U turns for India!

History is indeed being created at a rapid pace in the country of today. In a period barely exceeding over a year, the nation has been witness to a cataclysm of events with potential to lead to major changes in the nation.

There have been four turning points in recent times.

The first was the call of Anna Hazare that brought out people in large numbers on the streets of Delhi, to vent their anger against the blatant and brazen connivance of those who rule with those who loot and the fading away of the difference between the two. The call of Anna for setting up a Lokpal to deal with the looming cloud of corruption touched the finer chords in the hearts of the people. The insensitivity of the rulers towards their duties and the people who gave them the power was the final straw, but this was just the beginning of a tidal wave, yet none realized it then.

The next was the outpouring of anger, emotions and people on the streets of Delhi in solidarity with Nirbhaya, the young girl who was brutally defiled in the capital city of the nation. It was also perhaps the first time in the history of independent India that the middle class walked out of the confines of their homes to face water cannons in cold winter evenings just to register their anger with the incident that merely affected an individual but with which all identified, as well as a government that had no intent of providing sane and safe governance. Each one of us felt as if raped and abandoned.

The elections to the state assemblies came next and we found the picture of Kejriwal staring at the masses from almost everywhere. His three wheeler campaigns caught the imagination of the people and his personal image stood out among the specter of corrupt politicians, yet none visualized the tsunami that struck the moment counting began. While even die-hard followers of the rebel refused to give him more than a single digit representation in the assembly and any mention of him as the chief minister was considered laughable, yet he emerged from the shadows to occupy Sheela’s chair.  And in the few weeks post occupation his following is visibly on the rise with many portraying him as the main challenger for the national throne. The nation after a long time experienced the intent to provide good governance and it shows.

Perhaps we have the habit of missing pointers, pointers towards the looming change that the nation apparently has been in the throes of yet the established dispensations and surprisingly even the fourth estate miserably failed in judging the tide. These pointers were invariably disposed of with a shrug, as minor irritants in a nation expected to always fall in line with the known devil.

The change is upon us and if we don’t’ realize it even now there is no way we shall not be swept off our feet when the major tide hits the nation. The setting up of helplines against corruption is indeed a first of its kind and definitely something major in a nation plagued regularly by scams of ever growing magnitude. That it is the first of many major changes that shall follow and change the way governance is conducted in the country is a foregone conclusion. Perhaps more than the direct consequences of this step, merely bringing corruption center stage in a nation that so far steadfastly refused to do so is a very major milestone. That the intent of the rulers can also be to inject value systems in the governance machinery so far identified with sloth and self-aggrandizement was never earlier contemplated and with this one stroke, the meaning of governance as understood so far in this country is bound to change.

Gone shall be the days of the extended Raj is what the common man now hopes. He who had given us on hope is now hopeful and that is a very good sign indeed.

I hope India would definitely not miss this U turn towards development and growth!

Hastinapur would show the way!

Kejriwal gives hope, to the nation as well as humanity. A meteoric rise indeed yet there may be many years when he finally arrives unless of course all poll predictions go wrong that they may and he emerges from the shadows to occupy the throne of Hastinapur.

A former civil servant whose better half still serves the national government and for one who still resides in accommodation provided by the very sarkar he seeks to replace, his guts are indeed amazing and therefore the slight tinge of envy in many of us who would love to be in his boots yet do not have the courage, integrity or the commitment to be so.

His incessant battle against the establishment and also the anti establishment is against all odds, yet a battle that he is fighting with gumption. For his cause is right and intentions noble and this is what really matters when one is fighting for righteousness. Perhaps his integrity and commitment to the cause is what gives him the strength to keep on fighting what appears to be a one sided battle. This reminds us of the Mahabharata, the epic battle between the kauravas and the pandavas, the battle between the right and the wrong, between evil and goodness where despite heavy odds the pandavas won and in the process gave eternal hope to the people of Bharatvarsh.  

“Ekalo Chalo Re”is his slogan and perhaps the right and the only way when the odds are stacked almost to the level of being regarded as impossible. It is always only one man who can take an organization, a state or a nation forward. Gandhi dressed in the barest of attires amidst a sea of immaculately attired adversaries achieved for this nation what even massive armies would fail in. Truth was his only weapon and renunciation of ego his biggest attribute yet he achieved what till the very end appeared almost impossible. 

Arvind Kejriwal is not a Gandhi, but the closest to Gandhi that the nation has got so far. His battle is for a cause that is right, though his means are more direct and do not totally abjure violence. India is not China or Egypt or Syria where the masses have sufficient inner conviction to move out on the streets and face bullets for a cause, yet many people have often come out at his call, not sufficient enough to cause an uprising, yet sufficient enough to create a nationalistic fervor.

The nation is staring at the toughest electoral fights in its history. The battles are bound to be severe and maybe violent at times as patna has recently displayed yet the thought that nectar emerges only after a massive churning exercise has kept the nation moving forward in search of good governance, something that we have missed in the first sixty seven years of existence of an independent yet not a free nation. 

Mahabharat

The battle for the throne of Delhi is indeed getting exciting by the day. With the ongoing affairs reminding us of the reign of “Bahadur Shah Zafar” it is apparent that a takeover is on the cards and rightly so, the kingdom of sycophants, robbers and people clueless about what character and value systems are all about needs a shakeup and an overhaul.

Arvind Kejriwal of the RTI and Anna brigade fame is eyeing the premier state of the sultanat and it appears that he may scrape through to victory. His strategy is simple yet may prove to be effective as the two main groups have more than disenchanted the aam aadmi with the result that the aam aadmi party that lacks money and muscle power may yet make the finishing line. Even if it does not, it appears absolutely certain that the party would have made its presence felt sufficiently enough to cause discomfort to both the national level dispensations. 

That the forthcoming hustings due in the spring of 2014 would turn out to be the battle royale of the century is beyond doubt. Never before in the history of independent India has its populace felt so helpless, so cheated and so angry at the bunch of nincompoops who constitute the ruling clan. The Durga Shakti incident of Uttar Pradesh, the wave of rapes and indignities heaped on the fairer sex and the repeated and blatant cases of loot with absolutely no concern for the aam aadmi have led to the ongoing wave of disenchantment with almost everything connected with the state. The fine line that distinguished the robbers from the rulers has become blurred. 

Closer home, the ongoing affairs in the lifeline of the nation have also deprived its constituents of any sense of pride and dignity that they possessed. We have shed both our wealth as well as dignity.  

At birthday parties of tiny tots, one often witnesses amusing fights for the cake. It is sad that in real life, in the political arena of modern India we are forced witnesses to fights over pieces of the cake with members of the ruling clan as well as prospective rulers leaving no stone unturned in ensuring a disgusting display of concern only for the cake with the sole intent of self gratification. The nation can and is indeed rapidly going to hell.

Yet being a hindu I believe in destiny and the almighty. With Modi around, perhaps the next hustings may provide us with the faint ray of hope that can lead to sunshine and brightness all around.