The most obvious leanings being towards the millions which might have been transferred to some unnamed account in some tax haven. What I forgot in the flow of my emotion was the fact that at times, there are things which are much more subtle and cost you next to nothing, and at the same time guarantee you with the most powerful impact to drive home the desired results. Yes, I was reminded this by a status message while randomly wading through Facebook (‘xxx’ is wondering what Nicole promised Glock?), and though this was probably the wackiest status messages I would have seen in some time, it got me thinking. Marketers could possibly take a cue from this episode. After all, exercising your discretion in discreetness could open tremendous opportunities.
corporate, IT, sales, music, roads, travel, beaches, images, books, writings, friends, parties, telecom, posters, sunsets, camera, mountains, 35 mm, rants, rock, skies… To know more, get in touch with me on asif@asifkhan.in
Hellbilly Deluxe 2 - Rob Zombie
Fist of God - MSTRKRFT 
