Hypocrisy at its Worst

Today is being touted as Mother's Day.

 

Rubbish!

 

We don't need one Sunday a year to remind us to show love to our mother. This is a pure Western concept, where they don't have time to think of their mothers, and need a mothers day to remember them. That all these 'Days' are a Marketing Gimmick of the Greeting Card Companies like Hallmark and Archies is an open secret.

 

Our respect and love for mother is year long. This is what Hinduism teaches us.

 

Lot of absurd influences, practices and terms are creeping into our life of late.

 

When did we ever begin to have these Candle light marches to show our respect to a murdered person or a slain soldier? Why should we blindly follow Western practices? Can we not organize a common prayer, which is what Indians do?

 

I have utmost sympathy for anyone who gets raped, and worse gets murdered in the process. Mere hanging of the guys who do this atrocity is not enough. They should be made to die inch by inch, suffering pain all the way.

 

But to label a woman who was raped 'Nirbhaya' is the worst thing that can be done to her. Nirbhaya means one who is not afraid. For God's sake, the woman must have been scared stiff when her modesty was being violated. Please do not add insult to injury.

 

Another term loosely used for such a woman is 'Braveheart'. What is so 'Brave' about getting raped?

 

This is akin to glorifying a raped woman, which is just not acceptable.

 

Is it not better to just say 'Unfortunate Victim' or 'Unfortunate Woman'?

 

The saddest part is that everyone talks about the rape for a week and then promptly forget about it. Even then there is a bias. A woman is a Nirbhaya or Braveheart only if she is from Delhi. No one gives a damn about the Rapes or attempted Rapes happening in other parts of India, especially the smaller towns.

 

Hypocrisy at its worst!

Oh for a Hindu Bharath!

Something has changed in India, post BJPs resounding win in Uttar Pradesh Assembly Elections. And this change has long lasting consequences.

Since Modi won in 2014, there were many like me, who hoped against hope that Hindus will get justice in a land where they have a majority. 60 years of insipid anti-hindu rule by Congress Party (Even BJP under Vajpayee didn't do much for Hindus) made us hang our head in shame. Our Temples were run by the Government, We were not allowed to have our own personal law while others could, they could have their educational institutions while we couldn't, special privileges to them but not to us, they had the first right on all resources but not us............ the list is endless.

Though I backed Modi in his quest to bring a semblance of Governance in a Country notorious for lack of it, I was quite unhappy that he didn't do much for Hindus. The School Text Books still have rubbish contents glorifying Islamic Invaders, while making no mention of the advances made in Mathematics and Science during the Vedic Era, Kids learned how 'great' Akbar was or even the tyrant Aurangazeb was, but not about the mightly Cholas whose Kingdom extended upto Bihar, and then to Far East till Indonesia. A clearly distorted version of Independence struggle is still being dished out to our kids, glorifying Gandhi and Nehru, who were at best 'Useful Idiots Indian Leaders for the British', and whose antics post independence still affects us, as seen in Kashmir and minority appeasement all over. True, Modi did not shy from propagating Yoga, visiting temples, or not overtly pampering the minorities but that was not enough. We wanted him to do something, anything for Hindus.

Now by appointing Yogi Adityanath as UP CM, he has sent out his first clear message that India will soon be Bharath, where Hindus voice will be heard first and foremost, as it should be.

This is not enough. We need to see Temples released from Governmental Control, we need to get rid of this rubbish which certain schools are following that students should follow strictly 'pseudo secular' way in the School. I recently heard a student who chose a lovely story about Kalidasa, Shiva, and Parvathi to illustrate the importance of Self Confidence, denied a prize because 'the student spoke about Hindu Gods!'. What can be more absurd than this. A Principal in an Indian School in Muscat lost his position 3 years ago because he put Swamy Vivekanandas picture in the School Diary, though the same diary had Mother Theresas picture which no one objected.

We need the Government to initiate plans to revive the glorious traditions and thought process of Hinduism, Vedic Studies, Propagation of Sanskrit and ensure there is a climate in the country where we can say with our heads high "I am a Proud Hindu, and this is My Country - Bharath"

For a beginning, can we change our Contry's name to BHARATH?

Much water has flown under the bridge during the past 40 days since the last post.....

Lot of surprising things have happened since my last post 40 days ago......................................

 

BJP won a staggering 325 seats in the 403 UP Assembly...

 

More importantly, Modi showed the courage to appoint Yogi Adityanath as the CM. For the first time, Hindus, who have been at the receiving end all these decades, heaved a sigh of relief..

 

And.... Yogi Adityanath did not don the hat of a secular on assuming office. He took decisions that clearly showed his intentions to annul all the minority appeasement lawlessness of the years practiced by Akhilesh, Mayawati, Mulayam.........

 

Finally, we are seeing BJP moving towards taking care of Hindu issues, which augurs well for the future.

 

The New CJI of India, Justice Khehar, has showing remarkable maturity and common sense, abandoned the confrontational approach of his predecessor with the Government, and has genuinely tried to resolve the issues pertaining to judiciary. The SC is also seen to give sensible judgments, though the tendency to encroach into policy making domain is still visible......

 

CJI also offered to mediate on the Ayodhya Temple dispute after years of impasse, which set the ball rolling ..................

 

The path breaking GST is almost through and looks to be rolled out on 1st July 2017....

 

Roger Federer improved his backhand (at the age of 35) and won Australian open,  Indiana Wells Masters and Miami

Masters! And he beat Nadal thrice in a row!! (On this count, I have to congratulate his Coach Ljubucic. At Federers level, there is nothing much you can teach him. The Coach's role is limited to strategizing and making his life outside the court smoother, and perhaps strengthening him up mentally. But successful ones do try to add an arrow to the already overflowing quiver. Give a new dimension to his game.  Edberg did add an attacking streak to Federer and made him come to net more often, but Ljubicis has reworked his relatively weaker one handed backhand, and made it into a strong weapon. This has given a whole new dimension to Federer's game and is nothing short of a miracle. A former top 3 player himself, Ljubucic also has a strong leadership streak in him, and was active in the Players council and also was Europe's player representative in ATP).

 

Australia showed surprising pluck during their recent Test Series against India, though I guess Indians were a bunch of walking wounded after a long long season

 

Elsewhere life moved on as usual............

 

Rahul Gandhi continues to be in denial....

 

Kejriwal carries on making a fool of himself...

 

Pinarayi Vijayans Government in Kerala bumbles from one controversy to another, doing precious little...

 

Oil price remained stable in early $ 50s......

 

The Main Stream Media rambles on...............mouthing inanities...........

 

Next IPL is a day away................

 

There is a terrorist attack in the world every other week..................

 

 

Life goes on...

 

 

Election Commissions Tyranny

Sometimes I wanted to tear my hair out (not that I have much left, being bald) when I read the grand pronouncement of our Election Commission..........

 

It is bad enough that they wanted to enjoy displaying their naked power for 2 months whenever any election is to be conducted, by invoking the Model Code of Conduct, during which time the entire policy making comes to a stand still. They even had the temerity to tell the Union Government that it cannot propose any state specific projects for those States going to poll in February and March. Budget is for a whole year. Pray tell me why should a particular state lose some of its benefits for a whole year just because there is an election around the corner?

 

It still defies logic why our EC need polls spread over 45 days with Electronic Voting Machines, when 3 decades ago the same EC was conducting one day polls all over India with paper ballots with counting done on the 3rd day!! 45 days is too long a period, and with polls being held in 6-7 phases spread over a month and a half, the conditions under which Phase 1 voters vote can be totally different from those in which Phase 6 voters vote, which is totally unfair. EC has not learned a lesson from 1991 when the whole dynamics of voting changed between various phases due to the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi during the period between phases. Congress, that was on the verge of being wiped out, rode on the sympathy wave in the later phases and just about managed a majority using unfair means.

 

Our Election Commission is all hot air and no action. Last year they countermanded an election in 3 Tamil Nadu constituencies during TN Assembly elections because Candidates were seducing the voters with money. With only 3 constituencies to monitor, you would expect the EC to control this bribing during the bye elections 6 months later. Wrong. Now the major political parties were so brazen, they were knocking apartment and house doors and offering each voter Rs 2000 as cash. For those who were not in the house when the guys landed up at their houses, these parties opened booths - yes booths- in full public glare and you can walk up to the boots and demand money, and get it too. This is an absolutely true story and has been told to me by first hand witnesses and by people who availed these 'benefits'!!

 

Then there is the ridiculous cases of 'don'ts'. You can spend only 'peanuts' during election campaign, you have to file an affidavit showing your assets (EC doesn't know what to do if the affidavits are false, which more often than not is the case), no exit polls, no TV advertisements (Why cant parties use TV as a medium in a big manner? Why should you put a cap on expenditure?), no mikes after 10 pm, and campaign has to stop approximately 40 hours before polling starts (Why cant Candidates campaign even during election day?). Then there is the issue of the candidate not being allowed to talk about Religion, God, Caste, National Security, Virat Kohli, Salman Khan.......................... the list is endless. Absurd. Religion is the back bone of our social fabric. By putting restrictions on what can be discussed, EC is violating our right for Freedom of Expression, enshrined in our Constitution. It is time someone called their bluff.

 

The beauty is that the same EC cannot do anything in the event of a complaint of Electoral Malpractice! It has to be handled at the Judiciary level!! One can do anything one wants, knowing fully well our Judiciary will take 20 years to arrive at a judgement. Meanwhile you can be MP, Minister, Prime Minister or Kingmaker!! If you have any doubt, just look at P Chidambaram!

The more things change.................................

For 8 years Barack Obama promised 'Change'
He cant complain people did not pay heed to him! They brought the change by kicking out Democrats (and most of the establishment Republicans) to elect a rank outsider Donald Trump!!!


Everyone wanted Kohli era in ODIs to start
They got what they wanted, but it is old wine in new bottle. We still see Shikhar Dhawan, MS Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh!!! The more things change, the more they remain the same.


They thought Pinarayi Vijayan and LDF will bring prosperity to Kerala, after 5 years of corrupt UDF (mis) Governance of Oomen Chandy and Team.
They have been so bad, people are yearning for the misrule of Oomen Chandy!!!


For years everyone screamed for the next generation to take over from the Fab three of Federer, Nadal and Djokovic
Come 2016, the organizers are banking on the 35 year old Federer to reach the finals to ensure audience interest!!!

Consigning Left (il)liberals to the Dustbin

I was in Kuwait during the 2008 US Presidential Elections and before that the Democratic Primaries. There was a buzz of excitement of the 'Change' that Barak Obama was supposed to bring. Eight years down the line, when Obama leaves the Presidency, he has proved himself to be a damp squib, and self promoting nincompoop, a weak leader and one who managed to decimate his own Party. He leaves behind an America considerably weakened, both internally and globally, where Russsi and Putin has stolen a march over them, and are considered to be the Global leaders. What a Fall!!

 

We are seeing a tectonic shift in Global politics this decade. The hold of the left (il)liberals, who had a such a vice like grip over the global agenda, has loosened considerably. Modi in India showed them their places in 2014, and the left (il)liberals narrative in Middle East and Europe stood exposed like never before. They thought they could manipulate the Brexit 'no' vote, but David Cameroon ate crow. The left leaning politicians who wanted the status quo cried foul and tried to sabotage it. They were glum that their poster girl Hillary Clinton will win in US, and they can use her to set the agenda globally. But Americans were fed up with the Washington coterie (just like Indians were fed up with Luteyans coterie) and gave the left (il)liberals the kick up their ass by giving Trump, a maverick who stood for everything that is against the leftist (il)liberals profused, a resounding majority. After a shocked interlude, they tried all tricks in the trade to discredit Trumps victory, just like they did with Modi. But Trump, so far, has proven equal to the task. Unlike Modi, who lets the opponents vent their steam and keeps quiet, Trump gives tit for tat, and doesn't give a hoot for niceties.

 

I am not one to support Trump. I care a fig about his policies as it doesn't affect me, but I like his candour and the style of showing the middle finger to these leftist (il)liberals, who have manipulated generations of innocent people around the world through their machinations.

 

How I wish someone in BJP (other than Subramanyam Swamy, a class act)  take a leaf out of Trumps manual and consign the Indian left (il)liberals in their place, which is the dustbin.

Lady of Trivial Issues

Look at this scenario:

 

I head a Company as Managing Director. My Office Tea Boy comes to me everyday to decide how many cups of tea is to be prepared every day, what biscuits is to be given. Later, he goes to the Super Market and calls me from there as to which brand of Tea, Coffee or Sugar is to be purchased. Any I publicize this act of mine in the Company Journal!

 

Before you start thinking "What the heck?", "Is this for real?", "Does this guy call himself a Managing Director?", "Doesn't he have better things to do?", let me ask you,

 

"HOW IS THIS DIFFERENT FROM INDIA'S EXTERNAL AFFAIRS MINISTER'S ACT OF RESPONDING TO EVERY SILLY TWEET FROM OVERSEAS INDIANS ASKING FOR HELP, AND SHE TAKING ACTION ON IT?"

 

And our Media gives her maximum coverage, with comments section flooded with comments as to how Sushma is the best Foreign Minister India has seen!!

 

Frankly, it is all fine she is helping out individuals who tweet her, including someone who wanted a visa for his girl friend from Pakistan, so that they can get married! (and this when both the countries have hostile relationships!!).

 

Let me reiterate... this is NOT WHY SUSHMA SWARAJ is one of the Senior Most Ministers in Modi's Cabinet.

 

Her job is to improve India's relationship with all Foreign Countries, Manage the IFS, Improve Trade Relations and ensure India has a very high standing in the World.

 

Her job is to DEVELOP SENSITIVITIES IN INDIAN EMBASSIES so that Expatriates grievances are handled promptly by the respective Indian Officials in the Embassies.

 

I am an Expatriate for the past 16 years and can tell you that our Embassy officials treat us like dirt, even now. Nothing has changed. They are arrogant, rude and absolutely insensitive. One has to face humiliation even for getting routine things done like renewal of a passport or getting a document attested. Recently a colleague of mine, whose wife is in Canada, was planning on a 3 month visit to Canada, and had plans to travel with her. He had just two blank pages in the passport, and approached Indian Embassy in Oman to get it renewed. They refused saying he has enough space left in the PP!!. This was a genuine request turned down because of a stupid technicality and insensitiveness to an Indians genuine need. And this happened one month ago! Nothing has changed at the Embassy level, and getting it changed is Sushma Swaraj's job, and NOT THE PR EXERCISE she is undertaking now.

 

I have nothing against her. She is indeed one of the hard working ministers who has stayed away from controversies, and has taken a secondary role under Modi, who is aggressive on foreign policy. But I really wish she will buckle down to bring about changes in the system, than bailing out isolated individuals.