Recovering the Lost Ground

I strongly feel that if you don't write your blog as regularly as (almost) daily, you are not doing justice to this great leveler which Internet has given to us. In fact writing manually in this age of IT is a passé these days. I feel so horrified when I recall old days of writing examination. Being a student of Arts, all papers were generally theoretical in nature which required a lot of writings. In fact, the general feeling among the students was - the more you write the more you score. Although it never held true for me because as opposed to the stream, I was a staunch believer of Qualitative Writing. In fact in the examination hall, among peers, you were looked down upon if you submit your answer sheets before the due time. Most of the so called Pseudo Intelligent masterpieces were of the opinion that hold the sheet and keep writing rubbish until the examiner comes and snatches it from you and you have little or no time to even tie the supplementary sheets that you have filled in to befool the teachers would then evaluate you on the basis of your rotten writings. Being an excellent student (if you see my records), I always waited for the results and then could see the perplexed faces of those who wrote a ton of words but still couldn't score gracefully. Even then their first comment happened to be negative. "Why couldn't we score better than Rahul (that's me)? We filled in more sheets. After the year one of graduation they realized that Quality is a great asset and thus it was good to follow the same as I did. The next challenge was how to create this quality because unlike anything else, this comes with great practice.

Hey! I am drifting completely away from the discussion. Yes, we were talking about writing habits. I think there are a few exceptions who inherit this habit of writing and writing good quality without and exception and gap. There are few like me who have cultivated the habit of writing but are not so ardently following it on a regular basis. There are a few who write exceptionally good but would do this at rare intervals and then there are the ones who think writing is a waste of time. Many of you who adhere to the fundamental good of writing would agree to what William Shakespeare said: “To be a well-flavored man is the gift of fortune, but to write or read comes by nature.” So, those who rubbish writing as a wasteful effort not worth giving a thought, must rethink what they are missing in life. I am not saying every man on this earth shall now start writing. But at least those, who have good ideas, those who are creative, those who think there writing can create some change to this static world, MUST write.

Oh my god! I drifted away yet again. I was here to write about the lost ground between today and the time I last wrote but what an anecdotal discourse I just wrote on the virtues of writing.

Ananya, our angel daughter turned two months old (in fact a few weeks later she will be three months). Time since Vasudha conceived her till today seems to be defeating me on every count. It's been a year since we relocated to Delhi after having spent a year in Bangalore. I think it was just yesterday that we came back.

What a nightmare it was when I saw all my valuable household goods perished and come to me in unacceptable shape. Alas! Again I drifted. So, a lot has happened the last one month. One I just told you - Ananya is now two months running in her third. Mumbai was terror struck and I didn't waste that opportunity to write a couple of small pieces on that. as many as 5 Indian states went for a fresh mandate and look what happened...the tall claims of BJP were dashed and it remained confined to its popular bastions. In fact Indian National Congress snatched a traditional BJP stronghold and claimed power. I am talking of my home state Rajasthan. Congress also won Delhi the third time in a row and Mrs. Shiela Dixit (the powerful face of Congress who worked her way out to gain power for the third time) was again smiling at the faded faces of BJP - the same old morons Advani, Vijay Malhotra, Arun Jaitley and the likes...

India raised its voice (though for little or no consequence) to step up pressure on Pakistan to hand over the 20 Most Wanted terrorists but all in vain. Poor Manmohan whom I always refer to as the most ineffective Prime Minister of this country, couldn't even speak in strong words to condemn the attacks and take a firm step to curb this alone. He had to call Mrs. Rice (the US Secretary of State) for his rescue and mount pressure on Pakistan - the natural Ally of US in all times. I call it the helplessness of a state head when they are not able take a decision on their own in the interest of the nation. A lot of my colleagues rubbished my arguments to recall the diplomatic mission from Pakistan - which, according to me, could have been the strongest form of protest, followed by a strong and planned action to nab the coveted terror camps run under the guidance of ISI (Inter Services Intelligence - the breeding ground and guiding force for all the extremists originating from this land of Quid-E-Azam Mohhamad Ali Jinnah. Anyway, the exchnage of cold, hot and lukewarm dialogues still continues and this is how the incident will fade away in the ocean of history - nothing new to us.

Another fact emerging out from the elections in the 4 states was that Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (the so called savior of Dalits and downtrodden in India) increased her share of votes across all regions. Initially considered as a spoil sport, now Mayawati is on her way to claim power in Delhi. My strong feeling is the day she has over 50 seats in Lok Sabha (Upper House of Indian Parliament) she will be the most potent claimant of the leadership of this nation and there would be nothing wrong in it. If this is how we elect our representatives, why would she be deprived of a chance which she gets by fair means? Look at what she did in Rajasthan, MP, Chattisgarh and Delhi. Her vote share has touched or about to touch double digit figures. Most of the so-called elite classes of India are not able to relish this fact and start immediately abusing her. They also say it will be the most unfortunate or black day for India democracy if she is elected PM. I don't think so. If she acquires a ton of wisdom and use this opportunity wisely with a focus on development, she could be a better leader than many of the current ones.

Why would the so called elite like to see a Dalit/downtrodden lady like to see her emerge as the strongest leader. They know what their fate would be in that case.

I think I will keep drifting away from the main point. So, today I am stopping here and will come back as soon as possible.

Shoes Welcome George Bush

Ultimately it happened to the first citizen of The USA. A pair of shoes hurled at the joker - the outgoing President of the US whose name, if you ask, people would not like to place not only in the history of the USA but also in the World History for reasons known and unkonwn. Finally, George Bush Junior, the destroyer of the modern imperial empire called The USA got the deserved treatment. I wish it could have been more! This was the public way of expressing the sentiment and hats off to the guts of the Iraqi journalist who dared to do this. What if you can't take guns inside such meetings. A regular part of your basic attire can be a deadly weapon too and quite derogatory, if I may say so - enough to insult and to be ashamed of being oneself.

The journalist was probably the representative of millions of Iraqi people who have been under subjugation of the unauthorized (even if UN authorizes them) US occupation fo Iraq. I found it pretty usual and so would millions of like-minded people across the world who hate Bush for reasons more than one. From the day one of his presidency, he has done nothing but committed crimes all over the world. Yes, we all agree or rather succumb to the hegemony of the US post the cold war but this man (I hate taking his name with any kind of dignity) had neferious plans to sabotage every possible move taken for a peaceful coexistence in this world. Thank god we still have some power blocks left in this world like Russia and China otherwise this man could have done what we can't even imagine!

Before I close, I leave this link for you to enjoy it whenever you hate this man: http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=8o4W06CQbcw