The Invictus

The great Singapore sale starts today..The annual affair attracts thpousands of tourists who flock to the shopping districts of Singapore buying everything from DVDs to err...hmmm Bulgaris (well, cudnt find something that sounded well with DVD:-))...

Anything you want from here?

PS: Countdown for my return has started...4 days to go...

I know I've rubbed some people the wrong way (now now, you dont have to take everything I say literally!) by writing about ..err.."unconventional" and maybe for some, unpalatable issues. I agree this blog is not really the place for me to go writing long thesis on Indian history and stuff.

I have decided to spare you!

I have started a new & separate blog "Matrix of the mind" which will solely deal with my serious side. All my "unpalatable-to-some" stuff shall henceforth go into this new blog. This hopefully will help you to know what to expect, and then get what you expected:-)

So see you at the dark side of the moon...oops, shucks thats the wrong quote (Pink Floyd's influence, you see)..I meant, see you at the serious side of mine:-)

I received this as an email..Now what do you make of this?! Dunno whether its true or not, and will not comment on it either. But sure makes for interesting reading - fact or fiction. Read on!

In 1705, Guru Gobind Singh was chased out of Anantpur Sahib after a long siege by a force comprising Rajputs from Bilaspur (now drowned under Bhakra's Gobind Sagar Lake ) and Mughals from Sirhind. At a place now called Parivar Bicchora on the banks of a river, the Guru was separated from his two youngest sons and his elderly mother due to the river being in spate and the young/old being incapable of crossing.

He entrusted these members of his family into the care of a trusted servant called Gangaram Kaul, a Kashmir Pandit (part of the crew who came to beg Guru Tegh Bahadur for help against Aurangzeb) who promptly sold them out to the governor of Sirhind.

The Governor (one Wazir Khan if memory doesn't fail me) then tortured the two young sons to death in Sirhind and Mata Gujri (wife of Guru Tegh Bahadur and mother of Gobind ) died of grief as she was forced to witness this. (this happened in what is now Gurdwara Thand Burj Sahib and Mata Gujri Sahib, Sirhind).

Gangaram Kaul received a jagir in gratitude from the governor of Sirhind for delivering such "high-value" prisoners. The Jagir was on the bank of a lake ("Nehr") and the Kauls changed their names to Nehru as a result. Eventually Gangaram was put to death along with Wazir Khan (if that was his name) when Gobind's follower Banda stormed Sirhind in 1708.

Nehru confirmed the origin of the name change from Kaul to Nehru in "Discovery of India". Indira Gandhi eventually completed the cycle of vengeance when she avenged the death of her ancestor at the hands of the Khalsa by Operation Bluestar.

At the very beginning of his book, "The Nehru Dynasty", astrologer K. N.Rao mentions the names of Jawahar Lal's father and grandfather. JawaharLal's father was believed to be Moti Lal and Moti Lal's father was one Gangadhar Nehru. And we all know that Jawahar Lal's only daughter was Indira Priyadarshini Nehru; Kamala Nehru was her mother, who died in Switzerland of tuberculosis. She was totally against Indira's proposed marriage with Feroze. Why? No one tells us that !

Now, who is this Feroze? We are told by many that he was the son of the family grocer. The grocer supplied wines, etc. to Anand Bhavan, previously known as Ishrat Manzil, which once belonged to a Muslim lawyer named Mobarak Ali. Moti Lal was earlier an employee of Mobarak Ali. What was the family grocer's name? One frequently hears that Rajiv Gandhi's grandfather was Pandit Nehru. But then we all know that everyone has two grandfathers, the paternal and the maternal grandfathers. In fact, the paternal grandfather is deemed to be the more important grandfather in most societies. Why is it then no where we find Rajiv Gandhi's paternal grandfather's name? It appears that the reason is simply this. Rajiv Gandhi's paternal grandfather was a Muslim gentleman from the Junagadh area of Gujarat.

This Muslim grocer by the name of Nawab Khan, had married a Parsi woman after converting her to Islam. This is the source where from the myth of Rajiv being a Parsi was derived. Rajiv's father Feroze was Feroze Khan before he married Indira, against Kamala Nehru's wishes. Feroze's mother's family name was Ghandy, often associated with Parsis and this was changed to Gandhi, sometime before his wedding with Indira, by an affidavit.

The fact of the matter is that (and this fact can be found in many writings) Indira was very lonely. Chased out of the Shantiniketan University by Guru Dev Rabindranath himself for misdemeanor, the lonely girl was all by herself, while father Jawahar was busy with politics, pretty women and illicit sex; the mother was in hospital.

Feroze Khan, the grocer's son was then in England and he was quite sympathetic to Indira and soon enough she changed her religion, became a Muslim woman and married Feroze Khan in a London mosque. Nehru was not happy; Kamala was dead already or dying. The news of this marriage eventually reached Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. Gandhi urgently called Nehru and practically ordered him to ask the young man to change his name from Khan to Gandhi. It had nothing to do with change of religion, from Islam to Hinduism for instance. It was just a case of a change of name by an affidavit. And so Feroze Khan became Feroze Gandhi.The surprising thing is that the apostle of truth, the old man soon to be declared India's Mahatma and the 'Father of the Nation' didn't mention this game of his in the famous book, 'My Experiments with Truth'. Why?

When they returned to India, a mock 'Vedic marriage' was instituted for public consumption. On this subject, writes M. O. Mathai (a longtime private secretary of Nehru) in his renowned (but now suppressed by the GOI) 'Reminiscences of the Nehru Age' on page 94, second paragraph: "For some inexplicable reason, Nehru allowed the marriage to be performed according to Vedic rites in 1942. An inter-religious and inter-caste marriage under Vedic rites at that time was not valid in law. To be legal, it had to be a civil marriage. It's a known fact that after Rajiv's birth Indira and Feroze lived separately, but they were not divorced. Feroze used to harass Nehru frequently for money and also interfere in Nehru's political activities. Nehru got fed up and left instructions not to allow him into the Prime Minister's residence Trimurthi Bhavan. Mathai writes that the death of Feroze came as a relief to Nehru and Indira. The death of Feroze in 1960 before he could consolidate his own political forces, is itself a mystery.

Feroze had even planned to remarry. Those who try to keep tabs on our leaders in spite of all the suppressions and deliberate misinformation, are aware of the fact that the second son of Indira (or Mrs. Feroze Khan) known as Sanjay Gandhi was not the son of Feroze. He was the son of another Moslem gentleman, Mohammad Yunus.

Here, in passing, we might mention that the second son was originally named Sanjiv. It rhymed with Rajiv, the elder brother's name. It was changed to Sanjay when he was arrested by the British police in England and his passport impounded, for having stolen a car. Krishna Menon was then India's High Commissioner in London. He offered to issue another passport to the felon who changed his name to Sanjay.

Incidentally, Sanjay's marriage with the Sikh girl Menaka (now they call her Maneka for Indira Gandhi found the name of Lord Indra's court dancer rather offensive!) took place quite surprisingly in Mohammad Yunus' house in New Delhi. And the marriage with Menaka who was a model (She had modeled for Bombay Dyeing wearing just a towel) was not so ordinary either. Sanjay was notorious in getting unwed young women pregnant. Menaka too was rendered pregnant by Sanjay. It was then that her father, Colonel Anand, threatened Sanjay with dire consequences if he did not marry her daughter. And that did the trick. Sanjay married Menaka.

It was widely reported in Delhi at the time that Mohammad Yunus was unhappy at the marriage of Sanjay with Menaka; apparently he had wanted to get him married with a Muslim girl of his choice. It was Mohammad Yunus who cried the most when Sanjay died in the plane accident. In Yunus' book, 'Persons, Passions & Politics' one discovers that baby Sanjay had been circumcised following Islamic custom, although the reason stated was phimosis. It was always believed that Sanjay used to blackmail Indira Gandhi and due to this she used to turn a blind eye when Sanjay Gandhi started to run the country as though it were his personal fiefdom. Was he black mailing her with the secret of who his real father was? When the news of Sanjay's death reached Indira Gandhi, the first thing she wanted to know was about the bunch of keys which Sanjay had with him.

Nehru was no less a player in producing bastards. At least one case is very graphically described by M. O. Mathai in his "Reminiscences of the Nehru Age", page 206. Mathai writes: "In the autumn of 1948 (India became free in 1947 and a great deal of work needed to be done) a young woman from Benares arrived in New Delhi as a sanyasin named Shraddha Mata (an assumed and not a real name). She was a Sanskrit scholar well versed in the ancient Indian scriptures and mythology. People, including MPs, thronged to her to hear her discourses.

One day S. D. Upadhyaya, Nehru's old employee, brought a letter in Hindi from Shraddha Mata. Nehru gave her an interview in the PM's house. As she departed, I noticed (Mathai is speaking here) that she was young, shapely and beautiful. Meetings with her became rather frequent, mostly after Nehru finished his work at night. During one of Nehru's visits to Lucknow, Shraddha Mata turned up there, and Upadhyaya brought a letter from her as usual. Nehru sent her the reply; and she visited Nehru at midnight...

"Suddenly Shraddha Mata disappeared. In November 1949 a convent in Bangalore sent a decent looking person to Delhi with a bundle of letters. He said that a young woman from northern India arrived at the convent a few months ago and gave birth to a baby boy. She refused to divulge her name or give any particulars about herself. She left the convent as soon as she was well enough to move out but left the child behind. She however forgot to take with her a small cloth bundle in which, among other things, several letters in Hindi were found. The Mother Superior, who was a foreigner, had the letters examined and was told they were from the Prime Minister. The person who brought the letters surrendered them...

"I (Mathai) made discreet inquiries repeatedly about the boy but failed to get a clue about his whereabouts. Convents in such matters are extremely tightlipped and secretive. Had I succeeded in locating the boy, I would have adopted him. He must have grown up as a Catholic Christian blissfully ignorant of who his father was."

Coming back to Rajiv Gandhi, we all know now that he changed his so called Parsi religion to become a Catholic to marry Sania Maino of Turin, Italy. Rajiv became Roberto. His daughter's name is Bianca and son's name is Raul. Quite cleverly the same names are presented to the people of India as Priyanka and Rahul. What is amazing is the extent of our people's ignorance in such matters.

The press conference that Rajiv Gandhi gave in London after taking over as prime minister of India was very informative. In this press conference, Rajiv boasted that he was NOT a Hindu but a Parsi. Mind you, speaking of the Parsi religion, he had no Parsi ancestor at all. His grandmother (father's mother) had turned Muslim after having abandoned the Parsi religion to marry Nawab Khan.

It is the western press that waged a blitz of misinformation on behalf of Rajiv. From the New York Times to the Los Angeles Times and the Washington Post, the big guns raised Rajiv to heaven. The children's encyclopedias recorded that Rajiv was a qualified Mechanical Engineer from the revered University of Cambridge. No doubt US kids are among the most misinformed in the world today! The reality is that in all three years of his tenure at that University Rajiv had not passed a single examination. He had therefore to leave Cambridge without a certificate.

Sonia too had the same benevolent treatment. She was stated to be a student in Cambridge. Such a description is calculated to mislead Indians. She was a student in Cambridge all right but not of the University of Cambridge but of one of those fly by night language schools where foreign students come to learn English. Sonia was working as an 'au pair' girl in Cambridge and trying to learn English at the same time.

And surprise of surprises, Rajiv was even cremated as per vedic rites in full view of India's public.

This is the Nehru dynasty that India worships and now an Italian leads a prestigious national party because of just one qualification - being married into the Nehru family. Maneka Gandhi itself is being accepted by the non-Congress parties not because she was a former model or an animal lover, but for her links to the Nehru family. Saying that an Italian should not lead India will amount to narrow mindedness, but if Sania Maino (Sonia) had served India like say Mother Teresa or Annie Besant, i.e. in anyway on her own rights, then all Indians should be proud of her just as how proud we are of Mother Teresa.

My assignment will come to an end soon..and with that my globe-trotting days end too (well, for some time atleast)...but am I sad? Hell, NO! I'm going home, am going back to Mumbai!

Sydney was my last stop before I head back home...Here's a snap from Sydney: My last Opera at, where else but the Sydney Opera House!

Date: 20th May, 2004
Venue: Departure area, Changi Airport, Singapore

I pass through Immigration, and enter the world of duty free shopping..Have about an hour for my flight to Sydney..And I hear some loud music in the airport..follow my ears, and end up in front of a mini-stage which reads "IIFA Awards 2004, Meet the Stars of Indian Films".

As i listen to the pretty young thing tell me and the 20+ crowd how our day is going to be made: We would be meeting the biggest stars of Bollywood as they arrive in Singapore for the IIFA awards..Im, well, excited, i guess...esp since Im right in front of the stage!

As we wait for the stars to come out in the day, we are told that they have just landed, and should be at the stage in all of 5 minutes..and so they do!!

Sunjay Dutt.....wearing a white-shirt, and black trousers..

AC: (Shouting) "heyy Munna!!!"

SD: "Kaun hain be?"
AC: "Tera baap hain be!"

SD: (taken aback) "heyy hi, please come up...so, whats your name? and so what did you like so much about "Munna Bhain MBBS"?"

AC: (getting on to the stage, and taking the mike from him) "Mike Testing...1, 2, 3.."

Ha ha ha....

OK, that was what didn't happen.

What did happen however was....

A tall dashing man in a peppered french beard, in a deep baritone: "Hi, Its always wonderful to be back in Singapore..." (and then, turning towards me) "Hello" (waves at me).

I had met the biggest star of them all, even before I had taken to the sky:-)
I had met Amitabh, THE Bachchan!

PS: Well, The "didn't happen" portion didn't happen since I had to rush off to board my flight...

Off to Sydney tomorrow...be back next week!

This is a story i am writing even as I conjure up the plot...This is meant to be a movie that I have half a mind to make (uggh, only a half-mind would want to make this)...not any other movie, but a real arty sharty types....So, if you are rich, have some money to throw around AND also read this story, feel free to finance this movie for me!

You need to imagine this not as a story but as a corny movie script (and if my financier insists, please note there is more than enuff scope to add porn too)...Ok, here it goes...

************
Scene 1: [Dark background, no images, only sound]

Tak tak tak tak tak...(knocking on the door)
"Bhai saab", a sweet feminine voice.

(silence)

Tak tak tak tak tak...(few more knocks)

"Bhai saab....koi hain?"

creeekiyooon....(Creeking sound of a chair, someone getting up)

he he he...evil chuckles...followed by sounds of footsteps...

(silence)

"aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...........aaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh"

(Blood curdling screams)

*************
[Titles & credits come up]

[Disclaimer: Not all characters described in this story are fictional, and any resemblance to any man/woman/others, living, dead or otherwise, is mostly unintentional]

************
Scene 2: [cut to a shot of a house - not an apartment, but an out-house in a chawl]

I am sitting in my one-room house..yes its nothing more than a house...its not my home..strange, considering I have lived here in this very room for the last 5 years...hmmm...last 5 years...now that I think of it, it was 1985 June when we moved in..Did I say "We"? Yes, we were a recently married couple - Kamala & I..

Kamalanayani Jumanji (or KJ, in short) came from a rather rich family of zamindars..I was their Munshi's son..and our love had not known the great divide that existed between us, and on her 22nd birthday, KJ and I had eloped...and had come to Bombay..to this house, that we wanted to make our home...

The first few days of marriage was as usual bliss...I had managed to find a job as an accountant in ashi-yana textiles at a salary of Rs.500. we were more concerned about warding off all traces or evidence of our new existence from the angry eyes of my father-in-law (Badasaheb Jumanji, and nothing in short)..For 3 months and 13 days, I used to be scared, every single day, of coming back home from work, dreading the prospect of having BJ at home...

It was september 24th...I remember that evening very clearly...

******************
Scene 3: FLASHBACK [Black & White shot, rain lashing out as if to prove monsoon is still not dead]

It is 8:30PM and am returning home..and the rains, oh, when will these rains ever stop...look, my trousers are totally wet, and am holding a plastic cover over my head, while simulataneously trying to cover my shirt pocket...I bought that Gold ring that Kamala has been fighting with me for..Yes, we have been fighting for sometime now...Today, I finally managed to take a loan from the broker for this ring...I know this will surely be the last time anybody would lend me any money. Not before I repay their earlier loans..But today, I will also end our fights...I will give Kamala her ring...

[Flashes of lightening, and claps of thunder]

Door to the house is open, and there's no Kamala anywhere...wait, there's a note..

"I have decided to put an end to our agony. We both have not been happy with this marriage. And we both know it. I have lived in a life of comforts, and today I find my situation deplorable..I know you work hard and all that, but, I dont wanna burden you any further. I am leaving.

Goodbye forever.

Kamala

PS: I met the man of my dreams, your friend Atmaram Chandramouli (AC)."

[Camera zooms to a shot from above....open door, rain and wind lashing outside, curtains flying all over..and the hero in the centre of the room...letter slips from his hand, and flies away, carried away by the wind]

[END OF FLASHBACK]

*************
Scene 3 / Act 1: [cut back to the room, to the present, to color, minus the rain]

I am sitting by the window. And watching the world go by. Maybe I am still looking out for Kamala, hoping she would somehow pass by this same window...not because i miss her...because I can ask her why she did this to me...yes! I want to put this knife to her throat and ask her...and then have the pleasure of slowly slicing her throat...Wouldn't that be a joyful sight!!!:-)))

**************
Scene 3 / Act 2:

Tak tak tak tak tak (Knocking on the door)

"Post", the postman shouts out...

Tak tak tak tak tak...(few more knocks)

"Bhai saab....koi hain?"

creeekiyooon....(Creeking sound of a chair, someone getting up)

he he he...evil chuckles...followed by sounds of footsteps...

(silence)

"aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...........aaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh"

(Blood curdling screams)

**************
Scene 3 / Act 3:

I hate people. I hate people who knock on my door..And it almost always Postmen bringing me some bills or the other...its always one bill or the other..maybe i expect a letter from my kamala...maybe i expect an explanation to the questions that echo in my head...but no, its always the bills. And always the postman...No matter how many I kill, a new one always shows up..And this one was my 5th...and like the 3 other postmen like him, he had to die..What could I do? I had to kill him...Do i enjoy killing them? No, but it was their fault! They know i hate bills, yet....I think they are all sent by my evil father-in-law, BJ....Yes, its him! and sometimes he sends not only postmen, but also people in disguises...like the other day, when I had to open the door to that wretched woman who pretended to want some Sugar or tea-powder...Of course, i had to kill her too..All of them, a clean slice of their throat!!!but not before i enjoyed severing them - piece by piece..I first cut their feet...and when they start screaming, i shove the feet in their mouth....and then i slowly and deliberately slice off their left arm...and slap their face with it...and then i make them beg me for mercy...oh! I love the look of helplessness in their eyes!!but not for long, cos soon those helpless eyes will become helpless when I gouge them out...aaahhhh! the smell of blood as it sprays forth from those hollows of the eyes!!!!.and then after 3 minutes, 13 seconds of bleeding, I will finally start to slice their throat......

ha ha ha...

**************
Scene 4 / Act 1:

Tak tak tak tak tak (Knocking on the door)

"Post", the postman shouts out...

Tak tak tak tak tak...(few more knocks)

"Bhai saab....koi hain?"

creeekiyooon....(Creeking sound of a chair, someone getting up)

he he he...evil chuckles...followed by sounds of footsteps...

(silence)

"aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...........aaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh"

(Blood curdling screams)

**************
Scene 4 / Act 2:

Damn, bills and bills..always those bills....Kill Bills!

**************
Scene 5:

Tak tak tak tak tak...(knocking on the door)

"Bhai saab", a sweet feminine voice.

(silence)

Tak tak tak tak tak...(few more knocks)

"Bhai saab....koi hain?"

creeekiyooon....(Creeking sound of a chair, someone getting up)

he he he...evil chuckles...followed by sounds of footsteps...

(silence)

"aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...........aaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh"

(Blood curdling screams)

************

Scene 6: [cut to a shot of a house - not an apartment, but an out-house in a chawl]

Wiping the blood off the knife and the hands, I come out of the kitchen...happy, smiling...for the man who never let me or my husband live in peace...even after we had moved out of his house, even after we were no more his tenants...the hounding, the fear...no more..cos today, the fear is no more...

[Title appears]

Mrs. Kamala Mouli.

Been following the brouhaha created by some in Ashi's comment box in response to a simple forward that she happened to post. Thought this particular article below would be a good answer to some of them. As the title mentions, this is an article written by Gurumurthy (Swadeshi Jagaran Manch) published in the TOI..Naturally, I don't wish to comment either for or against what has been written (my views on this are exactly that: my own, and wouldn't want to add them here).

It is certainly not a matter of pride to have Sonia as the Prime Minister.You cannot be electing a person as Prime Minister and not feel proud of having elected her. When someone wants to lead this country, it must be a matter of pride for its people to have that person as their leader. Imagine the depths to which this issue has descended.

"What is wrong if she is the Prime Minister," is an argument that comes not from the ordinary people of India, but from the educated Indian. This comes from the Chidambarams and from the Rajdeeep Sardesais of this country; this comes from editorial writers sitting in cities. So let us analyse this issue with all its implications for a country like India, which has an unbroken civilisational continuity.

India is indeed a civilisation behind the facade of a nation. It is now facing the might of the nation-state, which has evolved in the west. The nation-state mechanism in the west is basically aggressive, violent, conquering, invasive, dominating, imperialistic. It is a concept which the Indian mind cannot internalise, understand, or exhibit in its attitude. So, now we are conceding that foreigners can become prime ministers and presidents of India, provided they hold a citizenship certificate.

Odious comparisons are being made by a few who are bent on justifying Sonia as the prime minister. Look at Sister Nivedita, they say. She rebelled against the British for India. And her name was Margaret. Swami Vivekananda called her Nivedita because she had surrendered herself to this country. Where then is the comparison?

Compare Nivedita with Sonia Maino. She came to India marrying a very good-looking man. When she came to India in 1968, she was wedded to an Indian who was the son of that country's Prime Minister.

People say it is our tradition that when a woman enters her husband's home, she becomes part of that family, and so Sonia too is an Indian. It is a sentimental attitude. Look at the acts. Sonia did not apply for Indian citizenship in 1968 when she married Rajiv and came to India. It is what any good Indian wife would have done.

She filled an application in 1968 for permission to stay as a foreigner in India for five years. She said, "I am married, I am married into the Indian Prime Minister but I would still like to remain a foreigner." So she was given a certificate in 1968 to reside in India as a foreigner for five years. In 1973, after the first five-year period expired, she again applied for the permit to stay on in India for another five years as a foreigner. And this is the person who is going to live and die for us. My friend Cho Ramaswamy told me not to believe what she says, There is not only a
complete divorce between what she says and what she does; there is also a clue that she will do precisely the opposite of what she says. I will come to it later; there are instances and instances.

So, she again applied for a foreigner's permit. You know why? Between 1968 and 1973, there were indications of war with Pakistan over East Pakistan. And sure enough there was the Bangladesh war. During that conflict, when all commercial pilots were asked to forego their leave and enter service, she asked Rajiv to go on long leave. He was given special permission and they left the country. Throughout the period of the war, they were in Rome. Why? Because the American Seventh Fleet was moving towards India, and Sonia Gandhi probably had serious doubts about India's survival!

So she deserted the country with her husband. She returned only after peace was restored, and after India had won the war because of Indira Gandhi. This is where the stark contrast between Sonia Gandhi and Atal Bihari Vajpayee is most glaring. Look at their conduct after the two wars.

After the creation of Bangladesh in 1971, Vajpayee, who was the Leader of the Opposition, stood up in Parliament and congratulated Indira Gandhi for her courage and vision and praised her as Durga. He was a patriot. At that important moment, he never thought that acknowledging the achievement of his political adversary will cost him votes. Yes, he and his party lost votes in both Partiament and Assembly polls, but not because Vajpayee stood tall in his praise oflndira Gandi. After the Kargil war, Sonia Gandhi told the NDA Government, "Please do not ask for any credit." This is meanness, pettiness, smallness, and foreignmindedness.

Sonia Gandhi played politics even with the self-esteem of this country by choosing the wrong moment to demand an explanation from the government, to raise issues of corruption in defence deals. Her praise of our armed forces came after she realised that the people of this country were not taking her criticism very well. That she was a foreigner and had no business asking for explanations came across very clearly. Every intelligent lndian knew there were problems, including corruption associated with some sections of the army and that it was these problems that resulted in the Kargil invasion.

Should it be used as an occasion to expose a small number of people and defame the entire army in the process? The army today represents the core of Indian nationalism. This was the occasion for the nation to rise above everything and pat the army for its heroism, courage and sacrifice.

But only a nationalist will think like this. However, Sonia Gandhi, who was after votes and political power, could not think like this. Now let us come to the period between 1973-1978. In 1977, when Indira Gandhi was defeated, Sonia sensed the mood of the nation, took refuge in the Italian Embassy and refused to come out of it. She said she was going back to Italy. Sanjay Gandhi had to go and plead with her to return.

Is this is the person who is going to live and die for India? To live in India is very different from living for India. And to live in India in such glory, with such protection and resources, is very different from dying for India. Nationalism will not come by merely wearing saris. It is as much a fancy dress today as any other dress can be. But some Indians are very happy to see Sonia in a sari, and regard her stay in India as their good fortune. Why? I am going to say something which many of you may not like.

Some of you may even say I am a racist. I was discussing this issue with Cho Ramaswamy. He told me something he may not write but I will share this with you. Cho said, and I quote, "If Sonia Gandhi had been black, had been a person of African origin, this problem would never have arisen."

Do you understand what this means, unpalatable though it may be to some of you? It is this fascination for the white skin and it is we, the English educated Indians, who are responsible for this. Tamil patriot and poet Bharathi said, " Ayiram undingu jathi, enil anniyar vanthu pugal enna neethi. " Yes, we may have hundreds of castes but that is no reason for an alien to fish in our troubled waters and play arbiter here. That is what Tilak mean by Swaraj first. We may fight among ourselves, we may even kill each other, but we don't want a foreign arbiter.

I know of several political leaders saying that the Indian English Press will stand against us. Only because the Indian English Press is bound to take a hostile attitude towards those who consider Sonia as a foreigner and a reluctant citizen, many political parties are unwilling to make this a national issue. This is the terrorising influence that the English educated Indian intellectuals have on the political class. Another argument is that this is not an issue in the rural areas. If you do not make it an issue, how will it become an issue there?

The Emergency was imposed in India. The national TV, the Press, everything was controlled by the government. The cities revolted against the Emergency; in six months it spread and percolated, and then the villages revolted, too. Ideas always percolate, but if they are edited at the top, the nation remains confused. Never in the history of the world has a foreigner ruled another country except by invasion.

But what is abnormal here is that we are in danger of electing a foreigner to rule this country. Some Indians do not want to be seen as being narrow-minded or less liberal. What is this liberalism? One-sixth of humanity living together is in itself the greatest symbol of liberalism. We are one-sixth of humanity and we live together and live well together.

Let us now recap what Sonia did in 1978, after Indira Gandhi lost the elections in 1977. Sonia again applied to stay on in India as a foreigner. In 1968, 1973, 1978- for three five-year terms - Sonia applied for a resident's permit to stay in India. On April 30, 1983, her third five-year permit expired. By that time it was certain that Rajiv was to become the heir to Indira Gandhi.

And so, even on April 27, three days before the permit expired, she had still not opted for Indian citizenship. She wanted to be a foreigner till the last day the permit allowed her to be so. And this is precisely what Sharad Pawar asked her in the Congress Working Committee (CWC), in May 1999 It all happened suddenly. Pawar described to me how it happened. On that day, the CWC was to discuss the Goa election and Pawar was supposed to present his analysis of the situation in Goa. The lady came with a prepared speech (please note, even in the 20-member working committee, she comes with a prepared speech).

She began reading her speech. Everybody was surprised at what she had to say. She said that the Sangh Parivar, against which her mother- in-law carried on a campaign to finish communalism, against whom her husband did this and that, had now decided to destroy her.

"They are branding me a foreigner. I will fight them to the last drop of my blood. But, I don't want this issue to drag on till the elections. I want it decided today because if it is decided now, we can fight it out at the time of the election, and it will be no issue at all. So, I want to know first whether any of you have any objection to my becoming the Prime Minister,"she said.

All these fellows remained silent. And then Madhav Rao Scindia spoke, "Madam, you do not have to fight the Sangh Parivar propaganda, I will fight it. This is not your battle, this is my battle:' This set the tone for the rest of the discussion and soon most members began to ask, who are these RSS people to dub Sonia a foreigner?

Soon it was Sangma's turn to speak. Sangma said, "Madam, I have very different views on this issue. I don't know anything about you; There are people who are saying that for 17 years you lived as a foreigner in India. If the voters ask me, how will I explain? Please tell me why you did not opt for Indian citizenship in 1968? I cannot convince the people of my own state, my own constituency on this." And then it was Pawar's turn.

He told me he was sitting immediately to her right. He was the last to speak. He was the first one to organise a public meeting for her, a massive rally in Maharastra. He told Sonia, and I quote, "In that rally, you said I am an ordinary humble Congress worker. You said I don't want any position, I don't want power, and I am associated with the Congress family. You also said I don't even want to become a Congress member. I can't bear to see a party with which my mother-in-law, her father, her grandfather, and my husband were all associated, decaying like this. So, I want to strengthen this party. This is what you said on that day." Then Pawar told the rally, "If she is willing to do such a generous job for a nationalist party, there should be no objection. She does not want to be the president of the party, she does not want to be in any position and she doesn't want to be an MP."

Pawar told me that he had recounted the statements made at that rally to Bal Thackeray in defence of Sonia Gandhi. "But the day she ran to the President of India and told him that she had the support of 272 MPs to become the Prime Minister of India, which was a lie, all of us changed and I changed, too;" Pawar told me.

Sonia said she was not interested in politics, and that she would never enter politics. She said she would not become a Congress member but will only help the party as a person belonging to the Congress fami1y. She said and I quote, "I am just a four anna member, I will not occupy any position." But what happened thereafter? She physically threw out Sitaram Kesri from the office. The poor fellow was in the toilet. His chair was empty. And do you know what happened? The Congress goons bolted the toilet door from outside and made Sonia occupy' his chair, The elderly man wept. This is how she became the president of the Congress Party.

In the same way the western armies in the past invaded other civilisations and seized power, she seized power in a 'coup d'toilette'. This is the disconnect between her word and her action. Her conduct was the very reverse of her profession. she said she had no ambition to be the Prime Minister. But who ran from pillar to post to bring down the Vajpayee government?

Again, when the media probed her about the money paid by Bofors to her friend Quattrocchi, she said, "Yes, the CBI is saying he is a suspect, but they have not produced any papers; and unless you produce papers to prove that somebody is guilty, you cannot say he is guilty."

But what is the truth about Quattrocchi ? In the Bofors deal, the quality of the gun was not the issue. It was always rated as a good gun, but there was a better gun called Sofma. In 17 meetings, the negotiating committee kept the Sofma gun ahead of the Bofors gun from 1984 June to early February 1986. For two years, in 17 meetings, the army brass involved in the decision making had preferred Sofma to Bofors. But everything changed on February 17 that year. Please mark the dates. The competition among arms manufacturers to sell guns to India was on from 1980.

On November 15, 1985, a company called AE Services entered into an agreement with Bofors. It said, "Gentlemen, I will get you the Government of India order for Bofors guns. And I will get this order by March 31,1986. And if I get it by March 31, you will give me three per cent commission, which is $36.5 million or Rs 160 crore at the current rates of exchange. So, if I get you this order by March 31, you will give me this commission and if I don't get it you need not give me anything. You owe no obligation to me."

Who can enter into this kind of a contract except the person who can get it? Fina11y, the cat was out of the bag. The person who signed the contract filed an affidavit in the Swiss Court saying it was Quattrocchi who advised him to enter into this contract.

The sequence was as fo11ows: On February 17, 1986, the Bofors gun was nowhere in the picture. However, on March 15 and 16, Rajiv told the Swedish Government ( on a State visit to Sweden) that he will give Sweden the order for supply of Bofors guns. On March 17, the negotiating committee cleared the deal in 48 hours. Eleven officials and Rajiv Gandhi signed the deal and on March 21, 1986, 10 days ahead of the deadline to which Quattrocchi had committed himself, the contract was signed.

The bribe agreement between this shady company AE Services, and Bofors said: "Bofors will pay AE Services proportionate to the amount the Government of India pays to Bofors." The Government of India paid 20 per cent of the money to Bofors and exactly three per cent of 20 per cent was released in September 1986 to AE Services.

Within 13 days, that money was transferred to an investment company and two years later, after The Hindu and The Indian Express came out with exposes on the deal, with documents as proof, it was transferred to another company and the Swiss Police unearthed the fact that the persons behind all the three companies into which these monies had gone was Quattrocchi and his wife.

Only they had the authority to sign the secret accounts. When this was found out and the bank documents were being transmitted, Quattrocchi filed an appeal against the transmission of documents in the Swiss Court but the court said he was a dishonest man and overruled the objection saying Quattrocchi was involved in the deal. He has taken bribes and he is related to the Indian administration at the highest level, the Swiss Court said.

The Swiss Court order came in July 1993 when Narasimha Rao was the Prime Minister and the Interpol told the Government of India that Quattrocchi 's appeal in the Swiss Court had been dismissed, which meant "Arrest him." The powers-that-be gave Quattrocchi one week's time to escape. Just like Win Chadha has been allowed to escape an year earlier. And this man too flew out of India. When the CBI raided his home and found his diary notes,. these revealed Quattrocchi had been having dinner meetings with Rajiv and Sonia Gandhi. They found photographs and letters that had been exchanged, and everything was seized. Thereafter, the Delhi High Court issued an
arrest warrant against Quattrocchi. He appealed to the Interpol which was dismissed.

The Delhi High Court also dismissed it saying his presence was needed and he had to be arrested. These are all judicial orders printed, published, and available in the public domain. Thereafter the matter went to the Supreme Court. Quattrocchi told the Supreme Court through his advocates that he would come and present himself, and that he should not be arrested. The Supreme Court said, since the man says he will come and present himself and be available for interrogation, why should he be arrested?

However, Quattrocchi defied the orders of the Supreme Court and did not turn up. He filed an affidavit in the Swiss Court saying that India was a brute nation and he cannot get justice in the judicial system of India. And Sonia Gandhi is defending this fellow Italian. It is, therefore, a blatant lie to say there are no documents to prove Quattrocchi's guilt.

It is also a lie that Sonia did not know his plans to abscond from the country. It is impossible that somebody who resided in Delhi for 20 years, who shared weekly evenings with Rajiv and Sonia, would have suddenly left Delhi , without even telephoning to her. She must have been privy to all these things and she has the audacity to ask where is the proof?

So, truth has nothing to do with Sonia Gandhi. There is an absolute disconnect between her words and deeds. Now the issue is whether Sonia in politics is a national shame.

Whether it is a national shame or not, it is certainly a danger to national security. Why do we have rules in the army which prohibit a foreigner, a foreign born person, even though he is a citizen, from occupying certain high-ranking offices in the army? Why do we say that our IPS officers should not be of foreign origin? Why do we say that our IPS officers cannot marry foreigners? Now, herein comes the idea of the modern nation-state.

A modern nation-state has a built-in insecurity and that is the reason why it has to secure itself. But can the Prime Minister have a foreign wife? Can the Prime Minister's son have a foreign wife? Sitting in the Prime Minister's Office, in the Prime Minister's home, a foreign wife for 15 years; who ran away with her husband when the nation was at war, breaching the discipline of commercial pilots is now a well, established fact. In India, the MLAs, MPs, and ministers are not subject to any rule or discipline. Even today whether an MLA or MP is a public servant is a matter that is being debated in courts.

So, can an MP have a foreign wife.? Can a minister have a foreign wife? This distortion has crept into the system. And what are the consequences of foreigners penetrating our polity?

When George Fernandes spoke on this issue on the national television, it was chilling. He spoke of a particular file whlch contained all the secrets of the government. Where are the nuclear weapons, where are the missiles, who can press the button, which missile points in which direction, who are our spy links in different countries? This single file contains all this information.

That file is not handled by anybody other than the Prime Minister of India. If Vajpayee ceases to be the Prime Minister and Sonia becomes the Prime Minister, he will have to hand over this file to her. It will have every nationa1 security secret. If it falls into wrong hands, it will strip India naked before inimical forces.

`Can we afford to hand over these secrets to her?` Fernandes said even the Defence Minister cannot do anything; he cannot look at that file. Even the services chiefs know only their part of the secret. The combined, collective national secret is in the hands of one man that will be handed over to this foreigner, should she achieve her political ambition.

Whether somebody can speak tolerable Hindi or not is not the issue; it is far more serious. It goes to the root of the existence of the nation, its security and its survival. Sonia's loyalty to India will always be in doubt. If there is even a millionth of a chance that her loyalty to, this country is in question, it should be enough to disqualify her from prime ministership. The issue is not whether Sonia will succeed in becoming the Prime Minister, but the very idea that somebody like her can nurse such an ambition.

If the intellectuals of India, whose duty it is to preserve the mind of India have failed, I am certain that at least the ordinary people of India will succeed in protecting national interest as they did in 1977.

I shall stay away from any more serious stuff...below is an aberration...

THE ARYAN INVASION THEORY

The main idea used to interpret the ancient history of India, which we still find in history books today, is the theory of the Aryan invasion. According to this theory, northern India was invaded and conquered by nomadic, light-skinned RACE of a people called 'ARYANS' who descended from Central Asia around 1500 BC, and destroyed an earlier and more advanced civilization of the people habitated in the Indus Valley and imposed upon them their culture & language. These Indus Valley people were supposed to be either Dravidian, or AUSTRICS or now-days' Shudra class etc.

Basis of the Aryan Invasion Theory

We should first note that the Aryan invasion theory is totally foreign to the history of India, whether north or south, which has no literary or historical record of any such event. Prior to the invention of the idea by 19th century European scholars, there was no tradition of an Aryan invasion anywhere in India, in either contemporary or ancient records.

The Aryan invasion theory is based upon the idea that Aryan represents a particular group of people. In the classical view of the Aryan invasion the Aryans are a particular ethnic group, speaking a particular language. However in Vedic literature Aryan is not the name of the Vedic people and their descendants. It is a title of honor and respect given to certain groups for good or noble behavior. In this regard even the Buddha calls his teaching Aryan, Arya Dharma; the Jains also call themselves Aryans, as did the ancient Persians. For this reason one should call the Vedic people simply the "Vedic people" and not the Aryans. If one takes Aryan in the Vedic sense it would not be like talking of the invasion of good people, as if goodness were a racial or linguistic quality!

The Development of the Aryan Invasion Idea

European scholars following Max Muller in the 19th century decided that the Vedic people whom they called the Aryans after a misinterpretation of that Vedic term - invaded India around 1500 BC. They were said to have overthrown the primitive and aboriginal culture of the time, which was thought to be Dravidian in nature, and brought a more advanced civilization to the land (though they themselves were still regarded as barbarians). The indigenous aborigines were identified as the Dasyus or inimical people mentioned in the Vedas.

The rationale behind the late date for the Vedic culture given by Muller was totally speculative. Max Muller, like many of the Christian scholars of his era, believed in Biblical chronology. This placed the beginning of the world at 400 BC and the flood around 2500 BC. Assuming to those two dates, it became difficult to get the Aryans in India before 1500 BC!

It is important to examine the social and political implications of the Aryan invasion idea:

1. It served to divide India into a northern Aryan and southern Dravidian culture which were made hostile to each other.

2. It gave the British an excuse in their conquest of India. They could claim to be doing only what the Aryan ancestors of the Hindus had previously done millennia ago.

3. It served to make Vedic culture later than and possibly derived from Middle Eastern cultures. With the proximity and relationship of the latter with the Bible and Christianity, this kept the Hindu religion as a sidelight to the development of religion and civilization to the West.

4. It discredited not only the 'Vedas' but the genealogies of the 'Puranas' and their long list of the kings before Buddha like Rama and Krishna were left without any historical basis. The 'Mahabharata', instead of the great war, became a folk lore. In short, it discredited the most of the Hindu tradition and almost all its ancient literature. It turned its scriptures and sages into fantacies and exaggerations.

5. It served a social, political and economical purpose of domination, proving the superiority of Western culture and religion.

However today, after nearly all the reasons for its supposed validity have been refuted, even major Western scholars are at last beginning to call it in question. I am highlighting some of the more important evidence that have come through in the recent past that clearly refutes and negates the Aryan Invasion theory.

1. New excavations - Harappan Civilization:

After the formulation of the Aryan invasion theory, archeology did not stop. New finds continued. These however have gradually undermined the invasion theory.

Harappan civilization (3100-1900 BC) was the largest in the world up to its time. Harappan sites have now been found as far west as to the coast of modern Iran, as far north as Turkestan on the Amu Darya river (a region usually identified with the Aryans), as far northeast as the Ganges, and south to the Godavari river. A site has even been found on the coast of Arabia. Thousands of sites have been found with several cities, like Ganweriwala on the Sarasvati river and Dholavira near the ocean in Kutch, as large as the first two major cities found, Harappa and Mohenjodaro. Most sites remain unexcavated and new explorations are likely to push the boundaries of this civilization yet further. A civilization of this size could not have been quickly or easily overrun by either migration or invasion.

Further, given the facts that there was no destruction of Harappa and no evidence of any large scale migrations of people, the latest form of "the Aryans coming from the outside" (as for example, represented by Romila Thapar, who is a well-known Marxist historian generally opposed to Vedic culture) is of a gradual migration of small groups pastoral peoples during the same period of the second millennium BC.
It is now generally agreed that the decline of Harappan urbanism was due to environmental changes of various kinds, to political pressures and possible break in trading activities, and not to any invasion. Nor does the archaeological evidence register the likelihood of a massive migration from Iran into north-western India on such a scale as to overwhelm the existing cultures

2. The Rediscovery of the Sarasvati River:

The retreat of the Aryan invasion theory has been accompanied by the rediscovery of the Sarasvati river of Vedic fame (by the American satellite, Landsat). Recent excavation has shown that the great majority of Harappan settlements were east, not west of Indus. The largest concentration of sites appears in an area of Punjab and Rajasthan along the dry banks of the Sarasvati (now called the Ghaggar) in the Thar desert. Hundreds of sites dot this river, which appears to have been the breadbasket of the culture. Mohenjodaro and Harappa, the first large Indus sites found, appear to be peripheral cities, mere gateways to the central Sarasvati region. Infact, it has been suggested that the Indus Valley civilization be renamed as the "Sarasvati vedic Civilization" in view of these findings.

It is well known that in the Rig Veda, the honor of the greatest and the holiest of rivers was not bestowed upon the Ganga, but upon Sarasvati, now a dry river, but once a mighty flowing river all the way from the Himalayas to the ocean across the Rajasthan desert. The Ganga is mentioned only once while the Sarasvati is mentioned at least 60 times. Extensive research has shown that the Sarasvati changed her course several times, going completely dry around 1900 BC. However, as per the the Aryan Invasion Theory, the so-called Aryan invasion took place in 1500 BC.
If so, how could the Vedic Aryans know of this river and establish their culture on its banks if it dried up before they arrived?
This clearly establishes that Rig Veda must have been in existence long before the the supposed-aryan invasion.

3. Indus seal:

The Vedic culture was thus said to be that of primitive nomads who came out of Central Asia with their horse-drawn chariots and iron weapons and overthrew the cities of the more advanced Indus valley culture, with their superior battle tactics. It was pointed out that no horses, chariots or iron was discovered in Indus valley sites.

This was how the Aryan invasion theory formed and has remained since then. Though little has been discovered that confirms this theory, there has been much hesitancy to question it, much less to give it up.

However,further excavations have discovered horses not only in Indus Valley sites but also in pre-Indus sites. The use of the horse has thus been proven for the whole range of ancient Indian history. Evidence of the wheel, and an Indus seal showing a spoked wheel as used in chariots, has also been found, suggesting the usage of chariots.

Moreover, the whole idea of nomads with chariots has been challenged. Chariots are not the vehicles of nomads. Their usage occured only in ancient urban cultures with much flat land, of which the river plain of north India was the most suitable. Chariots are totally unsuitable for crossing mountains and deserts, as the so-called Aryan invasion required.

Ancient History Revised

We have examined the Aryan invasion theory and seen how it has continually failed to prove itself. Therefore we must look at the history of India and the world in the light of the collapse of the invasion theory. The acceptance of a Vedic nature to Harappan and pre-Harappan civilization creates a revolution in our view of history, not just of India but of the entire world.

Now, based on what has been presented above, following facts about an ancient and glorious period of India clearly emerge:

1. The Aryan Invasion and Racial theories, and Aryan-Dravidian conflicts are a 19th century fabrication by some European scholar. They are being exploited even now for political reasons.

2. The hymns of Rigveda had been composed and completed by 3700BC, this can be scientifically proved.

3. The language of the Indus script is related to Sanskrit, the language of Vedas.

4. The Indus valley civilization should be aptly called as Sarasvati Vedic civilization, as the new evidences and right interpretation of the archaeological findings indicate.

5. There is now strong evidence that the movement of the ancient Aryan people was from east to west (and not the other way), and this is how the European languages have strong association and origin in the Vedic Sanskrit language.

6. The ending of Indus Valley and the Sarasvati civilization was due to the constant floods and drought in the Indus area and the drying up of the Sarasvati river. This had caused a massive emigration of the habitants to safer and interior areas of the Indian subcontinent and even towards the west (East to West movement).

7. There was no destruction of the civilization in the Indus valley due to any invasion of any barbaric hordes.

8. The Vedic literature has no mention of any invasion or destruction of a civilization.

9. There is no evidence in any of the literature which indicate any Aryan-Dravidian or North-South divide, they were never culturally hostile to each other.

10.The population living in the Indus valley and surrounding the dried up Saraswati river practiced the Vedic culture and religion.

The above, clearly, establishes the need for re-writing our history textbooks - which has been majorly influenced by Nehru's "History of India" (that subscribes to the Euro-centric view of Indian history), and severly twisted by the post-independence Socialists / Marxists.

The most recent figures show a significant economic recovery in the current fiscal year.

* GDP growth rate is set to break-out of the "hindu growth rate" mould (4-5%) and settle into a 6 - 6.5% range.

* Industrial growth is now into the second consecutive year.

* Inflation rates are on the downward curve.

* Stock markets rally has continued for the most part of the year.

* Exports continue to grow at double-digit levels.

* Foreign investments have been boosted by the steady portfolio flows.
And the foreign exchange reserves are enough to cover imports for as much as sixteen months.

* Relationships with Pakistan are seen to be improving; China has for the very first time recognised Sikkim as an integral part of India, rather than as an independent country.

* There is a sense of "practical reality" that has been brought into the Indian foreign policy - today, India does not shy away from evaluating global developments or bilateral relationships from a point of view that, for the first time again, puts India's interests in front and asks "What's in it for India?" (even if it means taking a less than "high ground", as has been defined in the decaying minds of half-baked nehruvian "secularists").

This is seen from the way how India continues to engage both Israel and Palestine, US & the former Iraq. Before you slam this as a dichotomy of sorts, let it be understood that political diplomacy is indeed based on such dichotomies! A good foreign policy in always one that benefits the country framing that policy, and not the other way round..There are no "wholes" or "absolutes" in foreign policy; A defence co-operation with Israel doesn't automatically imply a co-operation across all areas; A country is entitled to talk to Israel while talking defence, and talk to Palestine while talking International peace. It's perfectly natural. It isn't a zero-sum game either.

And for the first time, India's foreign policy has started to acknowledge this universal fact.

* On the vexed issue of "Hindu fundamentalism", I thought the fact that the supposedly "right-wing" ("non-secular" is yet another commonly used description - you may suit yourself with any of these) NDA was in power actually helped keep the real fringe elements at bay..Surprised? well, ask yourself when did Dec 06th 1992 happen? Despite being in power, has there been any major or further disruption on this issue? While conceding that Gujarat was indeed a blot (about which I am deeply ashamed of), I might also want to ask if what happened in Gujarat could have been prevented by any other non-NDA government...Well, we saw the "mother" of all communal disruptions - the babri masjid demolition - happen under the Congress government (and why didnt PVN dismiss Kalyan Singh's BJP government in the state?).

Now try asking yourself if a non-NDA government could have been succesful in reining-in these fringe elements?

Importantly, ask yourself, will the non-NDA government that will soon be hoisted on us be able to rein-in the vindicated fringe elements.

* On the "corruption" front, it is clear that for the first time in Indian politics we got to see a "less-corrupt" governance - not withstanding Tehelka (the top-layer of government still came out unscathed by Tehelka...Unlike, Harshad Mehta & his "suitcase" or Lakhubai Pathak or his "suitcase" gifts to PVN)

* Again for the first time, somebody bothered to talk about development, giving us a break from caste / religion / reservation and such other highly flammable issues.

* For all the criticism, one cannot escape acknowledging the fact that there was some amount of attention - if not progress - towards basic infrastructure.

So, does all this mean India did Shine? I don't know and I cannot comment. I cannot comment, coz I refuse to be yet another arm-chair intellectual who sits in his air-conditioned office and comments on the vast - and mostly drought-affected - population of India. But I can indeed comment on the 250m odd Indian middle-class, and how the last few years have seen the middle-class explode in size, and income levels.

So, why did "iNDiA not shine" at the hustles?

1. The India that shined - that's us, You and I - are too big to be bothered about elections or voting. So did you vote? Neither did I.

2. The India that did not shine - the rural mass - as always ensured that they voted. And they voted against the government(s) that stopped distributing free power, that reduced subsidies.

Thats not really surprising; thats human nature. Remember Herzberg and his "Hygiene vs Motivators"??

If you are happy with a product, do you talk about it? on the contrary, if you are NOT happy with the product - you are disgusted and angry about it - what do you do? You go and make yourself heard. That's exactly what they did. They made themselves heard - in Italian, I sincerely hope, for their own good.

Now thanks for hearing me out...Signing out, disgusted.

PS #1: Can't comment about others, but for me, I am disgusted at the prospect of being ruled by an Italian. Yes, I consider her an Italian, and not an Indian. If you have doubts about that, please ask her why she chose NOT to be an Indian herself for 15 years - yes, she applied for Indian citizenship in 1983 after 15 years of being in India. Wasn't that her disgust?

PS #2: The constitution created this monster called Election Commission, and gave it such far-reaching powers with absolutely no accountability to anyone, that every election time, this monster decides to rear its head - albeit in all TV channels, print media and what-have-you. Now, can they be held accountable on grounds of "Dereliction of duty" for excluding nearly 30% of the eligible voters from the electoral rolls? Isn't that denial of fundamental right? The way I look at the issue is that in a country as diverse in geography, in culture, in language, in social status etc etc, the fundamental right to exercise my vote is my ONLY national identity. And the EC just denied me that identity.

Can I ask why I should pay my taxes then?

I hope, the EC realises that its destiny lies not in the TV channels, but in that less-glamorous job called "fair and free elections".

This one is from DC....
----------------------------------------------
The father smiled to see his child
Come running to his side.
"Please tell me, Daddy, what is meant
By that word 'sex'", she cried.

He looked aghast at this sweet girl -
She was but eight years old;
Too young, he thought and innocent
To break this childhood mould.

She should be playing with her dolls
Or other toys she had
Instead of asking questions such
As this one of her Dad.

With openness and honesty
An inborn family trait,
This Dad explained the facts of life
Quite candidly and straight.

His discourse finished, thankfully,
He kissed her on the cheek;
No word she'd uttered all the while,
But now began to speak:

"I didn't think my question was
A matter so complex,
For Mum just said to tell you lunch
Is ready in two secs".

I'm just about coming out of a blogger's block. Or so I would love to convince myself..Note here that I don't call it writer's block. That one is for people who write write. Not for semantically challenged or symbolically-handicapped people like me. (Side note: There is one other block I just came out of recently: 9th Block. But thats a different kinda block - the kind you reside in, and the kind you write in a different post).

Some time back, I wrote about my "missile man days" in an earlier post. Since it didnt seem to attract too many negative responses (hmmmpphh, it didnt attract any response, Positive or Negative, but on Monday's I chose to ignore such facts), I am emboldened enough to write about yet another of my...errr, exploits..Its not too much of a brainer to suppose that this incident too happened during my engineering days..

One fine year, on a not-so-fine day, our college principal decided to fine us by closing down the college canteen. It was a shocker for most of us who were suddenly faced with the prospect of going back home after classes. I suppose though it was a bigger shock to the bravehearts who were more used to giving their exams in the canteen, sipping a "chai" and discussing the page number / paragraph no. where the answer was available in the text book. But then these were stronger souls who had survived many such minor irritants, and could survive this too. And they did. They shifted their examination hall to the restaurant just outside the college gates.

And caught in this muddle were us! Where were we to go after class hours? actually, where were we to go during class hours? surely not to the class rooms!*horror* Damn, something had to be done.

Something desperate for desperate times.

I had a friend called M.

Characterisation: M had a figure most women would die for (actually kill for)..a petite, svelte figure that boasted not a single extra ounce of lard. At 32-26-32, M was as thin as a reed...A male reed, that is.

Story continued: M was a real sport, and we made sure we told him about it. We would praise him about his "Ultra slim athletic" figure that was the envy of many girls (including the one he fancied), and in turn buy his loyalty (Kameena tha main!)..So it was M then, that we turned to for help during "slender" times like this.

A cuppa free chai, a full Gold Flake King (imagine being treated with a full king-size cigarette during college days, trust me, it's BIG), and some counselling on what we planned to do - with his help of course - finally managed to win his consent and lead support to the devious plan we had.

This is what happened that hot summer day....

13:00 M "collapses" on the football ground. As true friends, we naturally rush him to a friendly-neighborhood hospital, where he is "admitted".

13:30 A group of students raid the principal's chambers to inform him of the great misfortune. And just so that he does not fail to see the link, I clearly tell him that M collapsed because he was hungry. And under-nourished. And in the hot sun. Empty stomach. No Canteen. In hospital. On drips.

14:30 Principal rushes to the hospital with fruits - Mangoes, Bananas, and some more. He is concerned about M's "condition"..M, of course, getting a chance to play the hero for once, plays out the tragic scene so well that even Dilip Kumar would have been proud of..

"Sir, I..I come from far away sir..and and because I attend ALL the early morning classes, I leave home so early...I don't have breakfast...I also come from a poor family sirr.....no money for hotel...what to do sir...ooooohhhh, aaiyyooo ammmmaaaa", M makes us proud with.

The principal is clearly concerned now. He promises to do something. He wishes M well, offers the fruits (which as M's attendant, I take), and leaves.

Of course, I could not afford to give those fruits to M, and risk spoiling the drama. I believed in the "Real" thing even then. Which meant that I got to eat all the freebies. While M starved - Really starved!

17:00 The canteen was back in action, faster than you could say "one-by-two chai".

And as they say, "All's well that ends well".

PS: Just for good measure, I kept M in the hospital till 10PM in the night. And had more fruits for evening snacks too...

Post karein kya na karein ye kaisi mushkil hay
Koi to bata de iska hal o mere bhai
Ki ek taraf to ussay post karein hum
Aur usko hi ye kehne se darrein hum

Roz roz hum sochta yehi
Idea humko vo agar mil jaaye kahin
To aisa post-ega saala vaisa post-ega
Khullam khulla uspe dil ka raaz hum kholega
Vo saamne chamakti hai
Mouse bhi atakti hai
Aur ye blog jaati hai fisal

Post karein kya na karein ye kaisi mushkil hay
Koi to bata de iska hal o mere bhai
Ki ek taraf to ussay post karein hum
Aur usko hi ye kehne se darrein hum

Koi badi baat nahin humein post karna tha jo bhi
Vo to hum yoonhi karte magar
Phir bhi kiya nahin vajah iski hai yehi
Bas comments se humko tha darr
Ab karein ya na karein
Ki "Yes" kahein "No" kahein
Soch soch mein hi idea gayi nikal

Post karein kya na karein ye kaisi mushkil hay
Koi to bata de iska hal o mere bhai
Hey bhai mere bhai
O mere bhai
Hey bhai mere bhai
O mere bhai

Firstly, congrats to Elysia for making it thru' to IIMB..This post is actually a result of reading thru' her post..Reading her post triggered a series of my own thoughts that transported me a few years back - to the time when I was stepping into b-school myself..the emotions upon being told that I had made it thru' one, the motions of actually getting admitted, and the mindblowing and humbling experience that b-school hits you with, completely turning around your life (as you knew it till then)...Unforgettable...some amazing times, amazing people, some friends for life...truly memorable..

Thanks Elysia, for giving me a chance to slip back in time and relive some of those days!:-)

Damn me %$%^^^&&&& and then some more %&^*((&%$##...

I CHICKENED OUT!!!!! I've become my own worst fear....I have lost my identity...Oh yes, I've been thoroughly "domesticated" by marriage...

What else can explain this?

I decided to stay back in Bangkok for an additional day & half (i wrapped up all my work by today afternoon, and planned to take the whole of today, and tomorrow) with the sole intention of exploring the..err ahem..the "more interesting" opportunities that the city has to offer...to cut the bullshit exaggeration short, I wanted to go to one of the many strip-bars / sleaze bars in Patpong, the notoriously sleazy district of Bangkok for a "dekho" (and some beer, of course - nothing more than that, I swear!) tonight...As per plan, I finished whatever little shopping I had to do (won't be allowed inside my house without them, you see!), and kept the entire evening - actually night - free for Patpong...except that my rationalising mind had to do some stupid rationalising..

"Why go all the way to Patpong for beer, when you can get all that on Sukhumvit Road just a few meters away from the hotel i'm staying at?"...So at sharp 8:00 PM, off I went, trudging along the burden of high hopes (of a "dekho", silly). To the friendly neighborhood "Mini-Patpong"..So far so good..*Darn* That's when the chicken soup in my soul started to stir and cluckle (or whatever sound they are supposed to make)...I passed the place a couple of times, bought a pack of Marlboros that I've long stopped smoking (reassuring feeling of a companion from days of cowboy yore) and passed the place a couple of times more...By now, the chicken in me had grown louder..so loud that even Jack Canfield (the guy who served chicken soups for many a soul, and made millions in doing so) would have stopped to admire.

so, as the story went, 8:30PM saw me back inside the comforts of my hotel, sitting in the nice "decent" bar, finishing a beer, and getting out at 9:00 (this is supposedly one of the "hip" bars in town, but all the "hip"ness starts only at 11:00PM)..and like a true chicken that lost out on a chick, I went to the in-house Thai restaurant, had some vegetarian food (i'm not a veggie, but i guess the ironical / cynical side of me had taken over), and was back in my room posting this at 9:45PM...

And calling up DC in India, and telling her about it...Only to be laughed at.

And as DC says, "AC, you have been domesticated completely by marriage". Like most chickens are.

Cluck Cluck. Eggs anyone?


PS: Since writing this, I realised that my intention to visit Patpong could be grossly misconstrued by people not familiar with Patpong..To clarify, I was refering to the many beer-bars that also double-up as strip-clubs...So the intention was to consume the former, while "just having a detached look" at the latter (and NOT the other way round, please!)...

Am off again....to Manila & Bangkok....
will be back only on Saturday....*grrrrrrrr*am starting to hate travel that doesn't let up...

Writing this post as I wait for my Flight (to Singapore) at Jakarta Airport..The inspiration for this post is a fellow Indian sitting next to me..(am actually writing this while trying to keep it out of his line of sight!)...A 25-28 year old Indian male (actually that line pretty much conveys a lot, thus helping me avoid an elaborate description of him) talking to some girl in India on his mobile..Seems he's living an exciting life of a Romeo...actually make that "Majnu" (Phir bhi dil hain hindustani, you see!)..So as I was saying, and as he was saying, he seems to be a majnu who will be shortly marrying his sweetheart (which is not the one he is talking to, btw)...and one set of parents - most probably his - are opposed to the idea...So Mr.Majnu is describing his trouble to the girl on the line (i think its possibly his sister)..He is right now saying that he will go visit his parents before the marriage and try to thaw the stand-off..."I am scared this stand-off will become permanent, if I dont do something now", says Mr. Majnu...He also adds, for good measure, that he always knew that the girl-on-the-line was someone he knew would support him, though he was not so confident about "Sumedha" (AC: I should be hating myself for doing this...but i dont)...Anyways, the discussion is continuing on the same lines...but heyy wait, he's leaving now...OK, he's taking the earlier flight to India via Singapore...So that puts an end to this commentary...

Brought to you, Live!, by Radio Mirch Masala...

PS: Why "Vasudeva Kutumbakam"??? Dont you get it? Irrespective of which country he's in, what he does for a living, and such other qualifiers, a 28 year-old Indian male seems to have the same problems when it comes to marriage!!