Redeemer of the Marathi maanus?

I was interested in finding out the reactions of bloggers to Raj Thackeray's onslaught on “para-prantiya” परप्रन्तिया (pronounced in Marathi) which means “people from outside the state of Maharashtra”. But to my dismay, the event seems to have been ignored or at best, given a passing mention in the blogosphere.

What Raj is doing is not new. Neither is it unique to Maharashtra alone. Awakening the linguistic identity of a populace and instilling a sense of injustice and hurt pride in them is the easiest way to get ahead in Indian politics.

About two years ago, Raj Thackeray had separated from the Shiv Sena because he saw no meaningful future for his political career in the party as Thackeray Sr had thrown his weight behind his own son, Uddhav. At that time, the tone of his politics was progressive and pragmatic. There was no rhetoric which the Sena was famous for nor was there pandering to the linguistic or religious sentiments of people. After the initial hoopla about how the emergence of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena could affect future elections, everyone seemed to forget about the man. A small local election ensued and the MNS had a poor showing. A large number of MNS workers who had come in from the Sena were contemplating a return. With his back to the wall, our hero had no other option but to take refuge in the oldest and sure-fire strategy to win a votebank for himself.

Having said this, the “Marathi maanus” propaganda is neither without basis nor has it failed to evoke strong support among the locals, particularly in the larger cities like Mumbai. The ever-increasing influx from other states is getting a bit tiresome. There is a feeling among the locals that the outsiders bring in their own alien culture and never make any attempts to harmonise themselves with the local ones. There is also the sentiment that the outsiders look at say, Mumbai, just as a place to milk and make money and then go back to their roots in their home states. These feelings are not unjustified. Particularly if you look at the UP-Biharis, who are currently the target of the MNS, these have increasingly begun to assert their presence in the state. The “chat puja” which is largely a North Indian festival may have been celebrated in Mumbai for many years. But of late, the event has started attracting huge money and hype. The celebration of the UP diwas was totally uncalled for. Worse, the UP-Biharis are finding influence with the local politicians who are finding their sheer numbers a convenient vote bank. The increasing clout is represented by the cabinet minister Kripashankar Singh, who is from UP, but now a minister in Maharashtra.

Amitabh Bachchan’s fans may cringe at the MNS chief’s diatribe against the superstar. However, Raj uses the Big B only as an example to prove his point. Despite having made a name for himself after staying in Maharashtra for so many years, the Big B has become an ambassador for UP. Which means what? That the Big B has his roots in UP! This must be true for most of the other Upites. If you have roots in one state, you will never ever want to assimilate in the ethos of your adopted state.

As Raj Thackeray in his May 3rd carefully drafted speech outlined, language chauvinists from all states are guilty of poisoning minds. Many of the arguments put forward by him are not easy to refute. He read out a statement attributed to Sonia’s partner in govt, Anbumani Ramadoss, who has warned Dravidians against Rajnikant’s attempts to come into the centerstage of TN politics. This, despite, Rajnikant (who is a Maharashtrian) has completely transformed himself into a Tamilian and is a hero to the locals there.

We know of language chauvinists in other states like Andhra, Karnataka etc.

We also know how it is difficult, nay impossible, to have a comfortable stay in capital cities of states if you cannot follow the local language – try living in Chennai without knowing Tamil or in Kolkata without knowing Bengali. The lingua franca in offices is not English, it is the local language. But in Mumbai, you need not really know Marathi. Hindi is good enough. That shows the liberal attitude of Maharashtrians. It is this liberal attitude which politicos like Raj Thackeray is trying to change for his electoral gains. You can fault him for his crudeness and foul language, but you cannot bar him legally, as Home Minister RR Patil has recently found out. Then, politicians cannot be given moral sermons too. So how does one stop him?

Not easy. In a country where states are drawn on linguistic basis (a Nehru legacy), we must be prepared for hardening of such identity differentiation. Only if you redraw the states on some other basis, will the language identity be dented. To take the poison out of Raj’s bite, we have to first take away the luxury that chauvinists from other states have.

Then, and only then, can we look at Raj Thackeray in the eye and tell him to shut up!

Going backward and forward

What is the cause of backwardness? What is the need to entitle backward castes for reservations?

Is it because they have some “inferior” traits passed on through their genes?
If yes, then should backward caste children who have been adopted by forward caste parents be entitled to the reservations? And vice versa, should forward caste children who have been adopted by backward caste parents be excluded?

If no, is it that the environment in which they live makes them backward?
(Then in the reverse of the earlier point, what about the adopted children?)

Is it because their parents may not be educated?
(Then, should the criteria for determining backwardness be the “non-education” of parents, rather than the caste?)

Coming to reservations, I hear often that reservations are required because the backward castes have been oppressed for centuries. Is there any proof that any of MY forefathers have oppressed them?

Even if there is, should I be subject to punishment because of what my forefathers may have done?

I have read that in those days when the caste system was more pronounced, there were four varnas – brahmin, kshatriya, vaishya, sudra – each having their specific functions to perform. In my limited knowledge on the subject, Brahmins were supposed to be the scholars, the kshatriyas were the warriors, the vaishyas were the merchants and the sudras were the service providers to the other three.

By virtue of pursuing these functions over generations, these castes must have acquired certain traits – talking generally –, which are required for effective performance. For instance, making sweeping generalizations, Brahmins may have acquired a scholarly bent of mind, the kshatriyas may have acquired aggression, sportsman skills, etc. the vaishyas may have acquired business acumen and guile. What about the sudras? Well, is there nothing desirable about them that is worth acquiring. So they have to be uplifted through reservations?

Alright, but are “scholastic skills” the only traits desirable in these days? Shouldn’t then Brahmins be given reservation in sports and businesses? Or Kshatriyas be given reservations in education and businesses? Or vaishyas be given reservations in education and sports?

If it is indeed genes which cause backwardness, then how many generations would it take for a particular family to evolve itself out of backwardness?

Or then, is it the environment?

While equal access and opportunity of education to all is certainly a noble objective, do we want everyone to be educated equally? Is that scenario possible?

Shouldn’t individual abilities determine the level upto which a person can be educated? If everyone is educated to the same level, would that mean that there will be nobody available for doing the so-called “lower level” jobs? Is that scenario acceptable to us?

Or, is it that people (regardless of their caste) would still be available to do the “lower level” jobs, albeit being more educated and hence having more aspirations, but forced to do them due to sheer market forces (demand and supply of jobs)? Would that be a happier situation for these people?

I am not even going to the more common-sense issues of what is the use of having reservations at post graduate level when the ones that really require upliftment do not have access to even primary education.

So, are there any reasonable answers to any of these questions?

Ugly side of on-field aggression

Will we ever see this scene again?

The ugly incident of Harbhajan Singh slapping S. Sreesanth was the lowest that Indian cricket has come to. Performance pressures may have taken their toll on the hot headed sardar but that is no excuse to behave physically with an member of the opposing team, whatever the provocation may be.

This leads to a larger question. The IPL, which seeks to polarize the nation’s cricket fans according to their regional identities, may eventually be successful. However, one only hopes that this does not split the already fractured Indian cricket team.

In the midst of all the Mumbai Indians, Kolkata Knight riders, Chennai Super Kings, Rajasthan Royals, Delhi Daredevils and what have you, one must not forget that many of these players from different teams have to come together and play in a cohesive manner when they play for their country. Will that be possible when the chasms become so deep?

Like one commentator remarked, regional teams were always prevalent by virtue of the Ranji Trophy tournaments. However, the focus was not as sharp since the publicity as well as the money of the two situations are on completely different scales.

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P.S. There is an attempt by many news discussion commentators as well as some sections of the public to give a sense of balance to the issue by saying that even Sreesanth is not a saint, pardon the pun! However, the rebuttal to that, as Navjot Singh Sidhu rightly and articulately put it, is that Sreesanth may be an aggressive player on the field, displays his aggression very crudely, shakes his jiggy after taking a wicket and so on… but that is part of the game attitude. That does not give anyone the right to box the guy! In any case, whatever the provocation by Sreesanth (I believe, he just said “Hard Luck” to Bhajji), this cannot be condoned!

Lets see where the matter goes!

PC must go!

R. Jagannathan, who has an occasional column in the DNA, is a writer who I can relate to on many topics. One of them is his views on the economy.

.....

I have always felt that the halo behind our current Finance Minister was preventing most rational observers from noticing the mess he was creating. But Jagannathan, in today's column, hits the nail on the head!

"During his tenure, the finance minister has presided over successive years of high growth. But the economy would have grown at close to this rate even if comrades Gurudas Dasgupta or AB Bardhan were finance minister instead of Chidambaram"

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Read the rest of the column here:

Patriotism symbols

Last Sunday's "We the People" had Ms. Barkha Dutt arranging a group of cocky and opinionated speakers talking about how it was okay to burn the national flag or sit down when the national anthem was being played! And the only people to protest were predictably, a retired soldier and a BJP representative, Smriti Iraani! It was plain obvious to everyone where Ms. Dutt stood on this issue as she giggled at the smart aleck comments of the majority of the speakers while joining issue with Smriti!

What amazed me was the comment of one guest, none other than an "eminent" blogger, Amit Varma of India Uncut. He asked a strange question, "Can patriotism be enforced?" I wonder! So are you trying to say that patriotism is a matter of choice? Is it okay to say - fine, so you are not patriotic to India, I still love you? Its shocking that such things are even discussed. According to him, there should be no holy cows! I wonder if even the sentiments of the soldiers who die on the battlefield can be then debated?

And then there was a charade of the national anthem (of Bharat Bala) being played in the studio and everyone standing up. And predictably, a PYT started murmuring that she stood up only because of peer pressure otherwise she would have sat down. Her query, "If I sit down while the national anthem is being played, does that make me less patriotic?" Ok, I touch my parents feet when I take their leave. You might give them a smack on their face and say "That doesnt mean you love your parents more than I do mine?" So what can I say? Its a question of different styles of demonstrating the love and respect, I guess!

A fitting reply

Been extremely busy these days and all plans of regular blogging going awry!

Yet, I couldnt resist highlighting this brilliant reply given by the BJP to the CPI(M)'s "political resolution"

http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=1146689

“Over the last six decades since Independence Indian politics has become bi-polar and the chimera of the so-called Third Front is solely to frustrate the growth of the BJP and prevent it from coming to power. The people of India deserve better than an attempt to subvert the will of the masses through the formation of a Third Front. A hoisted political enterprise conceived in haste to subvert the true will of the people will never succeed. History has numerous lessons to teach.”

How very true!

If only the BJP could convert its ideas into action on the ground more effectively and forget all those internal squabblings by its leaders!

Sad but....!

BB's assassination is a brutal, tragic and heartwrenching story alright, particularly when viewed from the eyes of her three young children, one of whom is all set to take up the dynastic reins of the political party! So much for a democratic succession from a supposed democratic crusader!

While the event is certainly grim and may have some serious implications for India if the situation isn't handled properly, the media needs to get some grip on itself! BB was a great leader and ga ga and all that, but some sections of the media who are painting a pretty picture of the politician having a soft spot for India need to get their history right.....

Thanks so much to Francois Gautier for this breath of fresh air among all the nauseating obits!

Thats a good one!

With the hype and glory being showered on Lalu Prasad Yadav for his "turnaround" of the Railways, one ached to read some counter views.



I read one today in the Financial Express which gave details about how the Railways was showing signs of a turnaround from 2002-03 (when the previous incumbent, Nitish Kumar was the Minister). It also gave an account of how the Railways had still a long way to go as far as providing efficient and bare minimum comfort services to its passengers.

But the best (and smallest) piece was in the Economic Times today....
"Home truth LALU Prasad and his aide Sudhir Kumar are on the lecture circuit now, explaining how they changed the fortunes of Indian Railways. Recently, Mr Kumar, an IAS officer from Bihar, was expounding on the strategy adopted by his boss and him for railways at the Indian Institute of Public Administration. However, he was stumped when some one asked him why his boss and him couldn’t first turn around Bihar. "

As they say, you can't fool all the people all the time!!!

Candidate voyeurism!

New election rules require political candidates todeclare their financial assets. The manner in whichthe media splashes these details on front pages leavesa feeling of distaste. Ogling at the private detailsof an individual financial worth, whether out ofcuriosity or otherwise, tends to whet one’s baservoyeuristic instincts. Discussions on someone’sfinancial status are usually kept out of the publicrealm, on account of social propriety (and nowadaysincreasingly due to security concerns).

(The latest media onslaught is on Ms. Supriya Sule's considerable wealth! Not that it makes any difference to her political fortunes)

The said revelations, while perhaps noble in their intention,ought to have been kept under strict confines of theEC records, divulged only to economic watchdogs like IT, IB, ED, etc for their investigations, if any.

Praywhat influence does the EC feel such data ought tohave on the voting public?

LRL Rocks!

Ok, I haven’t been on the inside of a military academy. I haven’t been a scout in my boyhood. So I can safely count myself among the laymen as far as military training circuits are concerned.

Hence the serial on SAB, “Left Right Left” does look quite interesting. Or should I say refreshing. I had given up on Hindi serials after every other venture degenerated into the saas-bahu stuff sooner or later.



I started watching this serial because of the lead actor Rajeev Khandelwal. This man had become famous (particularly with the fairer sex) after his Sujal act in Balaji’s “Kahin to hoga” – which used to be aired at an unearthly hour of 11.00 p.m. on Star Plus. (I think it still goes on – as all saas-bahu offerings of Balaji go). And he had quit the serial after he became dissatisfied with his role. I have never watched Kahin to Hoga. But in Ketan Mehta’s Time Bomb, I found Rajeev’s performance quite engaging. Hence when I learnt that LRL had him as the lead, I became interested.

LRL takes time to get used to. No glossy sets, no rich people around, no vixens in gaudy bindis and noodle straps, - just plain normal looking people.

The cadets are also believable people and an assortment of characters having both black and white shades, which make them look realistic. My favorite character as of now is Alekh - a brooding tapori with a wry sense of humour!

Thankfully, the serial has become quite popular – I was afraid the TRP game would force the channel to pull it down prematurely.

Just hope it is able to maintain the initial euphoria!

Choking over a Song!

The manner in which a ruckus has been created over the Vande Mataram song is quite infuriating. While the mullas have predictably played spoilsport to what would have been an uplifting patriotic event, the media has once again demonstrated its bias very blatantly. The rare exception to this was the RKB Show on Sahara Mumbai. (Surprising, since the Sahara boss is so close to the Samajwadi Party!)



The RKB Show discussion had one mulla (I don’t know his name and don’t care) who went on to say that not only Vande Mataram but even the Jana Gana Mana song was objectionable. And RKB was aghast! Of course, the very next day, he sang a different tune after he got Tushar Gandhi on board who went on ranting about the compulsion factor!

Swati Chaturvedi on Janmat was trying to get a word in between about patriotism “Thopa nahin jaa sakta”! {Patriotism cannot be forced upon!} Swati? Are you saying being patriotic is optional? I can understand somebody saying that merely singing the song does not a patriot make! But surely, one cannot say that patriotism cannot be insisted upon!



Predictably, Vinod Dua disregarded his own SMS survey which showed 70% results showing people voting for Option A – which was completely against his rant! His problem was that BJP was making this a political issue! He got (of all people) Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi (through satellite), who was making a good attempt at explaining the position of the BJP, but was hampered by his own religion! He was being ridiculed by a member of the AIMPLB and Vinod Dua was merrily enjoying the show along with Nilotpal Basu (in his studio) who was trying to sound very intellectual analyzing the "divisive nature" of this song!



The less said about the way it was covered by NDTV, CNN – IBN and Times Now, the better!

Its only a flag, yaar!

Do you see anything strange in this photograph?

No?

Then, um... maybe you should look at this next picture. Perhaps that should give you a clue?

Got it?

Yes! The Indian flag has been fluttering UPSIDE DOWN at Forest Hills, where our Sania Mirza is waiting to crash out of yet another tournament.

http://specials.rediff.com/sports/2006/aug/25sania-sld4.htm

Well, after yesterday's outrageous incident at the Dutch airport, here is yet another unacceptable occurrence where the Indian dignity has been undermined.

Its surprising nobody has even noticed, leave alone protested, about this! Even the Rediff article writer appears to have missed this glaring faux-pas!

Overgrown village!

The daily drudgery of a Mumbaiite (or Mumbaikar, if you please) cannot be described in a blog, or for that matter, even in a voluminous novel. Only experiencing it first hand can impart the exact feel of the matter.

The suburbs of Mumbai, which were erstwhile villages are now unable to bear the burden of urban onslaught. Particularly the areas near the railway stations are the worst. In most of the suburbs, the roads leading from the station to the arterial Swami Vivekananda Road are a nightmare. Narrow width, with chawl like constructions lining on either side, glitzy shops, hawkers outside these shops and the pesky autorickshaws together make up the chaos. Pedestrians have to fight for walking space in the midst of all these obstacles. On a rainy day, the problems get compounded with water-logging and digging all over. The evening scene particularly, is one that will be etched in the memory of any occasional visitor to these parts.

With vested interests working against any reforms in the situation, there does not appear to be light at the end of the tunnel. Or atleast for now, the tunnel is yet to come to an end.

Shubh-aarambh

The eve of our 60th Independence Day is a good day to get this blog going. Right now, I’m quite clueless about the direction this will take, but I guess, it will evolve as time goes by. Its all very vague and abstract at the moment.

Currently, I’m in the midst of a job change and hence a bit muddled in the head. Yes, I keep getting those inspirational sparks now and then, but to translate them into blog entries is altogether another thingy!

So, there goes! My very first entry on my very first blog! Hoorahhhh!

Jai Hind!