WHY OUR COUNTRY NEEDS YOGENDRA YADAV

I have nothing against Yogendra Yadav, in fact I have a lot of respect for him. But in case you are not able to understand why our country needs Yogendra Yadav, just think about this. If and when the BJP becomes the opposition party at the Centre, they can't criticize the ruling party when fuel prices go up, because they now know that fuel taxes need to hiked to sustain economic growth. They can't criticize when economy tanks, because it's all cyclic. They can't criticize when unemployment hits new lows, because selling pakodas needs to counted into employment. They can't criticize falling rupee because it depends on a lot of macro-economic factors most of which are not in the Government's control. They can't critize damage to environment, because environment destruction is inevitable for progress. They can't ask for debates in Parliament because our country suffers from too much democracy. And when they can't criticize and people start protesting, they can't support protesters because they are all funded by Pakistan, Khalistan, China, etc. So who will stand up against the Govt and support the protesters? One and only Yogendra Yadav. Yesterday, today and tomorrow!

HOW THE NDA GOVERNMENT HAS BEEN PERFORMING SO FAR

An honest scorecard of the current NDA Government purely in terms of performance will not be great. I think the BJP realized this in 2019, and so they possibly hijacked the elections with nationalism debate rather than the development debate they took in 2014. Unless the opposition succeeds in getting the debate back to development, they are probably going to continue having a tough time standing against the BJP machinery. And in the interest of the nation, I hope the NDA Government gets back to development agenda instead of its cleverly conjured nationalistic agenda and starts showing real performance.

All of these are pre-COVID global rankings of India, they're probably worse post-COVID.

Global rankings that have risen by more than 5%:
Infrastructure Index: 54 (2014) to 44 (2018)
Corruption Perception: 99 (2013) to 82 (2019)
Economic Freedom: 120 (2013) to 113 (2020)
GDP per Capita PPP: 137 (2013) to 125 (2019)
Access to Electricity: 140 (2013) to 132 (2018)

Global rankings that have fallen by more than 5%:
Education: 63rd percentile (2015) to 68th (2020)
Global Hunger Index: 73rd percentile (2014) to 87th (2020)
Worse Inflation: 22 (2012) to 15 (2019)
Unemployment: 103 (2014) to 88 (2020)
Infant Mortality: 46 (2013) to 52 (2018)
Happiness Index: 107 (2013) to 142 (2020)
Global Freedom Index: 75 (2015) to 111 (2020)
Democracy Index: 27 (2014) to 51 (2020)
GDP Growth: 31 (2013) to 57 (2019)

Global rankings that have more or less sustained:
Fiscal Balance: 148 (2013) to 144 (2019)
Capital Investment: 5 (2013) to 5 (2018)
Dollar Exchange Rate: 66 (2013) to 66 (2019)
Maternal Mortality: 55 (2014) to 55 (2018)
Human Development Index: 130 (2014) to 131 (2019)
Press Freedom Index: 140 (2013) to 142 (2020)

References:
https://www.theglobaleconomy.com
https://lpi.worldbank.org
http://hdr.undp.org
https://www.transparency.org/en/cpi
https://www.eiu.com/topic/democracy-index
https://www.prosperity.com/globe/india

WHAT MIDLIFE CRISIS?

Is 40 a milestone to rejoice or to be melancholic? Are we staring at a mid life crisis or have we started to realize that life indeed begins at 40?

Yes, some of us have lost our friends, some of our friends have lost their spouses. Some of us have lost our parents, siblings, close relatives. Some of these losses have even been unnatural. But then life moves on. Some of us have families, some separated, some are still happily single, and some will forever be. Some chose not to have children, some just accepted it. But we have earned to be here, each one of us.

We made it through school, through college, through those late nighters, through those early morning alarms. We took tests, a lot of them. We had interviews, a lot of them. Some of us chose not to join the job market, and we envied those who joined. Some of us who joined corportes envied those in startups, some in startups envied those who started up. But the truth is that, life is always greener on the other side, and we know it.

There is no reason to look back with regret or look ahead with anxiety. We just have to feel happy, be thankful. If we have reached this far, we have to be absolutely proud about it. If we have reached this far, we can also be sure that we will most likely make it very far before we bid adieu.

40 is definitely not a milestone to reflect on the sad state of our personal affairs. It is a moment to take a deep breath and gather back the energy. If we have to honestly admit, any phase of our life felt the toughest at that time. Weren't we terrified by our teachers, only to be laughing about it in our college? Weren't we worried about landing in a job, only to be thinking whether that was even right later on? House, marriage, children, parents - each of these phases has passed and will pass.

I don't know whether life begins at 40 or not, but certainly life continues, and continues very well.

Ask a pilot about being mid air. Yes, there are hundred things to take care of, but this is probably the least risky segment of the journey. The hard work has been done to reach here, and the landing at some point is inevitable. But until then, we just have to put on our cruise mode and continue flying, taking care of occassional rough weather and bumps.

What midlife crisis? Enjoy the ride!

Busting some myths around Nehru

While it may or may not be time to move on from Nehruvian politics, it's certainly time to move on from the politics around Nehru. Busting here some of the myths around Nehru. I know for every evidence, there is an equal and opposite evidence, but I am writing this after reading the two sides of evidence. I could be wrong, as much as you are.

1. Allegation: Nehru cried for the PM post

The Congress leadership post independence wanted someone who could lead the country for the next 1-2 decades. Patel was not only in his 70s but was also ailing (he later died in 1950). When Nehru was asked to take over PMship citing these reasons, he put it as a pre-condition that Patel will have to be number 2. In fact, Patel and Nehru had a lot of respect for each other.

2. Allegation: Nehru was solely responsible for Article 370

Kashmir was given special status because, even under British rule, the British controlled only defence, communication and foreigh affairs of Kashmir while the adminstration was under the Maharaja. Post independence, the princely states had the option to choose between India and Pakistan. Article 370 granted the same pre-independence rights to Kashmir. As against the recent narratives that Nehru was solely responsible for Article 370, there have been many evidences now that both Patel and Nehru devised Article 370 together. In fact when Article 370 was cleared in the Parliament, Nehru was on travel, and Patel took up the job. There have even been instances where Patel had agreed on certain terms of the Article 370 but Nehru didn't. Even post-independence, Patel was open to the idea of allowing accession of Kashmir to Pakistan in exchance of accession of Hyderabad to India.

3. Allegation: Nehru got Indira in

Nehru did not lobby to get Indira as the PM, in fact he did not even want her to join politics. For many years, Indira was not made the Congress President solely because Nehru rejected the idea whenever her name was proposed. His first choice successor was not Indira, but JP Narayan, on whose repeated refusal he recommended Lal Bahadur Shastri to be his successor.

4. Allegation: Nehru borrowed the Gandhi surname

Indira Gandhi was not masked with the Gandhi surname to cheat the people of the country, but she inherited that from Feroze Gandhy who had changed his surname to Gandhi much before the marriage, for the respect he had for Gandhi. Feroze went on to be a revolutionary of sorts both pre and post independence, even challenging the Nehru Government in many instances. And no, he was not a Muslim, he was a Parsi.

5. Allegation: Nehru belongs to a Muslim traitor family

Nehru's grandfather was not a Muslim (even if he was, so what is a different genuine question, but let us leave that aside). The earliest ancestor of Nehru's family was Raj Kaul who was a Hindu Sanskrit and Persian scholar from Kashmir and migrated to Delhi in 1716. Kaul's surname became Nehru during this migration because they lived by the canal in Delhi (naher = canal). Raj Kaul -> Lakshmi Narayan Nehru -> Gangadhar Nehru -> Motilal Nehru -> Jawaharlal Nehru is probably the best lineage you could derive.

6. Allegation: Nehru had a relationship with Edwina Mountbatten

It's none of our business unless it affected the decisions and politics of the country, for which there is no evidence. Nevertheless, this has been refuted by Mountbatten's daughter Pamela, who had direct access to both Nehru and of course Edwina, and the letters that Nehru wrote to Edwina. She summarizes the relationship as one of love, respect and intellect, but nothing physical.

7. Allegation: Nehru did not strengthen our borders

When you have 65% of people under poverty line and very less money to play around with, it is not an unwise decision to build the country instead of the army. Nehru not only got the poverty percentage from 65% to 40% in 15 years, but he chose to build educational institutes (IITs and IIMs), healthcare institutes (AIIMS), dams, space institutes (ISRO), manufacturing units (e.g.SAIL) and more importantly, the supply chain for them. Blaming him for Kashmir and China is like blaming Modi for demonetization and GST disregarding Jan Dhan, Ujala, Ujjwala, infrastructure work, rural toilets, green energy, etc. Either we should accept Modi as a failure because of demonetization and GST or accept Nehru as a success discounting Kashmir and China. Yes, we lost 1962 but the fact that we won a critical and strategic war in 1967 with China, means Nehru and the Congress learnt their lessons.

That the Congress let the ball drop somewhere is a different story. I am not here to support or oppose the Congress or the BJP, but let us please move on from Nehru!

Five stages in a relationship

For all those 20 year olds, hmm ... may not be necessarily. For all those getting into, being torn apart in, trying to mend or feeling blissful in a relationship, this is for you, the five stages in a relationship. This is not completely original, got inspired when I was reading an article.

1. Butterflies - Excited about similarities, thrilled to see, talk and think about your person
Best illustration: You check mail / text now and then to see if there is something from that person
What to do: Just enjoy

2. Differences - Euphoria dies down, you are disappointed at differences
Best illustration: You feel the excitement of travel is getting lost in the processes of immigration
What to do: Dedicate some time for just the two of you

3. Questions - Routine takes over, trust is being threatened from multiple platforms, most relationships break here
Best illustration: You question yourself if it was the right decision
What to do: Think about what brought you together in the first place

4. Stability - You feel secure in the relationship, you begin to accept the differences
Best illustration: You realize you are both different individuals and have to be different
What to do: Keep building the bond and try complementing each other

5. Commitment - Congratulations, very difficult to fall apart after this
Best illustration: You no longer miss the romantic stage, you think this cannot be any better
What to do: You can now advise people on relationships or just sit back and enjoy yours

Can the BJP represent the nation again?

I supported the BJP in 2014, was neutral in 2019 but I am not sure if I would want to support them in 2024. After talking to a lot of people, after reading a lot of articles, after analysing a lot of things, and most importantly after realizing that whatever I am calling a lot is actually not a lot, here is my take on the current state of affairs in our country.

As I start writing, I very well realize that for every point of view, there is an equal and opposite view. Any stand I take is going to be based on limited information. But then not taking a stand is not necessarily the right thing all the time, especially in a democracy. So here is my stand, and I will be happy to come back to this later and realize how foolish I was.

The dream that was sold and was on track

2014 was all about Modi. A decisive leader with a good track record, striking the right chords, talking about economy, talking about India becoming a superpower, talking about the dreams of a billion people. He went beyond what he talked, and started ambitious projects like house for all, power for all, bathrooms for all, gas connection for all, bank account for all - I was truly impressed like the many who watched him in awe. Unprecedented crackdown on black money, busting of promotion rackets, getting accountability into bureaucracy, he was all over. Talk to bureaucrats and they will tell you how the PMO would call their landlines at sharp 9 am to check if they had checked in for the day. Thanks to falling global oil prices, inflation was under control. Ease of business rankings improved, and the new euphoria kept the markets happy

The U-Turns, some hasty moves and the usual repackaging

Post the UP elections or may be during that period, the priorities slowly started changing. This also coincided with Amit Shah taking centre stage, may be that was always the plan.

When Modi announced demonetization in 2016 at the peak of festive and wedding season overruling RBI recommendations, he would certainly not have anticipated that it would go on to trigger the downfall of the great Indian economy. Thousands of small businesses that had to suspend operations then haven’t recovered yet. From curbing terrorism, to curbing black money, to aiding digital payments, the goal posts shifted until some right-wing economist had to make an analysis about how real estate prices have fallen because of demonetization. Just that it couldn’t rise after that.

I was still giving the benefit of doubt to the BJP on this, until I saw reports going around that the money spent on elections by all parties have now almost halved across the country, but that of the BJP has almost doubled. Can you refute this? You cannot, because there is no transparency in political donations or election spending. Something that Modi had promised, only to do the exact opposite after assuming power by making corporate funding anonymous. May be the only thing that demonetization achieved was to flush out money from all political parties, which in itself was a great achievement. Except that the BJP “somehow” escaped! Was that the only motive then? The BJP had opposed demonetization while in opposition citing it was anti-poor, when Congress proposed a much less severe move of demonetizing old currency notes. And that was just one of the U-turns the BJP made. Bringing back black money from foreign accounts, restrictions on Govt ad spending, restrictions on FDI, concerns on Aadhar, campaigns against citizen surveillance - the BJP did a lot of U-turns that they will deny. The Congress will not accept its own U-turns either, GST for example. 

The BJP will say they changed a few important aspects of the GST and the Congress will say there hardly was any change. It is almost as if you need to oppose if you were in opposition and support if you were in power. Eventually, a Congress-created BJP-repackaged GST had to be rolled out hastily for the tax structure to stabilize before the elections of 2019. Nobody could help it, not even the opposition that claims this could have been done better. But GST was not the only repackaged scheme, the Congress will give a list of a two-dozen such schemes. Even the ambitious Smart Cities mission was a repackaged Urban Renewal Mission of the Congress. Oh, what happened to the 100 smart cities? Well, we have more important things to attend to right now, like religion.

The ghastly silence of the orator-in-chief possibly pointing at an incompetence

The Prime Minister who almost live tweets about his temple visits, his foreign trips, his election campaigns and global developments, notoriously stays silent on a lot of internal affairs. He does not talk about mob lynchings, which have supposedly and systematically increased. The Govt will say there is no increase, but will not quote numbers! The Prime Minister does not talk about farmer suicides any more. In fact, the Govt just stopped publishing official numbers on farmer suicides! And so did they stop publishing data on jobs, which apparently is at a 45-year low. The Prime Minister does not talk about the falling rupee any more. BJP supporters will tell you that this is because of the rising dollar! The Prime Minister does not talk about the rising fuel prices. BJP supporters will again talk about an irresistible economic theory to justify the historic high of the fuel prices! 

The Prime Minister does not talk about rising hunger levels or rising women crimes. From being in the 75th percentile of global hunger, we are now in the 87th percentile. From #4 in women crimes in 2013, we are now #1 across the world. GDP is almost forgotten. 2020 was supposed to be the year when India would surpass China’s economy, but we are 1/5^th of it today. Real GDP is in fact getting back to the 2008-09 downturn levels. The economy is in such a bad shape that a revolutionary move like corporate tax cut had to be played down by economists saying, "Why would you give money in the hands of millionaires when the common man is not spending?" The rarest press conference from the BJP on economy will talk about how Uber and Ola have slumped the sales of cars in the country. Just that there is no answer when asked about the falling truck sales. Only some honest people in the BJP like Subramanian Swamy will have the guts to say, “Get ready to say goodbye to Rs 5 trillion if no new economic policy is forthcoming. Neither boldness alone nor knowledge alone can save the economy from a crash. It needs both. Today we have neither.”

RBI, CBI, Judiciary – they were all in the media for wrong reasons. In fact, the media itself has been in the news for the wrong reasons.

But the BJP is silent on all of the above. Their silence takes prominence when you realize that these were all the exact same issues that they made a lot of hue and cry about, during their 2014 election campaign. The tweets of the then campaigner-in-chief, Mr. Modi will almost look like a perfect criticism to the current Govt if tweeted now, word-to-word.

Out of nowhere, the country is suddenly burning

When Modi 2.0 took over, people were expecting the Govt and its resources to be completely focused on the reeling economy, stalled business sectors, climbing inflation, the water and air crisis, stunted agriculture and neglected issues of education, healthcare and infrastructure. But all we saw in the first few months of the new Government are Kashmir, CAA and NRC. Out of nowhere, suddenly the country is burning. May be not really, only the BJP-ruled states are burning. Yes, the Government has every right to decide its priorities, but what is a Government that does not reflect people’s priorities?

While we were busy fighting over Gandhi and Patel, Jinnah slowly emerged as the father of our nation. His dream is almost a reality now. Just one more bill and a President's nod, the partition will be complete! #IndiaAgainstCorruption brought down the Congress. BJP’s detractors would like to believe that #IndiaForUnity will bring down the BJP. But can this juggernaut really be controlled now, even if the BJP wants to control?

We had months and months of protests for Nirbhaya. We had months and months of protests against corruption. We had months and months of protests against reservations. But violence was more an exception then. What has changed now? Subramanian Swamy, again being the honest guy that he is, says he is not too much concerned about the riots since this will result in Hindu vote consolidation. What? Does the BJP silently want the country to burn?

Loyalty is hard earned, can the BJP sustain it without a Balakot strike this time?

2019 is not the Modi we saw in 2014. 2019 is not the BJP that won elections in 2014. A general feeling has propped up that that this Govt has misplaced priorities, that the RSS and the BJP cadre fundamentally hate Muslims and the lower Hindu castes, that this Govt will block or manipulate all numbers to their advantage, that this Govt just talks, that this Govt can do anything to win elections. The latest protests on CAA and NRC is an example of this. The BJP can go on accusing the Congress or Left or Muslim organizations for these, but the fact that common citizens turned up in large numbers means the tide is turning. Numerous media polls in the last couple of weeks apparently sponsored by the BJP are backfiring. Not to mention the fact that the BJP has been losing state after state elections, much like how the Congress did, not long ago. Make no doubt, the Congress inspired its own "general feelings" as well and a good majority of Indians still don’t want to see the Congress again. But how did the BJP lose its goodwill so fast? Or have they?

Even with all the anger among BJP's voters because of dwindling economy and pieces of extreme Hindutva among other things, I think most will still vote for the BJP if elections were held now, because the BJP is still far ahead of anyone else. 

For more than four decades, the BJP was trying to establish its position against the Congress, but the nation was still loyal to the Congress then. And it's exactly the reverse now. People knew that demonetization was a botched-up attempt to curb black money, but they were able to see through the failure a possible good intent and voted the BJP Govt back to power, with even better numbers. NYAY is not that bad a scheme if offered along with removal of other subsidies, but then people were able to see through it one more Congress scheme that would end up in the vault of intermediaries.

Amidst all the achievements and controversies surrounding the BJP Govt, I think there is a subtle lesson here for all of us. That loyalty is hard to earn but is equally hard to disrupt. Sachin Tendulkar used to be someone like that. Towards the last few years of his career, even genuine fans of his were frustrated, but they would still turn on the television sets to see if he would make a century that game. And it took a decade for Virat Kohli to shift the loyalty towards him. Great vision, great product and great intent – even if it takes a long time to be bought in, is here to stay for a long time. Now that the BJP has that loyalty, it's up to them to manage the India of today and to create the India of tomorrow. 

Balakot or Bagalkot, if the BJP cannot represent each and every one of the 1+ billion people, they should just give the space for someone else to emerge. Party is always a distant second to the country, which shall and should always remain first!

The humble lads who took India on to the world stage

I have been wanting to write about these three for a long time now. Three humble lads, who took India on to the global stage through their talent, hard work and perseverance. To do justice to what they have done for themselves and for the country, I would certainly need to spend some time that I cannot afford right now. Hopefully I can come back to this later, pretty much like the 100 other things I have had to procrastinate, thanks to the lovely and challenging journey of entrepreneurship!

You don't have to always express

A few days back we found an injured pigeon on the road and gave her some space to recover in our garden. She didn't move an inch for three days. Hardly ate anything, just a little water now and then. This morning, we saw that she has flew away. While we felt a little disappointed that we probably won't see her again, we were obviously happy that she was able to fly again. Sometimes life is not about explicitly showing or taking gratitude, it's just about moving forward and doing what you can for others on the way.

5 things to learn before you are 30

Life may be different things to different people. To some, it is about playing, to some it is about learning, to some it is about suffering and to some it is about liberating. Whatever it is, life is all about growing, in whichever form you look at it. 

If the first decade of our life is about growing through playing, the second is the decade of growing through learning. The third decade of our life is possibly the period when we become ourselves, and this is the decade of growing through unlearning. How well we played in our first decade and how well we learned in our second decade will go a long way in establishing who we become in our third decade, and these together will probably carry us through our sufferings and possibly liberate us from them in our subsequent decades.

3 reasons to work out, 10 places to visit before you die, 20 things to do when bored - we always like to associate numbers with our lists. And everybody has his or her own set of lists. Here goes my list of 5 things to learn before you are 30.

1. Know to respect, but learn to challenge

It is extremely important in your formative years to listen to and respect what you are told. You have to learn the basics, you have to know the rules - and most people around you are good at teaching you those. It is only when you cross your teens that you start to notice people falling short of what you want to know from them. Suddenly you start to realize that there are multiple answers to the same question and different people have different answers. That is because post their individual 20s, they had started carving out their own selves and their size would obviously not fit you. You are now a fully grown adult with your own set of limits or no limits that define you. While it is very important to have known to respect the world till your 20s, it is important to learn to challenge as you reach your 30s.

2. Know to be patient, but learn to be impatient

Patience is a great quality that can win you almost anything in life, for nobody can win against time and if you learn to work with it, you have not only learnt the art of patience, but also the art of winning. While it is important to stay patient believing in your hard work, it is also important to learn the art of impatience, because only the impatience to know more, to achieve more, to know and achieve more in quick time will get you to where you want to get to. You got to say "A for Apple" when you are 3, not when you are 30!

3. Know to say yes, but learn to say no

As much as it is absurd to imagine at 10 or 15 that you know the world, it is absurd to assume that you do not know the world when you reach your 30s. While it makes sense till you reach your adulthood, to say yes to most things thrown at you, it becomes critical to have figured out the principles that you want to stand for, as you reach 30s. In the process, you need to realize that yes is not always a great answer. People around you are not always right, they have compromised in life and will probably urge you to compromise. You have compromised many times in your life too. But this is the time to stand for yourself, for what you think is right. In the process, if you are proved wrong, so be it, you already know how to say yes anyway, don't you?

4. Know to follow, but learn to lead

You have followed enough. You know what your strengths and weaknesses are. You know when to follow and when not to. You probably know that you are good at leading where others fail to. Come the 30s, you better be prepared to lead, for your leadership can change something in this world, small or big. Leadership does not mean you need to have 100 people following you, you can even lead a one-man army and make a difference to this world, the world from which you have so far just consumed. Many times you have to follow, for contribution is critical, but some times, leading is the contribution.

5. Know to be attached, but learn to get detached

It is important to be attached to the results during your childhood, for only that can help you understand the pleasure and pain of winning and losing. But it is important during your adulthood to free yourself from all of it, because you will no longer have the time to exalt over wins or rue over losses. Life is bigger that any of those. Life is calling on you continuously, and you cannot afford to dwell on a particular deed too much. Do, not to achieve a result, but do because it is your responsibility. If you have still not learnt how to derive happiness out of catering to your responsibilities without attaching yourself to the results, you have some serious thinking to do.

You may challenge me in any of the above, you may say no to many of the above - it just means you are doing the right thing. You better find out what you need to have known and learnt by the time you are 30. My list is, and will certainly not be your list!

Are we our own celebrities?

As a boy, even more than I am now, I was remarkably silent. I liked to listen more than I liked to talk. Not that it was an unusual character to find, but you can find traces of that disposition in me even now. Advices from my father used to be my favourite classes then, and I can still listen to his advice all night. Moral stories from my mother used to be my favourite movies then, and I can still be caught in rapt attention when she tells stories to kids around.

As I saw the boy in me transition into a young man, I had to realign myself over and over, for my perennial thinking and life’s learnings provided enough contradictions. For everything that I saw and everything that I heard, there were three people inside me – one arguing for, another arguing against, and the third trying to arbitrate the two. I was constantly trying hard to find the middle ground, and evidently I was trying to push people towards that middle ground too.

When someone argued for God, I argued against and when someone argued against, I argued for. When someone opposed reservations, I supported and when someone supported, I opposed. I did not spare even love and marriage. I would have given my parents the worst nightmare of their lives when I took them on during arguments on why marriage was such a selfish invention by mankind. Vegetarianism, animal rights activism, terrorism – I had my own views on everything.

It was some time in 2006, eight years back, that I first took on to blogging to capture all those contradictions inside me. Not that I had a fan following, but my silent disposition did not allow me to vent out my contradictions elsewhere. The accumulated contradictions had me vigorously blogging until I found that it was not just me that suffered from these contradictions, but that everybody in this world underwent the same too, just that they had different ways of dealing with them. With that realization, I found my blog redundant and I lost the motivation to continue it further.

Everything had to be contradicted, and so was this realization too. As I continued navigating on the boat of life, the belief that the entire human civilization suffered from contradictions got reinforced. But this time I felt if I had the patience to pen them down, I should, if not to capture my thoughts, at least to capture the thoughts of fellow humans. So I decided to start writing again.

But then with a gap comes rusting, a hesitation, an uncertainty of how to continue, a doubt about where to restart. It was then that I decided to go through my blog again – one by one, post by post. As I am going through my posts, memories are sailing past years. What was written in the posts was just filtered best of what I thought were my contradictions. As I am reading through them all over again, the thoughts are ruffling through my memories so much more than what was written.

I will come back to writing again when I am fully convinced that I should be writing. It is going to take some time, I am no celebrity and I do not have buffs waiting for me to restart my writing. But if I do return, the return will be dedicated to all those for whom they are their own celebrities.

The baggage of mediocrity

"I'm selfish, impatient and a little insecure. I make mistakes, I am out of control and at times hard to handle. But if you can't handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don't deserve me at my best."

I am not exactly sure under what circumstances Marilyn Monroe said this, but these charming words have kind of become the magic wand of the modern generation, a wand that they have chosen to use without restraint to wave against anything that questions their mediocrity. While Monroe had the magnanimity to confess about her imperfections before expecting some magnanimity in return, the modern Monroes often like to think that magnanimity is one way, and that is towards them.

Even before we can discuss whether mediocrity and imperfection are avoidable, we must understand the difference between the two. If you are a mother taking care of your family in every possible way but not able to avoid throwing tantrums at home in spite of trying your best, you are just being imperfect, not mediocre. Attaining perfection itself would depend on many factors most of which may not be under your control, but the attempt towards attaining perfection is surely under your control and that pulls you out from the crowd that is content with staying mediocre.

Yes, even if you're the moon, this world is going to debate about your grey craters asking whether that's flaw or beauty, so while the debate can go on about the frame of reference in the argument on perfection, the argument on mediocrity is fairly objective. There may be enough room in this world for all our imperfections, but I am not sure how much does exist for our mediocrities. It may be alright to be imperfect, but I don't think it is, to be mediocre!

The traveller, the wanderer and the nomad

It was a whirlwind, not exactly all over the country, but at least in all the directions of the country. The last three months had been packed with travel - most of it for business and a little for leisure. A bit of Gujarat and a bit of Goa, a bit of Delhi and a bit of Rajasthan, a bit of Bengal and a bit of Jharkhand, a bit of Andhra and there was even a trip to Bangalore. The last leg to Chennai and around is still pending and I may do that sometime in October or may postpone to some other time. But the good thing about the entire whirlwind was that I didn't have to do it alone.

I was kind of exhausted after every trip, because it was almost like traveling for the entire week, coming back in the weekend, packing and getting ready for the next trip. I would almost struggle to recollect immediately when I wake up in the morning, which city I was in. Logging in from the airport, attending calls from the railway station, making presentation decks in the taxi, sleeping in the bus stand - would have been a good short film to make out of.

Evidently I was not able to write anything here, and I don't expect to write anything for some more time, because there is a lot to catch up everywhere. And how much will I be able to write after that - I will leave it to life, its responsibilities and commitments to decide for themselves.

The Celebrity loop of Movies, Sports, Corporate and Politics

How many sportspersons have dated movie stars! How many movie stars have married industrialists! How many industrialists have family alliances with politicians!

Sachin Tendulkar is nominated to the Parliament, his century is felicitated by the Ambanis, and his family wedding will be attended by the Bachhans. When Sharukh Khan is stopped at the US airport, when he has a brawl at the cricket stadium, when he plays loud music on his birthday - they're all headlines. Don’t get me started about Aishwarya Rai’s motherhood or Manisha Koirala’s bibulous appearance. I’m not talking just about the greats here. Our celebrityhood obsession pervades the entire spectrum - from Rahul Gandhi to Rahul Sharma, from Anil Ambani to Anil Kapoor, from Pranab Mukherjee to Rani Mukherjee. How did all of this start? Why are we so obsessed with celebrities?

When the erstwhile East India Company first explored conquering India, they had sent a noted statesman to qualify the exploration. The statesman wrote back to the British Parliament saying he travelled across the length and breadth of the nation and only found high moral people of great caliber, and that if the British need to have any opportunity to make inroads, they first have to hit our self esteem. And thence was created the strategy that they will make anything foreign sound superior to the Indians, including the English language. Voila, they managed to do that so successfully that even after more than half a century of their exit, we are still obsessed with anything that is not our own. Nothing specific about Indians here, this is just natural human behaviour. Do celebrities personify that very same behaviour in us?

We want to be a hero, and our movie stars epitomize that. We want to knock any opponent out, and our sports persons typify that. We want to be able to make money, and our industrialists lead the way. We want to rule the world, and our politicians do that so well. Why wouldn’t we be obsessed with them? Distance does lend enchantment, whatever it be on the other side. Doesn’t necessarily have to be a movie star who attracts us, it can even be our neighbour. Anyone other than our spouse. Doesn’t necessarily have to be an industrialist, even our uncle who buys an expensive car can do the job. Anyone other than our father. It just takes a little bit of introspection to find out that if we believe in ourselves, if we are motivated from within, if we stand for what we’re, no force in this world can stop us from becoming what we want to.

All I want to say is, keep growing yourself, be attracted to yourself, fall in love with yourself, this world will follow you. You're the master of your own destiny. You're as as unique, as special, and as great as everyone else is. Stop looking at this world to find yourself, you’re what you’re. Look into yourself, and you never will have to look outside.

Are we passing the buck of responsibility?

Interesting things keep happening around to motivate me to write something, don't they? While I totally accept that the Members of the State Assembly better perform their duties well and not watch dirty videos during a working session, especially in a country where supposedly no one watches them, I am not sure how to differentiate watching in the Assembly, a dirty video from a normal movie or from reading a magazine or from reading a novel. Shouldn't all of these deserve the same punishment?

Unfortunately the people and the media don't think so. "When you're in power you better be responsible." I surely agree with this point. "People look up to you for inspiration, so you better behave inspiringly." I agree with this point too. In fact, it was the same line of argument that the Indian Government brought up when it tried to ban smoking scenes in movies. Interestingly, the same people and media did not like that idea. "If someone is going to smoke, he will smoke regardless of what the hero does." "A Don character cannot go without puffing smoke on screen." I agree with both the reasons.

But how is the inspiration logic different here? People's justification is that a real life inspiration is different from a reel life one. This is an extremely difficult supposition for me to support, but if people think that there are more teenagers looking up to our politicians for inspiration than to our movie stars, fine, I will take the point, I have not conducted market surveys. The moral of the story so far is that you can't expect the entire population to be responsible, do as much as you can to prevent bad inspirations and wrong motivations. With power comes responsibility. Perfect.

Now look at the picture on the left. The protestors are asking the entire population to be responsible while they want to have the freedom of their choices. This is perfectly fine too, people better be given the freedom to do what they want to, without harming others. The eyes that look at an art should be blamed and not the art itself. Ah, did I rake up an MF Hussain controversy here?

Don't get me wrong, there is surely nothing like telling the rapists, they ought to be punished, brutally. But do you see a blame game in all this? When others fall down, it's their clumsiness, while when we fall down, it's the misplaced stone. When others succeed, it's chance, while when we succeed, it's our effort. When it comes to others, they have to be responsible, while when it comes to us, still others have to be responsible. And leaders have no choice. Is it time we rose above the mediocrity of passing the buck? Absolutely no doubt that a leader has to be more responsible, but I think everyone has some power to be responsible and while it is fine to expect others to be responsible, it is finer to be responsible ourselves too.

My name is Ozymandias

I’ve come down for a wedding and I’ve a few more hours to check out of the hotel. There were a few other weddings too happening in the hotel, but looks like I’m the last one remaining to leave, everyone else seems to have left. As my heart was wishing happiness to all those newly wedded souls, I went around, only to see all the structures that were so lively till a few hours back sport a deserted appearance. Old structures were getting dismantled and new ones were coming up in their places.

I went through this during my own wedding as I saw those sets getting dismantled the next day. And that was not the first time a "dismantling" had created this feeling in me. Is this weekend a culmination of all those past weekends spent thinking about attachment and detachment, about emotions and reason, about shallowness and depth, about enjoying life at the moment and enjoying living itself, about being useful to oneself and being useful to others?

As I was thinking of all this, my eyes fell on the lovely ashtray in my room. I can already imagine all that it would’ve seen in its years of existence. A happy couple loving each other? A routine family with its usual fights? A group of friends partying? A loner having a sad cup of coffee? A businessman with a drink? But what is it all about? All the decoration and all the proclamation, all the music and all the dance, all the happiness and all the excitement, all the people and all the life:

And on the pedestal these words appear:
"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.

May be living for oneself is like breathing, but I think true living has to be about living for others. Sure, we didn’t carry anything when we were born and we won’t carry anything when we’re gone, but I think, we can die as someone who thought beyond himself, we can die as someone who was useful to this world, we can die as someone who made a difference to the lives of a few creatures around him. As we continue to breathe, let us not forget - we've to live too!