Being Cynical�

Just when you think she can’t go any further in avoiding her responsibilities and behaving irrationally, Mamta Banarjee comes forward and proves you wrong. Today morning I had a chat with an old friend who works in Kolkata for some IT farm. It was well into 11 in the morning and the poor soul was yet to reach office. Not to mention, he has already missed an important morning meeting and in the verge of missing another. The agony in his voice for some mercy was quite evident which sounded more like a plight than anger. Now if you wonder how my friend being late to office has got anything to do with Mamta Banarjee or any one, then take a pause and hear the answer – the delay was due to Mamta Banarjee only.

A city like Kolkata where Bandh, Dharna and public rallies are part of the lifestyle, one should not be too annoyed about some odd rally making you stand in the mid of the road for hours together in-turn forcing you to miss that all important meeting, the direly needed job interview, dying friend who need you there at the earliest to donate your blood to save his life and last but not the least your very livelihood. Ask those hand rickshaw pullers whose entire day goes amidst the thick of one or the other rally or Dharna. Seeing his own kids going to bed empty stomach that night, just because a certain Mamta Banarjee or one Buddhadev Bhattacharya thought to have a public gathering is some pain which even words would struggle to describe.

The rally which caught my friend unaware is one such rally. The Bengal election which many say is going to be historical in more ways than one had the entire flavor spiked with it; as huge stakes are at scrutiny. A party which ruled (read screwed) the state for the better part of last three decades and made sure to drive back the once thriving Calcutta to misery and poverty by their corporate unfriendly and anti-development agendas is right at the verge of getting extinct. With the yesteryear stalwarts of the party trying their best to keep afloat the sinking ship, it is more than expected to be a violent and vibrant election. Mamta Banarjee, who seems to have the dream of occupying the Writers building since the days she was inside her mother’s womb is leaving no stones unturned to ensure one unceremonious and humiliating exit for the left. So as expected Kolkata is witnessing more rallies than the number of Bengali Bhadraloks they have, on daily basis. If my friend is to be believed then the areas surrounding Writers buildings, Kalighat, Rabindro Sadan (and many such other names for which you have to make a cone out of your lips to speak) are occupied by permanently erected Samianas. It is only the faces that are changing as far as gracing the stage is concerned. Today Mamta, tomorrow Buddha and on the third day a funny looking chap whom nobody knows who is but remember of seeing him in Times Now and possesses a striking resemblance to Suresh Kalmadi. Hang-on, somebody confirmed – he is one of the spokespersons of left who only has his dental furniture to show as part of his face. This must be frustrating? The entire city being hijacked on daily basis for personal show of strength with utterances like Cholbe Naa hitting you from all directions. Believe you me – things can’t get worse than this. You can go fishing with your office or your important meeting. When Mamta Didi is meeting common people on an open podium, all other meetings doesn’t hold any significance for discussion. By the way – for a stat, it is Didi who had at least double the number of public gatherings than the left during this election.

The other day I saw a clipping of Didi’s magnanimity on TV. She was occupying the stage with a lady who seemed like fresh back from Somalia or one of those who was fasting alongside Anna Hazare. Barely able to stand or speak the lady did manage to utter something (which was not audible enough to understand) and then almost fainted (as if she was waiting for this to utter and then go down unconscious). Before she could be picked up Didi almost jumped over her and started speaking at the peak of her voice – ‘Eto eek rokom Atyachar. Yeh Cholbena.Yeh sorkar ki ek ekta mruto ra jabab dete hoi’. Which in English primarily means – this is atrocity of highest degree and the present government has to answers for each and every death. Wow!! Let me tell you - That was some firey speech and could possibly have made few wet their dhotis back in the Writers building. But what was that made Didi so furious all of a sudden that she started counting all the deaths in a public gathering? And what atrocity she is referring and how the lady who just fainted got anything to do with those? After few minute of minute observation I did managed to get to the crux of it – The woman (who fainted) is the widow of one of the three (TMC workers) those were killed in Midnapur district, allegedly by CPIM goondas. As per Didi, the women’s life is anything but ruined, thanks to the left government’s indifference towards criminal free governance and the government needs to answer for all these deaths. It is admirable Didi that you care so much for the dead but what about the living deads? Do you equally care for them as well?

Are you aware of the conditions of a certain Arunima Sinha? Or has the polls in Bengal made your memory go thin or you simply don’t have time to bother for such nonsense during the most important election of your life? If the question has simply irked you; it also could be entirely fare as when the post of CM is at stake, an ordinary individual like Arunima did never or will ever fit into the scheme of things. But weren’t you at present the Railways Minister of India? Even though there is still time before you become the CM of Bengal (let the voting end and people decide by ballot) you seems to be more interested in that, conveniently side kicking your present responsibilities of a cabinet minister heading an important portfolio like Railways. The basketball player from UP who becomes yet another casualty of the mismanagement of our Railways is paying for the callousness of you and your team. For no apparent reason a budding sports star’s life was pushed into oblivion by few miscreants near Aligarh and yet none at the Railways seems too keen to take a note of it, let alone accepting the responsibilities. The scoundrels who carried this out are roaming free and possibly could be eyeing their next pray while we are taking. I know law-and-order is a state subject and the GRP are under state police, but ensuring safety to commuters in Railways is your ministry’s responsibility. More off, it is not just one of case. The occurrences of such events are more than frequent now-a-days. Either, blame it on the sudden upsurge of the number of goondas in the country or the plain easy going and Kamchori attitude of your ministry – the common man is suffering. While the Railways should have taken up the case so-motto and should have investigated themselves, you are busy doing rounds of the Maoist affected areas of Bengal for your election campaign. If your election is important for you than your intervention in matter of seriousness like Arunima’s then you should leave your damn election campaign and rush to Delhi and take your job seriously is our interest and demand. Being the people’s representative you must go by what people want than what you want. If not then please feel obliged to leave the post and move on.

For years the whole nation waited with grasp and agony while you keep on giving more and more railway projects to Bengal. While at the other part of the country people went to dharna demanding a much waited train passing through their village you keep on giving more trains to Bengal. If it is true then somebody told on Wednesdays there are 3 trains which leave for Mumbai at the same time from Howrah. You moved all railways selection examinations to Kolkata leaving your own goons to take care of the outstation applicants. In your tenure you were only seen in Rail Bhawan during Rail Budget or the times when you feel like paying a visit to your ministry. This is not irresponsibility but plain absurdity. We all know what your core interest is – that is to become the CM of Bengal. It is absolutely fine and we are none to dispute your interest but at the at the same we don’t appreciate anyone (not even you) disputing our interest to have a mature, responsible person to head the Railways, unlike you who thinks it as a stop gap arrangement. For a change we might have to say – ‘Yeh Cholbe Naa’

If the absurdity was not enough, a group of jokers from GRP did some investigation and come up with their findings that left the entire nation high-and-dry. According to the brilliant minds, Arunima was never confronted by goondas nor did anyone push her out of the train. She only would have decided to commit suicide instead by jumping off herself. That is more than laughable. But the irony is – none at the railways is interested to raise an objection to this report. When I say railways, I always count you out as you never were a part of it to begin with. We already know your irate priorities and are pretty much adjusted to that. When you can be so concerned about the dead husband (a good year back) of that fainted woman, where is the same affection and vigor for this living dead Arunima?

So why this hypocrisy Didi? When you never care for the living deads but accuse them instead, how fair you are for the already deads is anybody’s guess. In nutshell – neither you care an ounce for the dead husband of that woman nor the amputed Arunima. All that matters to you is that A/C room inside the Writers building while the rest of the nation can go to hail. I am not sure about the people of Bengal but your responsibility ducking attitude which you more than just flaunted during your notorious stay at the Railways does not give me much confidence. Left have done a huge damage to the state and its image and certainly deserved to be kicked out but you as a replacement is certainly which I don’t fancy much. Looking at the way you treated the Railways, I am not sure you would be any better than the left for the state. I wish and hope I am proved wrong but honestly; looks highly unlikely, more so after witnessing your gibberish performance at the center as a cabinet minister. May God give the people of Bengal enough strength to tolerate yet another 3 decades of mis-governance post the Left era by none other than their own Didi only. Shiii….

For a change it was refreshing and a day of reckoning; yesterday that was. Seldom do you find our politicians even been chargesheeted, let alone being arrested for the worst of their crimes. But yesterday could be an exception in that direction when we saw two of our beloved politicians brought to task for their ultra-corrupt activities of the recent past. One was send behind bars while another was chargesheeted, with in all probability of thrown behind the bars anytime soon. Call it Anna Hazare effect or anything – the crooks were handed over with their long pending dues.

Now the question arises – is it enough? Aren’t we a good year and half too late? Have we intentionally or un-intentionally only rounding up the dolphins, leaving the whales of the corruption ocean untouched? Is there still politics and coalition Dharma doing rounds on whom to arrest and whom not to? Will the CBI mess up things at the last minute which they are quite habituated with? Last but not the least – are we going to be happy by this rhetoric arrest drama alone or would make sure the culprits were meted with exemplary punishment? Uneasy questions and a general fear that seems to have inculcated in our mindset – thanks to examples of the past and the amount of politics involved in either of the case.

Let’s start with the bigger of the two. Even though the long pending arrest of Kalmadi brought a sudden sense of Déjà vu, I do have a fear that things might not be directed towards conclusive closure. Few days back, the cronies of Kalmadi were promptly being arrested by the same investigating agency. But what followed was for everyone to remember. After 60 days the crooks were let off the hook as CBI failed to gather enough documentary evidence to nail the thugs. Now the million dollar question is – are the CBI sleuths having enough evidence in their hands to keep Kalmadi behind bars and force him stand trial? Might be or might not be, but looking at the not so bright past history of CBI, I would rather keep my fingers crossed. It was July last year that Times-Now managed to break the queens baton relay scam involving the organizing committee (OC) and a lesser known farm called AM Films and Travels of UK. As generous as one can get, the OC were alleged to been paying a whopping 25K pounds every month to this farm for no apparent reason or service. There were enough such incriminating evidence but for last 9 months we only did beat around the bush with at times few muted voices from the government confirming on how Kalmadi is too indispensable, looking at the upcoming Commonwealth games. If it is true then it is anything but laughable. There could be a possibility that all this while the CBI was busy gathering evidence against him so that a real water tight case could be constructed. Or was it just another political trick that was thrust upon us where in reality Kalmadi was given enough time to clean all the mess that was created by him and his cronies, so that when the CBI does close in on him, there would be no evidence left for them to frame him? If anything the confidence of the lawyer defending Kalmadi was scary. When he has to say that they would challenge in the court on what ground CBI should take Kalmadi in remand; more than confidence it gives a feeling that CBI actually doesn’t have enough at their disposal to nail the crook. So I won’t be surprised a bit if the courts do grant bail to Kalmadi the very next day for the lack of any proper evidence. But one thing for sure – Kalmadi is fast running out of friends and loyal, both at his party and the sports management fraternity. The immediate expulsion from the party, post his arrest is an indicator of that.

The next good thing that happened yesterday was the name of Kanimozi appearing in the 2^nd chargesheet filed by CBI on 2G spectrum scam. The daughter of the great Karunanidhi and a 20% stake holder of Kalingar TV; she was alleged to have taken a bribe of around 200 crores to push through some favored company for spectrum. Thank God, my stand was vindicated as I always said Raja alone can’t be the architect of this mega scam. But the question arises – if a 20% stake holder can be chargesheeted for bribery how in earth one can spare someone who holds a major 60% in the same farm? The second wife of Karunanidhi, Dayaluammal, who happens to have the biggest share in the company, remained untouched. This is unbelievable to start with. If some insiders were to be believed then, during the seat sharing discussions for TN poll, it was decided that Congress can have the desired number of seats provided they agree not to chargsheet or arrest Dayaluammal in no circumstances; whatever it may be. If it is even half of its truth then there can’t be any bigger dangerous precedence for our democracy than this.

Let it be getting the ministry of their choice, pushing seasoned crooks for the post, forcing the laws to be broken; it was always the art of blackmailing that saw DMK through. At the drop of a hat, they would threaten to withdraw their support from the government, which more often than not succeeded. When Raja was all but arrested, they furnished the same trick before the ruling party. I am not sure of the reasons but for the first time they failed in that and it is a month since government is paying for Raja’s meals in Tihar jail. Will they carryout similar threat if it becomes a certain that Kanimozi would be arrested? The bigger question is – are they in a position to furnish such threats now?

Let’s look at the TN political picture to assertion if they are. There is no doubt; the DMK has misruled the state for quite some time and there a general feeling of huge governance deficit. If that is not enough a bad news for DMK, one of their stalwart politician is languishing behind bars on corruption charges. The in-family fighting between M.K.Stalin and M.K.Alagiri is not helping the cause either. WithJayalalitha on their heels the anti-incumbency factor is going to add further load on the tarnish image of the party which is already overloaded with corruption charges, Mafiosi, nepotism and family drama. The numbers are not in favor of DMK either. To form a government in TN you need at least 119 seats. But due to a smart seat sharing mechanism DMK is only contesting 109 of the total seats. Even if by some miracle DMK manages to win all 109 of them (as unlikely as NDTV not airing any news on SRK someday), they would still need someone’s support to form the government. In the present scenario and looking at their tarnished image, I don’t see anyone but only Congress coming up with a helping hand. So there is a bigger loss looming large at DMK if they withdraw their support from central government. First they would lose the power they enjoy being at the center and they might very well have to give their way to Jayalalithato become the next chief minister. This act could lead to a huge love lost with Congress resulting all their crooks getting arrested on daily basis that are now protected by Congress. In nutshell, I don’t think DMK would appreciate a two fringe attack from both sides – from center as well as from the new incumbent CM Ms.J. Jayalalitha. This is not a situation which Karunanidhi would enjoy, barely three weeks before the poll results are out. Honestly, I don’t want to be in Karunanidhi’s shoes now as I can clearly see a no-win or worse lose-lose situation ahead. At the end of the day Congress seems to have the last laugh with tactically paralyzing DMK of their blackmailing phenomena.

In any whichever way, it was a good day for us citizens who have only seen our politicians looting, without being held accountable. Hope the apprehended crooks are not let off the hook through some nasty legal gimmick that we seems very accustomed to. For God’s sake, let’s for once teach the scoundrels that every day is not a Sunday and at some point they would be held accountable for all their crimes and stripped in public.

Not that the event has to be of any significance or important for me to take a note of. When Mandira Bedi’s noodles strap top can take my attention, then you bet everything else can certainly do. Let me also tell you – I am not THAT big (mark the word in CAPS) a figure whose attention seeking events would break the headlines of all major Newspapers the next day. Let that for the privileged ones like Rahul Gandhi, Karunanidhi and Mamta Benarjee to enjoy. As for me, anything that helps me scribe another liver churning nonsense (like this one) is bound to catch my attention. So here I go –

Jaitapur Agitation –

On the contrary, this piece of my attention seeking event certainly did break and continues to break few headlines of major Newspapers. All the hell is for that wretched proposed nuclear power plant in Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra. Thanks to this dangerous idea of our Sarkar to please Uncle Sam, people of Jaitapur who never knew who their Chief-minister is (3 CMs in 2 years – certainly you don’t even want to remember) are now well versed with the possible nuclear disaster, nuclear radiation, nuclear waste, radiation leaks and last but not the least Chernobyl. If not anything, for sure our Sarkar is helping our citizens to improve their general knowledge – first, the tit-and-bit about Egypt and now about Chernobyl.

Jairam Ramesh seems to be a real naïve in all this. The person who has a problem with anything and everything that has to do something with environment (let it be BT Brinjal or the mega POSCOVedanta plants in Orissa) is conveniently in favor of this proposed plant. This is unbelievable for someone like me who in recent past has seen the same man dead against giving few acres of swampy, snake infected land on the outskirts of Mumbai to build the airport as he thought it may dilute and endanger the marine ecosystem. Marine ecosystem? Where and how? Even though my questions are still remaining unanswered, Mr.Ramesh has moved on since then. If anything, the recent developments at Jaitapur clears one thing for me – Mr.Ramesh can afford to dilute and endanger the populace of the entire region surrounding the proposed plant and the generations to come but can’t take chance to dilute the marine (poisonous snakes and whole lot of mosquitoes) ecosystem in suburb Mumbai. More laughable is when he has to say, there is no presence of any danger from the proposed plant. Either he was too busy worrying about the environment that he could not possibly got time to hear about the recent Japan tsunami and the subsequent mayhem that is going around Fukushima nuclear plants or his television has blackened out during that time for the nonpayment of cable bill. Forget about Chernobyl, Mr.Ramesh might not be born by then. But hang-on; that was just about 25 years ago only. Isn’t it? and

As expected, there bound to be a huge agitation on this. Long before (even before the foundation stones could be laid) the chain reactions of the proposed plant could conspire to leak few radioactive radiations; the chain reactions at Jaitapur has already started with who’s-who of the state political fraternity either supporting or condemning the agitation. There is a hell lot of chaos going in and around Jaitapur; if one has to explain it in one sentence. Among all this, there is at least one person who is trying to be clever by half. And that person is none other than Narayan Rane. If this Sherlock Holmes incarnate is to be believed, then Siv Sena has managed to get 500 crores to stage manage the agitation. Wow, that is some serious amount of money. But just want to clarify one thing from Mr.Rane – who did pay that whopping amount and for God’s sake why? Hope I would get the answer of this one at least.

New Guests At Tihar Jail –

Well this one also garnered the headlines of Newspapers. But little did all the rapists, molesters, chain snatchers and robbers camping (taking the much needed break from their busy schedule) in Tihar jail knew that they would be joined by some fine gentlemen who usually put on Armani SuitsVivian Westwood ties. The same gentlemen who always gave the impression that the only language they know to speak and understand is some polished Harvard accentuated English and breakfast for them is always scrambled eggs and lightly toasted brown bread are there hurdled up at the most famous Krishna Janamsthan of India. I am sure the inmates might be little hopeful after the arrival of great A.Raja and the subsequent visits of M.K.Stalin, Kanimozi and few others but they wouldn’t have thought their dreams getting fulfilled so soon. and

For a change, the thugs from our corporate houses seem to be rounded up for good. It was about time the concept of Bribe giver to be analyzed and certainly the arrest of all those who generously paid Raja for their own gain is the required beginning. If that is not enough – cells for the upcoming guests like Kanimozi, Kalmadi and few other corporate honchos are getting ready for their grand welcome. Finally the regular inmates of Tihar are getting some feeling of pride as they no more the only condemned ones and a chance for them to narrate their grandchildren how they had breakfast with greats like Raja, Kanimozi, Kalmadi and Anil Ambani etc and how they used to hold their lota when they were honoring nature’s call and vice-a-versa. Reverberating feeling, I must say.

But it would still be more fascinating if real thugs like Karunanidhi, Anil Ambani, Barkha Dutt are rounded up and thrown behind dark rooms for the better of the nation. It would be just the appropriate icing on the 2G cake.

Beating up of Pani-Puri walas –

This one also catch many headlines but secluded to only few astounding and marvelous media houses who always believed in airing high quality and nationalistic interest oriented contents. I hope I don’t have to name those great news channels which come with the package called India-TV, Aaj-Tak, India-Live et all. They almost showed all day that how the MNS (Maha Nalayak Sena) chaps went in rampage and bashed each and every Pani-Puri wala of Mumbai and few in Thane. That is one heck of an arrangement when you can manage to organize so meticulously that you can bash each filthy ass Pani-Puri wala of Mumbai in flat 22 hours. I hope guys at the IIMs are taking a note of it and make sure to include this as a case study on time and resource management.

If you are wondering, what the hell is all about then it is no secret that either you are not aware of the story or not a fan of India-TV. If so then a flashback for you only. But before I start I request you not to read further if you love your Pani-Puri as I don’t want you to vomit for the rest of the day and for few hours tomorrow as well. MNS was all furious when it was confirmed that a certain Pani-Puri walaPani-Puris. Yuk time as it may sound and just another deterrent on why one should avoid those crappy Golgappa on street side. was using the same utensils for urinating that he uses to serve you those yummy and mouthwatering

All-in-all, the culprit in question needed some lessons badly, and I don’t think anyone should dispute that. As such the Marathi people are one vibrating set of personas who seldom tolerate corruption. That is why they have greats like Sarad Pawar, Kalmadi, Ashok Chauhan, Praful Patel to name few. They also have strong allergy towards adulteration as was evident from the tragic killing of Yashwant Sonawane in Nasik. So how the Maratha warriors could possibly tolerate a Pani-Puri wala who pisses in the same utensils before serving in them? When they never tolerated or voted for crooks like Sarad Pawar, Kalmadi, Ashok Chauhan, they are not going to tolerate the Gogappa vendors either. So not only the Golgappa vendor in discussion but also all those who were earning their livelihood by selling Golgappas on Mumbai streets were beaten black and blue, their stuffs thrown on road and their utensils broken. For God’ sake, have some sense MNS. If for one rascal the whole brethren has to be thrashed then looking at guys like Raja, Kalmadi and Sarad Pawar, whole political community should be bashed; including your own chief Raj ThakreyGolgappa vendors because they are poor and harmless but very conveniently close your eyes when it comes to Sarad Pawar or Kalmadi and instead lick their posteriors. This is double standard overdrive and sooner you guys refrain from making a mockery of yourself would be better for you only.
who is a cunning scoundrel. So where is the line? You will beat all the

Do visit my site - http://www.nationfirst.co.in

Will it be naïve to say that we would solve the problem of corruption by just attending Anna Hazare’sJantar Mantar? Perhaps yes – could be a little naïve, if not entirely. For a show of strength and sending stern messages to all those corrupt in our system that we had enough of the nonsense for last 4 decades or so is one thing while expecting the show of strength or stern messages would force the corrupts to mold their modus-operandi is entirely another. What we achieved at Jantar Mantar is just parceling few unseen punches at our corrupt establishments and its constituents. We might have floored them for the time being but considering the battle has won is largely premature.

If we are really interested to make this corruption get out of the system, then it needs far more from us than just our presence at Jantar Mantar. The corruption as a phenomenon in our country is not a thing which just emerged in last few years. Even though the veracity of the corruption and corrupts has touched the sky’s limit in recent past; it was always there from the beginning. But ironically we never gave any heed to it till the point it went out of proportion and crossed all our bearable limits. When malice like corruption should have been nipped in the bud, we rather took it too lightly at the beginning with most of the time using it as a tool to get our jobs done the easier way. Now this brings us to ponder deeply into a simple equation. The equation is – if there is a bribe taker, there ought to be a bribe giver. They are mutually dependent phenomena which no one can dispute. While we still remain jittery about the chaps who take bribe, we conveniently forget the presence of an equal number (or even more) of individuals who give bribe for their own gain. They also should proportionately be held accountable and brought to book. The corporate houses, the builders, the exporters, the average common-man; all are there to get their work sail through without any major hiccups. Legal or illegal doesn’t matter as long as it brings about some personal gain. Every crooked way has a price tag attached which ensures the give-and-take cycle to go on and on. Now this continuous pampering and tampering lead to a situation where even a genuine individual who wants to accomplish his work without paying a penny as bribe, just can’t achieve it. The Aapsi-Bhagidari has gone so deep within our system that a corruption free approach to anything seems more impossible than Tushar Kapoor acting someday.

Shouldn’t we be equally blamed for this upsurge of corruption post-independence? Need a driving license – find ways and means to sabotage the system and get hold of that much needed license without breaking a sweat. Need that extra gas connection – the neighborhood tout would make it through in mere exchange of few hundred rupees. Want to have your kid get to that particular school – doesn’t matter if he is not qualifying in terms of his marks as long as Aapsi-Bhagidari is there to bail you out. There are many such examples where we flaunt our uncanny tenacity of bribing at the drop of a hat. It is not that we do bribe for each work of us after we fail in every alternative sober way to accomplish it. We bribe out of habit to make sure the work is done sooner than later. Thanks to this dangerous habit of decades that resulted in we having a completely chaotic and corrupted system where even the production of baby food is not out of the nefarious clout. When we equally are responsible for the mess that we are currently in, why alone blame the corrupts? They are corrupt because we made them corrupt for some temporary gain.

While we all are in togetherness that A.Raja should either be hanged or lynched publicly for his misdeeds, we conveniently forgetting the corporate honchos who orchestrated this mass scale bribing act. In the process to grab some spectrum either free or by paying peanuts, these corporate houses found a corrupt individual at the top, who could materialize their ill intent. Thousands of crores were wired to various tax heavens and the nation was left with licking its own wounds few months down the line. Won’t you think along with Raja, all those corporate houses starting from Swan Telecom to Reliance Communication and individuals from Shahid Balwa to Anil AmbaniRaja? So just blaming the corrupts and letting the real masterminds go fishing we for sure are not going to eliminate the curse of corruption from us. If you believe by throwing a certain Raja and few other scoundrels behind bars we are gonna be clean then you are underestimating our bench strength. Raja would promptly be replaced by a Rani in no time and all the self-centered corporates are there to instigate the nefarious cause of the future Ranis. should be brought to book? Are these guys who bribed in crores (without any force and all by their own) so that they can loot the nation later are any saint or different from

This leads for all of us common citizens to sit and introspect – where the crux of the matter is residing. Let’s for once realize that it is we who have left no stones unturned in making sure we have millions of Rajas, Kalmadis and rest to be there all around us. So before blaming the whole system and the corrupts enjoying their honeymoon inside it, we better blame ourselves for supplying all those emergency pregnancy pills instead.

I am not questioning or disputing the massive intentions of all those who were sweating all around Jantar Mantar few weeks back nor I have any doubts that major people movements like Annaji’sMunaf Patel after taking a bath but want none to ask us why we are so dirty. We want all our roads, drains, public transports, government offices to be clean but not interested to jump into the dirt ourselves and clean it or refrain ourselves from spitting that saffron saliva from our mouth. We want women of our family remain safe whenever they step out but admire the possibilities that we can enjoy whenever we see a woman standing alone in a bus stop. We want great governance but would plan our outing on voting days a good three months earlier on account of an off day. We would put a good kilo of lipstick and other sundry cosmetics before going for a showbazi candle light march but would sleep well into late afternoon on voting days. In nutshell - We want the whole world to change except us. fast could bring the necessary changes at some point. But my problem is the individual mindset that we carry. We want rest of the world to be as clean as

Hope we realize that hypocrisy has never taken any individual or society anywhere ever and we are no exception. As they say charity begins at home and for me it certainly does. Try changing yourself before expecting the world to change. Just take a vow that henceforth I am going to do justice to my responsibilities as an individual and a citizen of the nation and then see how the country changes for a better tomorrow. But before that – stop pointing fingers at others as it is always three fingers which remains pointed at yourself whenever you are at the act!!

Visit My Website - http://www.nationfirst.co.in

Many of my regular readers did showed some displeasure on me because I refrained myself from writing anything on Anna Hazare’s crusade against corruption. My apologies for a starter might just help me reunite with my dedicated readers all over again. But honestly – it is not that I didn’t wanted to or I was anyway against Hazareji’s approach to force pass the much delayed Jan Lokpal bill. It was just that I was busy with giving shape to my own crusade against corruption, which is very much online now and readers can view it at http://www.nationfirst.co.in . But more than I being busy, it was the intuition that stopped me from scribing anything on the topic. Somewhere at the deep corner of my heart I had this feeling – ‘more juicer things are yet to come’ and I better be waiting for those juicer times than writing on the present scenario, on which the whole world is writing. I am proved right again and continue to be served well by my powers of intuition. Hence I am here to write about it as I feel it is THE appropriate time.

Be honest and answer – did you guys ever imagined, we will have controversies surrounding Anna Hazare’s crusade against corruption at the end of the day? Not sure about others, but I never imagined any nonsense emerging on the issue once our government agreed to go with the way Anna wanted. But alas, I forgot one basic thing – we should expect anything and everything from our politicians. Another bunch of self-centered individuals who always want to be in the thick of limelight didn’t help the cause either.

No sooner media houses started touting it as a victory for common man and people power, the controversy on who should represent civil society on that 10 member panel started. First to brew the hot coffee was none other than our own Baba Ramdev. I don’t know the exact reasons but somehow Baba felt disgusted on seeing the list of people who were going to sit across the table in the drafting committee. According to him – the missing name of Kiran Bedi from the list is a colossal mistake which should have been avoided. True Sir. I second your opinion. But on the contrary – are we fighting for a larger cause of eradicating our country from a malaise called corruption or self-satisfying our ego or wish list to have our choice of people on that drafting panel? Baba – you are wise enough to know that you were at fault (for the first time) somewhere after a tiny self-question-answer session. I am no match for Baba Ramdev when it comes to sensibility and level of understanding. So I better not utter too many advices, in-turn making a fool of myself. But controversy or no-controversy, Baba Ramdev was bang on the mark regarding the members on the list. Kiran Bedi should certainly have been there in the panel. First, being a seasoned bureaucrat herself and seen the rot within the system from close quarters for the better part of her 35 year career; there couldn’t have been a better choice than her to advise on ways and means to fix all those rotting holes. Second, I haven’t seen a more no-nonsense senior police officer than her in my life. Anyway, as I said earlier – the issue is much bigger and important than who sits on the panel and who not.

How much our politicians might praise Hazare for his courage and fight for a good cause, we all know how they all would be feeling deep within. I am sure all would be feeling like being stripped naked in public. So expecting sincerity for Hazare by our Mantris from the defth of their hearts is as good as expecting the producer of ‘Emotional Atyachar’, being concerned about the mental stability of the viewers. So it was evident that there would be some fight back in some indirect form by all those scoundrels who are not brave enough to come forward and openly oppose Hazare’s approach. Much like the way the hero of any random Bollywood movie says after hearing the news about his girlfriend’s marriage being fixed – “Aab to baas mangni hui hai, shaadi to nehin hui” and go about playing a spoilsport in the marriage; our politicians seems to follow the same route – “Govt baas raazi hua hai. Bill to nehin bana” and go about planning the ways by which the whole civil movement could be derailed. First it was the loud claim of financial mismanagement of money by Hazare himself during his 3 day long fast. I am not sure what to do – laugh or cry? The same politicians who conveniently overlook the lakhs of crore of loot in the name of CWG, as they are directly or indirectly a party to it, are all in seriousness for few thousand rupees that might have gone the wrong way at Jantar-Mantar. A guy who comes into the parliament one fine morning and announces; there was absolutely no loss to the government for 2G scam has the audacity to question the credentials of Anna Hazare. Do we really need such clowns to be our ministers? But sadly Mr.Sibal is not only our minister bust also handling two major portfolios – HRD & Telecom. As usual – whenever there is a scope to get infected with foot-in-the-mouth disease, there you would always find Digvijay Sing close by. It is about time I wish the congress party calls on Mr.Sing and ask him to get out of the party as they already had enough of his rubbish dishes. But sadly that seems far from likely as it is the clowns that the Congress party seems to love so much.

The best seems have been stored for the last. But before I get there, I just want to ask and ponder on the legal possibilities – Can’t we ban Aamar Sing from opening his filthy mouth ever in public? Or can’t our Apex court issue a pan-India notice on public interest – ‘That from here on a certain thug called Amar Sing is declared a professional Dalal and the citizens are advised to care even less than rat’s posterior for all his utterances henceforth’? I can only pity on myself and nation at large that of all the people it is Aamar Sing who is questioning someone’s integrity. Doesn’t matter who he is questioning; as the very thought of Aamar Sing pointing fingers at someone on charges of corruption is good enough to keep you laughing for the rest of your life. Can someone please educate Mr.Aamar Sing to stop making an owl (not physically as he already is) of himself every now-and-then and refrain from torturing the nation by showing his utterly miserable face on television every second day? In nutshell Mr. Aamar Sing, to clear any air of confusion - as a nation we even find Dawood Ebrahim far more reliable and a more useful resource for the country than your filthy ass. Better you carry your stinking story and the wretched CDs along with to a place which are more conducive for your conspiracy theory. As options you can try either 10^th Janpath, 7^th Race-course or for that matter even our Rastrapati Bhawan.

For me, the whole issue and the unity and the solidarity the entire nation showed while rallying behind Hazare is far bigger than the individuals who are going to represent us on the panel. Certainly a bunch of extremely clean (all of them) chaps on the committee is the idle situation. Certainly an individual like Kiran Bedi would have added immense value to the committee by her presence. Certainly a joker like Digvijay Sing should have been slapped black and blue in public for all his gimmicks. Certainly an idiot bearing the name Aamar Sing should have been stoned to death a long time back. Certainly we should have had the Jaan Lokpal Bill implemented from the days when our fathers were wolf-whistling their female classmates on collage corridors with that subtle nuances of Jeetendra songs. Certainly we (as the young generation) could have done better than spending majority of our time in some nonsensical networking sites and rest bitching about them and leaving the responsibility for all Hazare’s of the world to shoulder. Amidst all such ‘Certainly’, we shouldn’t lose the imminent goal in front – to make sure we end up with a nation with minimal or no corruption and would feel proud to hand it over to our next generation to take it from there. It is one last chance that we have to get rid of it, once-and-for-all and I hope we won’t lose our focus or derail ourselves by getting entangled in all such conspiracy theories. As they say – IT IS NOW OR NEVER !!

Visit My website - http://www.nationfirst.co.in