Winds of Change !!!

No systems. No processes. No mechanism to check what is what. That is how Independent India was born on Aug 15, 1947. Perhaps, the British did think of implementing a few and to improve the scenario, alas, they faced the wrath of the nation, though the nation was enslaved by itself. Sheer gluttony of politicians never left anything for the common man, depriving the nation of the most basic amenities, food, clothing and shelter. Neo-nepotism

Soulful

Meyiappan Geyiappan

The name made it to the media headlines for almost a fortnight. Shutterbugs tracked every single step of this man post his name being highlighted in IPL 2013 betting scandal which later led to his arrest. Son-in-law to N Srinivasan, owner of IPL franchisee Chennai Super Kings, never would have imagined himself to be behind bars in such a fashion. N Srinivasan, perhaps faced the most daunting time of his life, almost yielding to the media pressure of stepping down as BCCI chief. In true fascist style, Srinivasan managed to pull it off (his way) by just stepping aside, till the enquiry gets over. The committee has been formed and is supposed to un-earth the scandalous nature followed and practiced in IPL, atleast by son-in-law. The biggest question to me is, where is Meyiappan ?

And the answer is, he is Geyiappan !!!

This is what (eventful) media is.

The limelight has shifted to NaMo, BJP-JDU split and now at Uttarakhand devastation (my heart goes out to the lives lost) and very importantly to the Indian team victorious at Champions Trophy (kudos MSD !!!). The victory must have certainly give a huge sigh of relief to the beleaguered BCCI and also to N Srinivasan. The true politicians will again stand tall with a guileful smile. The dust has settled for now. The inquiry committee is just hand-in glove with BCCI. They will come out with a report, probably giving out prohibitory orders for Meyiappan and a definite clean chit to the henchman, Srinivasan.

With memories short-lived, IPL will again start next year in the same fanfare, albeit CSK bench will be conspicuous with Meyiappan’s absence.

The betting/ spot-fixing will again surface, probably with a different name, Geyiappan instead of Meyiappan. Crime will again get smarter of the law (or no law).

We are staying in a country where law-breakers are the law makers. Consider this, Azharuddin, who was handed a lifetime ban (lifted in 2012) for match fixing, is a sitting Member of Parliament. Doesn’t it sound insane? Are we insinuating ourselves to be the best-in class saints ?

The power-traders (Pawars, Srinivasans, Dalmiyas et al) know the game pretty well. They will bend all rules to get their interests served and will stay defiant, even with their dirty linen being washed openly in public.

The hype and hoopla around the betting scam has ended, as expected. Meyiappan, you can certainly relax peacefully, you are anyhow son-in-law (pun intended). Your pup and the law (or no law) would be the savior.

No need to be Geyiappan, stay Meyiappan.

Parliament 2.0

I remember a science question from my school days. Who invented Television? John Baird. Even though now when I Google, I find many others had given the concept with some prototypes, prior to Baird. Irrespective of the inventor/s, the invention can be termed as a medium powerful enough to bring a social, economic change.  

     

Circa 1991. India underwent economic reforms including liberalization of broadcasting industry. This opened the gates to a lot of private players, few foreign as well, to explore and leverage the Indian market. Indian channels such as NDTV, Aaj Tak, Zee started as child and now have become behemoths in their domains. They have covered, discussed, debated, exposed all events concerning the average Indian.

 

MMS. I do have a lot of regard for the Indian Premiere for his profound simplicity (as it appears to be) and sheer uprightness (as it appears to be). However, he proves to be a lame duck when it comes to being vociferous in shielding his government from the blatant scams and scandals, hitting left, right and center.

Governments post-independence had a gala time with no watchdog and only state controlled media. The scams and scandals were the brain-child of these governments, only to have become an intrepid monster with the electors being taken into account only once in 5 years. Media is now challenging and changing all this crap. Indian Parliament functions in sessions giving an easy absenteeism to the elected. The debates, even though are LIVE and recorded , tend to more of an eyewash than the real substance. Be it any scam, major or minor, the political parties all seem to be hand-in glove when it comes to paisa. The Television, media, however seems to be making a difference.

 

 

I have been watching couple of debates on NDTV and I am in the awe of anchors such as Ravish Kumar, Abhigyan Prakash. Same goes to other newschannels as well. They are upright, no-nonsense people, willing to confront the politico-honchos and make them bite the dust, right in front of the angered diaspora.  Such is the tenacity of arguments based on facts and figures that cause netas and their nominees gasping for breath and struggling for words. Media has been tearing into the tainted system burgeoning with illiterate and goon like figures and exposing their real face in the public.

All this is changing things for good. The netas are now part of debates aired by a private newschannel and this is turning into a virtual parliament. They are being made more accountable, more answerable to the general public. Any scamster is chased right to his door-step and is gherao-ed, confronted with the media. This is forcing political parties to wake-up and be more conscious of their image, branding. They are turning more and more cautious in their acts and are asking their tainted mantris to quit the posts.

I can only hope that television and media would be real savior of India in next few decades. The newschannels will continue to expose the tainted politicians and virtually put an end to their career. Political parties would be forced to cleanse themselves from head to toe for the evil elements harbored.

God is Upstairs

Unconventional wisdom, Unconventional thought-process. Perhaps, that is the way to be. The world, society has been conventional, as always, yet there are hints of miniscule cerebration which make the life progress. Shaped customs, traditions from years, decades and centuries and yet we try to break-free to set on a deviation, only to be deviated a bit further, in complete tandem with the ever evolving universe.

Where does the Almighty reside ? Is HE far from us, near us or within us ? How does HE hear us, help us ?. Have we humans, ever met him, seen him ? Why do we always look up at the abysmal SKY when we have to sometimes thank HIM, always curse HIM ? Do we have a provision of sitting, walking, standing besides HIM, somewhere in the Sky ? Can HE afford to spare us a 4*4 room upstairs ? Huh.

We all are part of atleast a religion (though self-styled) and we all have a few forms of GOD. Jesus, Buddha, Mohammed, Rama. Weren’t these present on Earth ? Didn’t they spend their duration (if not Life) here on the soil or did they take a flight to nowhere post the assignment.

Earth gives us all.

We all belong to Earth. We all start from the Mother’s womb only to make it back to Earth, happy to accommodate us, irrespective of religion, region, caste. Such a big heart. Earth feeds us, accommodates us, whatever or whosoever we are. Infact, Earth holds us all together, in pain, in happiness, in euphoria, in birth, in death. The force GRAVITY is what keeps us near to HIM, all unyielding like a dueling family. We start our life here and we end it here, to meet our creator, perhaps for another re-incarnation, another birth. Yet we all look upstairs, towards the sky, towards the stars (doesn’t even have GAS), in the space and in the vacuum, searching for HIM, believing HE will take us to a different flight when we give-in, either by choice or by compulsion.

It’s been thousands of years to life, ages to mankind, we still believe the conventional, the routine. We seek divinity, being a part of divine itself and yet being indifferent to his presence. Can we break-free from our fabricated ethos and bloated egos so as to recognize and realize HIM, the conventional. The evolution has happened and will continue so, perhaps, keen to meet the originator. Will we, as a part of the process, ever realize that we belong to HIMSELF.

Stereotype is time-bound, will be loosened, so are we, only to answer WHEN.

Certainly, God is NOT upstairs.

Hats off Kejriwal !!!

Two weeks of fast has cost him 6-7 kgs of weight, however, this has definitely catapulated Kejriwal to the league of politics. Sacrifice has been the key to success in Indian politics as it touches the emotional aspect with the voter. Not only has Arvind Kejriwal managed to grab the eyeballs at primetime, but also he has been able to strike the chord with the the average middle or even lower class. 

The fast which started on Mar 23 appeared to be a damp squib as compared to previous fasts, agitation or exposes (most importantly those of Robert Vadra and Nitin Gadkari). His fast has ended, but this has given a lot of credence to his crusade with over a million pledging their support for not paying the inflated power and water bills.

I strongly feel the following points would certainly give a thumbs-up to Kejriwal in his yet another attempt to make it to the big league of Indian politics and start the process of cleansing the stinking system.

Strategy : Old wine in the new bottle. Kejriwal has understood and utilized this concept pretty well. DLF-Vadra nexus was highlighted in Economic Times on Mar 14, 2011 in this article. Kejriwal made the most of this issue by exposing this in the press conference, giving multiple interview on news channels and almost convincingly answering a lot of questions. The issue of electricity and water prices has been raised by BJP (though on a muted note) in the past. Kudos to Kejriwal for hijacking the issue from BJP, adding a pinch of salt in the form of fast, campaign signatures, the required media coverage. He has been the super strategist with identifying the existing issues, re-packaging them and taking it to the doorsteps of Indian public.

Objective : Kejriwal will continue to get stronger with every event, be it be an agitation, fast, expose or whatsoever. The reason for his success can be attributed to the objectivity laid out. This objectivity has been able to give a direction and an approach to his campaigns and also a mechanism to measure the success or failure. Anna Hazare, on the other hand has been subjective. Anna comes with a very clean image and has a great appeal in the youth. However, people want RESULTS. They want QuickWins. His Lokpal campaign in Ramleela maidan was one of best seen in last 5 years or more. However, the campaign wasn't able to deliver the results, thanks to the chameleon parliamenterians. Kejriwal's decision of forming a political party has been a bold one and will certainly provide a path of delivering the results for the countrymen.

Basics : Undoubtedly, Kejriwal and his core team were able to devise the right strategy for the core issues. Electricity and water do form the basics of any household. In the past few years, the inflation has virtually made the middle and lower class gasping for breadth. Coupled this with rising prices of electricity and water has just added to the woes. Kejriwal has hit the bulls eye with these issues in order to touchbase with atleast a million delhi households. Election would certainly be a different ball game, but atleast, he has made his presence felt in Delhi with a million people supporting his campaign.

Team : I was watching a debate a week back on NDTV, anchored by Ravish Kumar. The debate had candidates from Congress, BJP and Aam Aadmi Party (Yogendra Yadav was the participant from AAP). Yogendra Yadav was the clear winner. Kejriwal has been able to garner the right candidates, even though, very few in number, for his party. Any political party needs people with exceptional oratorial skills. Yogendra Yadav has been THE man with astute know-how of indian politics, it's pitfalls and possibly the agenda and the strategy that can be devised to beat the political parties at their own game. I would expect Kejriwal to bring in people with similar or more stronger credentials to his movement.

There is a lot at stake for Kejriwal's party AAP in the upcoming Delhi elections. Political pundits rightly say that election remains a different ball-game as it requires monetary and muscle power. Fasts, agitations etc may not necesarily translate in votes. However, irrespective of the results, Kejriwal has been able to make a dent in the existing parties' image, atleast to a certain extent and has been able to connect with the aam aadmi on the basic issues. He will have to establish his credibility further in the form of deliveries/ results to convince further the balloter.

Challenges ahead and so is the way.

Hats off again.

Back with a Bang

Procrasination. Waking up after a very long time, so as to pen something (again genuine) and keep my blog going. There have been many issues in the recent past which touched my heart (Arvind Kejriwal’s expose, Nirbhaya rape case) and I thought of collating my opinion, alas Procrasination.


So, here I come again, Back with a Bang.

MSD. Do I need explain further. One of the most prolific, flamboyant, canny sportspersons India has ever produced. There have been great cricketers of modern times, Tendulkar, Dravid, Sehwag, none can match the charisma of MSD as a captain. He has lead Indian team to scale new heights and with a lot of fervor.

It’s been a fairytale story for MSD’s fans since he has donned the hat of skipper. Series win in Down Under, NZ, 1st T20 World Cup, # 1 ranked Indian team in Test cricket and the icing on the cake, 2011 Indian World Cup. Not to forget, CSK being one of the most successful teams in IPL, under the leadership of Dhoni. Was it just the ladyluck ?

The disastrous tour of England followed by Australian tour did prove certainly expensive to VVS. And a bit almost to Dravid. Couple of other seniors such as Sehwag, Gambhir were also in the firing line for being inconsistent. The tour of English team in 2012 was almost like a curtains call for MSD. His credentials were at stake, certainly as a skipper and also an established batsman in Test side. Just when criticism was sneaking in, the magician has cast the Midas touch again.

2013, Australia’s tour of India.

1st Test, Chennai.

It’s just MSD. He over-shadowed a lot of batting prowess exhibited by Michael Clarke in Australia’s first innings, 81 by Tendulkar and a composed century by Kohli. Terrific double-century and a test win added yet another feather to the cricketing great.

Currently, it’s 3-0 in MSDs favor. As a true fan of this legend, I would hope the beleaguered and depleted Oz side would just help this tally to go upto 4-0.

To me, the best part of being Dhoni is the manner he has bounced back and has managed to give a befitting reply to his critics. He has put a lot of questions, rumors to rest. Not only has he ensured his captaincy in all forms of the game for atleast next year or so, but also he has found true Test cricketers in Pujara, Dhawan and M Vijay. Virat Kohli, has again performed pretty decently in the home series, giving a fillip to his confidence. These performances may certainly put a lot of doubt over Sehwag, Gambhir, though it just might suit very well for MSD and Indian Test cricket so as to look for young blood. It’s time for these young guns to be given a chance so as to forge and nurture their confidence and experience.

The forecast seems pretty simple. The magician will continue to spellbound millions of Indian fans for again a few years. I am quite sure, I will come back and pen down something further, cheerfully again, for the greatest ever.