The USA did NOT Attack Iran ( The Billionaires did)

 Everybody knows of the war in the Middle East. We are all on tender hooks and have a lot of discussions on the political reasons, the War Strategy, who will win, who is right ( Or more right) etc. 

The one point most people seem to miss; or just cover it casually and move on; is which class / specific people are the causes in all the nations? 

We talk of US and Israel attacking Iran. We know that many many people in the US are opposed to this. Hell, MAGA maniac Tucker Carlson and Marjorie Tailor Greene (MTG) are openly speaking against it. The world is in a state where I am */ Makes puking noises /* in agreement with MTG and Carlson. 

We know that Netanyahu has corruption cases against him and there are so many Jews both in and outside Israel who are against even the Gaza war. ( Maybe not as many about the Gaza war, but there are many. Which is why most aware media speaks of the Zionist Govt in Israel rather than the Israeli Government). 

Also, after spending Trillions ( with a Capital T) and losing thousands of soldiers in a useless war in Afghanistan, why would the US even think of getting back to war? Trump literally won his election on being the Peace Guy. He said Kamala would bomb Iran. ( Every Trump accusation is - of course - a confession). 

And while Trump and Bibi are definitely causes for this, let us not simplify this to an individual decision. There are entire systems behind them in both countries which are allowing them, no , pushing them / manipulating them to do this. 

And the answers are not as complicated as we might think. 

The simple rule is to follow the Money. Who benefitted from the Afghan war? And the two Iraq wars? And the ones in Cambodia and Vietnam and even before that from WW 2? 

America lost Trillions they could've spent on their people. America lost it's soldiers at war and a hundred time more soldiers lost their youth, their innocence and came back as Veterans with PTSD. 

So who won?  

1. The Defence Industry won. In the words of Trump, they won YUGE! They made Billions on the weapon systems, the vehicles, the Transport, the food packets, the Guns, the Tents... You name it. 

This includes large Companies like Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Raytheon, Northrop Grumman etc. 

2. The Politicians won. The next level of beneficiaries are the US Politicians. In one of the most bizarre 'If this was fiction, nobody would believe it' situations, US has allowed not just open bribery in the name of "Lobbying", but the Citizens United Vs FEC case removed the sensible limit on Corporate spending and allowed Corporations unlimited "donations" to Politicians of their choice. This was what our desi Electoral Bonds was based on. An attempt to make the black money white. 

From the 80s, both parties in the US have been moving right. But after this, US became in actuality an Oligarchy. So many believe the problem is the Republicans. It's not. Both sides are beholden to large donors who control them through their Super PACs. 

If the Carrot does not work, then the stick does. "Getting Primaried" has been mentioned so frequently, it's become a legitimate phrase. Any politician who threatens the control the Billionaires have is Primaried by funding his Opponent 10 times more than is usual. What is millions for a Politician is pocket change for the Billionaires especially when they will get it all back with Contracts and new laws in their favour. 

So all Dems had to kowtow too or fear losing their Election Funding. The few notable exceptions like Bernie Sanders, AOC, The Squad, Zohran Mamdani etc. are appreciable, inspirational, but for all that, still exceptions. The Chuck Schumers, Nancy Pelosis, Gavin Newsoms are all still unwilling to stand up to the reality of what the Republican party as they know they'll lose their Donors or have fooled themselves into believing that they are walking the path of compromise.  

3. The Oil Companies won. In most of the wars ( Iraq 1 & 2 and Venezuela and now Iran) a clear focus is for the Imperialist West and US in particular to get control over the Oil fields. Let's not forget that this is an old playbook. The CIA got the Shah of Iran to power to ensure they get control over the Oil fields when the legitimate democratically elected leader of Iran Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh with the brutal monarch, the Shah.   

4. The Corporate Media Won. The war in Afghanistan distracted the people from how Corporate Media which was usually spoken with an emphasis on the Media slowly shifted the emphasis on the Corporate. 

Rupert Murdock set the systems in place with Fox openly changing from being a Media channel to a puppet to the "Right". The Right is in inverted commas as this Right does not stand for the usual Fiscal conservatism and small government policies in anything but name. 

Media focussed on creating issues like Trans Atheletes and Trans people using the wrong washroom and Obama's Tan suit, Vaccines causing Autism, Covid masks being government overreach etc. All this while they raked in the Ad money from Sponsors ( Billionaire owned Corporations again) and made sure the high emergency tone ensured people are always stressed as that's good for viewership. Fox is still the most viewed channel in the US today. 

5. The Billionaire Class won. 

With the wars giving an external focus for people, with the media shifting internal focus and with the Dems occassionally making soothing noises without doing anything substantial, the American people have been thoroughly hoodwinked by the Billionaire class into not questioning anything happening. Not the rising prices, not the lack of increase in the minimum wage in decades, not the predatory and people killing Medical Insurance and overall Healthcare model, they just allowed this upward flow of wealth and were too busy surviving to question what was happening. 

 And in a new war with Iran, while America again loses money, lives of soldiers abroad and quality of life at home, all the above 4 beneficiaries will benefit from this war too. 

Now, the war makes so much sense from the American view point. It's not one crazy man making crazy decisions. It is a system that benefits from killing thousands repeating the cycle. 

Yes, Trump has helped speed things up. Yes, he is an abominable war pig who is also doing this to distract from the Epstein files. 

And Yes, Iran is under a brutal intolerant regime which has not been treating it's citizens ( Especially women) right. 

But all those are almost incidentals to the real cause more money for the Billionaires and their Transcontinental Corporations. 

I truly hope more people realise how dangerous these large Corporations are and - as the Epstein files have shown - wealth beyond a level gives power beyond a level which warps the minds of normal people. Like Trump said "When you're rich, they let you do it". And that one line sums up the misery to billions being caused. 

Eff the Billionaires.  

 

The erudition of Freedom Fighters (And how little has changed in the world)

As a one time half decent Orator ( In my school days decades back) and a passionate student of Languages and especially what I consider my mother tongue* English, I have always been fascinated with finding just the right words and the right way to express a view. 

I believe it is so much more than just conveying information. It has to - of course - accurately convey what we want to say. But it has also, to express the opinion or emotion to the right degree of emphasis, to convey our opinion on what it is and ideally be witty too so as to take the sting out of the.... Sting?  

This passion for the usage of more complicated words to make a more accurate statement has faded over the years. The focus has shifted to not making the other person feel one is showing off; or out of fear that the other might not actually comprehend it's meaning (What with India being a nation where English is mostly a third language for most people and who have not had the luxury or the privilege I had of a good English Convent Education).  

 However I do enjoy a pithy comment or a proper turn of phrase. It could be shouted football slogans sung by thousands (We lose every week. You aren't anything special" by Man U fans - I think - after a match they lost), or a truly sarcastic hit like " Intelligence has always chased you. You, however have always been faster" or even a simple Advertisement slogan like the Nike "Just do it". 

And while so many of us today consider ourselves modern in every way with our fluent speaking of English and our modern Coffee and Pizza culture, we forget that so many of our Freedom Fighters were from a very good English learning background too. 

Not just the Western, Oxford Educated, Scottish Whiskey drinking Nehrus and Jinnahs, but even our loin cloth fakir Gandhi spoke English eloquently ( if with a very desi accent).  And I do not know great an orator he was, but I think one of the most impactful writers of that era, the Tharoor of that time if you will was B R Ambedkar. ( Only with respect to their verbosity and control over the English Vocabulary! The timidity of Tharoor's politics could not be more opposite to the brilliant revolutionary politics of Ambedkar).

All this brings me to my find of the day. In a statement anticipating opposition from Orthodox Hindus, B R Ambedkar in his book 'Who were the Shudras' says "They are more selfish than any other set of beings in the world, " followed by the jewel " and are prostituting their intelligence to support the vested interests of their class".  

Aaah. What a phrase. How apt. The impact, the scorn, the total lack of Effs given to their kind and their known attacks. Muah. Chef's kiss. 

This in itself was worth it. However, the extremely wide range that this statement can be applied both across types of humans and across time left me in shock. 

This seems so apt in today's age to the Pam Bondis and the Fox News Hosts and the entire Republican Party in the US who use their very high intelligence, their grasp of Public sentiments all to spin the words of a complete Baby who has both the vocabulary and the impulse control of a 1.5 year old! And to the detriment of the world at large! What all people are willing to destroy for some paltry money! 

I believe that more than 95% of Trump followers in the corridors of power do not believe his statements or his views. The average MAGA follower might be emotionally gullible to fall for Trump's lies. These life time politicians and media experts are not. Tucker Carlson and many others have been caught calling him vile names behind his back. Yet they have "prostituted their intelligence" and that too to "support the vested interests of their class". This second part is so true too! 

To the extent that they believe they are doing what they are doing not just for themselves, but for a cause, it is to further the benefits to their "class". The rich Oligarchs and their select coterie. Some are there and hope to make more. Others aspire to enter that class by sucking up to the Big Man and pushing his agenda. They might be telling themselves things like "I'm just doing my job" or "If not me, someone else will" or any of the plethora of proverbs people say to justify doing wrong things. 

This statement will apply equally ( if not more) to the Godi media of today. The brilliant minds like Arnab who knows how to convey outrage, who can hold centre stage and who turned a neat 180 degrees from when he started Republic. So what if it causes a few hundreds of Muslims to be killed? So what if a few lakhs feel disenfranchised? So what if NRC will cost thousands of Crores of rupees and end up being a massive failure ( like it was in Assam) and cause untold trauma to so many under priviledged people?  

He gets to "win like crazy" and that's all that matters to him.  The same for all the other anchors who claim to speak the Truth but end up "prostituting their intelligence", doing seemingly impossible contortions to prove BJP is right and this Govt can do no wrong. And if a wrong was done, why it was not Dear Leader's fault. 

The hilarious Galgotia scandal where they claimed a 350 Crore investment into AI leading to the creation of "Orion" the Robotic Dog made India's image fall flat on it's face across the Globe. 

Godi said "China is copying so many things, so we too showed it can be done". Wow! Footinmouthasana done perfectly with poise! Another "prostituting of their intelligence" if their thinking could be given that honourable title. 

It also makes me realise how polarised the world was and is. How little has changed w.r.t. the rich crushing the poor and claiming to be their saviours. How wars are fought by the poor to enrich the rich. So little has changed.....

 But yet, the words of people like Ambedkar, Gandhi, Nehru, Bose, Bhagat Singh and many other give us hope in these despondent days. That if they could stand up to the more open tyranny or the British, maybe we too could ( to whatever extent) do our bit for our fellow citizens.  

So here's to celebrating not just B R Ambedkar and his incisive cuts, his brilliant clarity of thought and vision but also to celebrate the beauty of the English Language and it's ability to convey in just the right way, what needs to be said. 

Jai Hind 

Animated movies for Adults (Not what you think!)

 I love movies but have over a period become a bit selective. It's not that I can't watch Commercial ones. I have divided movies into two categories. The ones we leave our brain at home and have fun and the ones which can be watched with them in! The third category of course is those rare ones where they make us both think as well as are fun! Tare Zameen Par, PK, 3 Idiots come to mind! 

One of my favourite genre is cartoons or to be more precise, Animations. While I still like a well done kids cartoon like Transformers (Original Cartoons), Ducktales etc. I somehow love the new ones which aren't designed just for kids. Some are designed for both while nowadays there are enough viewers for some to be made exclusively for Adults. The concepts are complex, themes are at times very dark, sexual content is present where necessary (though not the prime drive of the movie) and blood and gore come in as well.

 Shrek I think was the pathbreaker with a movie having ( to use one of their own phrases) layers like an Onion! 

On one layer is a story of a reluctant and bitter Ogre setting out to protect his swamp. At another it's about pushing beyond our comfort zone to find who we are ( and love!). At yet another level it's a hard hit on societal standards and how the "Ugly" is shown as "Bad" and Vice Versa and how in most societies, the niceties, primness and pretty faces cover a deeper level of ruthlessness and real ugliness. 

And then if the movie has one of the most iconic songs, many fart jokes, the Legendary Eddy Murphy as "Dunkey" and superbly choreographed action scenes poking fun at some of our pop culture movies ( like the scene where the Princess does a copy of Trinity from Matrix by freezing mid air while the camera pans) the movie is bound to be satisfying on so many levels! 

Of course, the painting / animation / VFX have to be good too! 

But some recent animations which have taken the pure artistry to a whole new level are The Dragon Prince (Studio Mir!), Arcane, Spiderman Into the Spiderverse and Across the Spiderverse.

In each of these, it feels at times that every frame is an art work worthy of printing and pasting on a wall! 

The Dragon Prince: 

The sheer bright colours, the beauty of the world built, the scale of each painting blows ones mind! How cute and adorable many of the characters are drawn and the sometimes super complex paintings, the sometimes intentionally simple frames with hardly any depth makes great viewing! 

Add to this, the complexity of the story, the world building happening in parallel. The really dark and large scale consequences of the powerful people making simple decisions of hate based on fear and you have as amazing a world as you want in a fantasy story! 

Here, even the worst villain have redeeming traits. Most of the heroic people also having anger, short sight, bitterness and even arrogance at times. 

I LOVE ( not love, LOVE) how they are able to show ideas as black and white while still keeping the characters as gray! 

The next Sub-Genre if we may call it that is the For Adults Animations. Arcane, Paradise PD, South Park all come to mind. Some are purely focused on the adult comedy. Like South Park, Paradise PD. The Animation there needs to just meet communication levels. The enjoyment is in the ridiculousness of the scenario, the dialogues and the mirror they show to society. 

Then comes stuff like Arcane! Like Dragon Prince, just the scale of artistry blew me away! As a non-painter I'm not really an artist in any sense (Except Literature maybe?). But even for me, the artistry was at such a superlative level, I would just pause the screen and enjoy one "Screen" for sometime. The bright and colourful "above ground" city, the dark and drab lower ground world. The seemingly nice and beautiful people, well dressed and well mannered above contrast with the "Dog eat Dog" world below where every character is out for his own growth. 

Then, as the story evolves, you start seeing the Humanity in those below and the cruelty in those above. And the worlds reverse! You see the top world survives by exploiting those below! Behind the facade of genteel lives is a iron clad fist willing to take whatever they need at whatever cost to the other simply because they have a "right" to it! 

And in all this I have not even started to get into the story!

So for those who enjoy good story telling combined with great cinematography ( That's the equivalent to awesome frames I think?), do give these and many more Animations a viewing. 

ENJOY!

An understanding of Society - Capitalist turned Socialist

 This is an attempt to document my slowly growing understanding of society, what's wrong in it and why there are no easy solutions ( but there are solutions!).

I'm a 40+ person with a small business in manufacturing and who also is part of an NGO in the education field. 

I have grown up with what I would now call a very privileged upbringing. It wasn't too fancy. But we went to a good school. Never had to worry about food or money at home. Had tons of books at home, extra tuitions for Maths, Physics and Chemistry ( even though we were academically good) and so on. 

Ok. So compared to today's levels of multiple tabs and phones, AC buses and AC classrooms, BTS themed birthdays et al, it wasn't much. But ( I later realised) it was sooo much more than what the average Indian got. (The average could be defined by Median or Mode. )

So in my teens and twenties ( which is probably equal to Teens in terms of exposure for an insulated Indian child), i've always been pro-Capitalism, pro-"Merit", against Reservation and a HUGE fan of the Ayn Rand school of thought. 

I mean, it was obvious to me. An upper class student could not get into my college with a rank of 10,000. An SC student got in with a rank of 40,000! How much more blatant could the discrimination be?

Aah! The confidence of youth! ( Not to mention the Ignorance!). 

Luckily for me, I had good friends in College. So what our education system left out, I learnt from them over many a bottle of cheap liquor! ( Where we all  get our education! 😆)

I realised that for "merit" to apply, there has to be the same starting point. I cannot claim merit when I have had good schooling, extra tuitions, parents not giving ANY work at home ( walking the Dog was my "Chore" which I cribbed about ( and the occassional getting Kariyapak from a neighbouring tree!).

I learnt how culture plays a role, caste plays a role in your awareness! I had Engineering as a target from my 8th class when one of my cousins got into Engineering. ( Medicine was out because of a Biology teacher I hated! Life decisions are based on such wonderful analytic thinking!). 

I later learnt that even relatively well to do friends from business community got to know that there is an Engineering Entrance exam called EAMCET only after they finished their 11th! 

I learnt that the SC friend of mine was the first person to become an engineer from his entire extended family on both sides of his parents! 

I learnt the Govt. schools they studied in - in their childhood -  didn't have proper seating, leave alone teachers! That even their English Teacher didn't know English!

I learnt that some of my classmates came from such poor backgrounds that they studied from borrowed books in the Library! 

That was when I first heard about Ambedkar and his writings. That was when for the first time, I started analysing things from the societal and sociological perspective! 

I realised so much of what we are taught in schools is just milestone facts! 

It was then that I started understanding the social and economic fabric of our world!

The true learnings follow in the next blogs!

Of Bikes, Butts and Butterflies ( Or, The tales of a fat biker!)

This is about an amazing bike trip taken on an amazing bike with an amazing person!

Now that I've set low expectations, let's move on. :)

THE Bike

The Bike in question is a Triumph T100 Bonneville. A relatively unassuming looking bike ( at least for a person who has drooled over the flashy Ninja and Hayabusa) until you ride the monster! With 900CC under your seat and an 80Nm torque at the twist of your wrist, this baby is one that will thrill you to the core!

Initially when my dad wanted to buy this bike, I wasn't really impressed and thought that while this wouldn't be my choice, its good for him to fulfill one of his long term wishes. But once you drive it ( in any modicum of open road) whew! It's a leashed monster!

Weighing around 220 Kgs by itself, this baby is a handful to hold on to! Add to that it's tendency to jack knife when you're making sharp cuts at zero speed and it needs some good limb strength to drive her.

But all that is moot when you're on the road! But more on that later!

Butts:

I would'nt like to butt heads with those who disagree with this in the heading, but there is a dire need for it ( as you shall soon see!). 

It is said that one does not know the value of a part of the body unless it isn't there! To reverse the quote, one does not know how weak a part of the body is unless it's overused! 

 

An amazing fun trip by day, a night of sleeping on your stomach cos.... But definitely worth it!

One of the really sad things about it was that since the human body is not designed aerodynamically, a lot of insects kept smashing into the helmet at a time. 

After sometime realised many of those were butterflies. :(

Kept trying to justifying to myself as "The circle of life" but made me realise how much humans actually disturb the environment. 

But an overall wonderful trip with dad. Need to do more together!

The Price of Honesty & Idealism

This is a topic which has for various official reasons been haunting me. Today I was both happy and sad to see somebody else with a even higher level of honesty who - at least in the short term - paid the price for his morality!!

I was reading up a post on the IIPM ponzi scheme and how it worked. While it was a good read on what happens within many Corporate Organisations that "work" the system, there was nothing very astonishing there for me. However what shocked me was this link to an article by Mr. Gaurav and how IIPM had arm twisted IBM for the sole reason of being the employer of Gaurav! Gaurav clarified that what he had written was his personal view on his personal blog and yet IBM was forced to the extent where they - in the most favourable scenario - did not refuse his resignation!

Please find below the write up by Mr. Gaurav on why he had to quit IBM!! A more clear cut case of bullying can't be found in any school yard! Kudos to Gaurav to have the courage in his morals ( and his ability) to stand up to this! I truly hope that life has good things coming up for him to make up for what it has put him through!

http://gauravsabnis.blogspot.in/2005/10/update.html

 

There are so many such cases of Individuals standing for what is right against "The System". It could be a large Corporate, it could be society in general or the biggest Baddy of all, the Govt. 

 

We know of Wikileaks and the illegal but very moral actions that he took and the devastating consequences it has had on his personal life. 

 

Closer home, we see the cases of the BK16, of even Chief Ministers and Dy. CMs ( Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia) where the system has decided to put aside nuance and come down to brute force. 

 

One of the cases which has personally affected me the most is that of JNU Scholar Umar Khalid. 

 

Now before I go into his case, let me talk about my background. I come from a moderate Brahmin family - in the sense that we don't greatly practice Brahminical values but still identify as Brahmins. 

So a lot of the typical Hindutva talking points have been thrown in and around our Social circles. The "Ghetto" mentality of Muslims, how "All Muslims are not terrorists, but all terrorists are Muslim" - evidence to the contrary being 'selectively ignored'.

One of the biggest talking points was "Where are the Liberal Muslims? Why don't they speak up against the extreme elements of their community?". A statement which has now become so ironic ( considering how most of Hindus have ignored - if not lauded - the growth of Hindutva hate) that it borders on the farcical. 

In those days, I felt this was a kind of fair question. Where indeed were the Liberal voices? Either they weren't there or were too scared to speak up against the extreme elements. 

Then comes Umar Khalid. A Muslim Scholar (Scholar in the Secular term, not in the Imam type scholarship), in a relationship with a - GASP! - Hindu woman. ( Don't you dare start the BS Love Jihad story here!)

A secular Hindu who has unabashedly spoken up for the Constitution being THE ruling document of the nation. 

 

A voice of reason and of non-violence. Not just non-violence but of love. Of the Gandhian form of Ahimsa where he said Ahimsa is not just an absence of violence. It is not a passive negation of violence but an active push to it's opposite - Love! 

Umar spoke of a nation shared together where all come together to help the less fortunate. He did his PhD Thesis on the circumstances of the Adivasis of Jharkand. 

You could not find a better poster boy for the "Liberal Muslim" us "Regular Hindus" were in search of. 

So by all the definitions above, he should be somebody we praise, we elevate to a position of adulation. We showcase to our fellow Muslim citizens as an ideal to aspire to. 

What, instead , did we  - as a nation - do to him?

We booked him under the most stringent anti - terrorist law on the flimsiest of pretexts!

Knowing that his Muslim identity precludes him from sympathy and empathy from the majority community, we (Or more accurately our "representative" Government) used him as an example to the protestors, a whipping boy if you will.

He has spent the last 4 years in jail with ZERO progress in his case. His various applications for bail have been rejected. He has been villainized by the majority as anti-national - without knowing ANYTHING about the case and where not possible, wilfully ignored. 

What then can we expect from the rest of the Muslim community when we clearly show them what happens when you - as a Liberal Muslim - speak up?

Do let's think about it.

Love

Ninetanks

The Reluctant Optimist - My views on the AAP movement

An introduction: I am a thirty something small time businessman and big time cynic. Well educated ( in the Indian degree / Post Grad sense) yet despondent on soo many fronts. Now to the article

I have from quite sometime been very cynical about the chances of any drastic improvement in India whether in terms of Government or bureaucrats or politicians or the general public changing their usual lazy, corrupt short cut seeking ways and - till very recently - I have had very sound reasons for doing that.

In such a scenario when one man stood up and said that now that everything that I have tried to do to change the system has not worked, I will enter Politics ( observe the Capital P), the ultimate citadel of corruption, my casual reaction was " Aaah, yet another idealistic fool walks to his doom". A feeling of a Frodo entering Minas Tirith. 

Imagine my shock when in Tolkein style he came out - relatively - triumphant. He could at least make it to the CM seat! However, to me the bigger sign of change was the one paper article which said "Officers in various government departments are burning old files out of fear" on the very day Arvind Kejriwal took his oath as CM! That was when the actual affect of the ripples were starting to be seen! 

Unluckily I have had my share of experience with Govt. Departments ( from some of the best to the undeniably worst - Coal India!). So I have some inkling of how brazenly they do what they do. And there is no combination worse than bureaucracy and corruption! Not ANFO, not a ton of Potassium and water, not a psychopath and a machine gun! Nothing! They have such unbreakable belief in their armour of documentation that there is nothing you can do but bow to them! 

To see such people shaken out of their apathy and false righteousness! ( The logic they follow being: " Politicians and the people above us eat so much more, that justifies our taking whatever we can as it's still lesser than what others are doing"). That was the time I started taking Kejru  seriously!

There was still this eternal mistrust which has been ingrained genetically in us - probably from the time our ancestors saw their own people selling our secrets to various ( then) outsiders - from the Mughals to the British.  There was this strong perception that he too is a player in the game, come in with his own "angle" to be got! 

What I didn't get however was why would somebody with something to gain give up a cushy government job in - of all places - the Income Tax Department and go out to take on an all but impossible task of cleaning up politics? As an IRS official he can make crores of rupees by just letting people know when he is going to be absent! ( I've seen such offers given so that the Officer In-charge of the day can then be bribed to get the file passed!). So money is probably out. I thought maybe like most other people beyond a level, money doesn't matter. Maybe it's power! 

But logically even that didn't seem to make sense! For however a megalomaniac he was ( is ), it is impossible that he could've predicted that they would do so well in the elections! Especially before he even started a political party! I'm sure he would've been welcomed with open arms into any party ( Congress or BJP) if he had wanted to join them then! So there were safer, better ways to power. 

That only left ideals. Still I wasn't a big fan. I've seen many idealistic persons fall on their face ( including yours  truly) simply because of their inability to overcome reality in what they aim for! So ideals without competency is of no use. So I decided not to get myself too worked up and went on with my usual struggle for existence. 

However, when he actually showed that he could do it! He could mobilise people, he could build a team from scratch, he could fight an election at - probably - 1/100th the budget and still come out a creditable second! 

Something was however still holding me back! Probably the middle class mentality of "Why get into something like this unnecessarily. Let's stick to what we are doing" thingy. 

What however shamed me into becoming - ever so slightly - more active was the reactions and the accusations that were thrown at him and his party. The tone was abrasive, the logic was trash and the manner in which each minor infraction was analysed, blown up and distorted was so wonderfully professional that if it wasn't towards such a horrendous end, one would've sat back admiring the wonderful manner in which it was done! 

Some of the points thrown ( and swallowed by our "educated" classes) bordered on the ridiculous! He is corrupt and not a keeper of his words because he took a 5 bedroom apartment! REALLY? As a small businessman, I live in a three bed room and claim my right saying that I have worked hard for it! And you're grudging a Chief Minister a 5 bedroom apartment? Especially when it comes to light - much later on a blog online - that his wife is anyways eligible for a 4 bedroom house as an IRS officer! Come ON!! We're in a country where we get confused on how many zeroes to add when we're talking of scams! ( 1,76,000 Crores comes to mind!) And here we are grudging a guy 1 extra bedroom because he became CM! 

The others were the U-Turn Kejriwal and the sooo many jokes! We are - again - talking of a political scenario in our country where our erstwhile beloved Megastar campaigned against the Congress, won his votes ( and his seat) and later conveniently merged with the same Congress! Where was the outrage? He wasn't called U Turn Chiranjeevi. BJP strongly supported the Reddy brothers ( it was openly known that they were close to Sushma Swaraj) and had to ditch them. Yeddiyurappa was removed as CM, formed his own party, spoke virulently against them and again joined back! Nobody calls eithe Yeddy or the BJP as U Turn! The Congress is indeed synonymous with it's symbol of "giving hand" ( Haath dena) and backtracking on each and every commitment given. Their number of turns in the Telangana issue would've been worth not just a U, but an A-Z turn! They could've navigated the entire Judge Harrison Highway Interchange in the number of turns they took! Nobody called them any names! 

All this reminded me of this old folk tale told to me long ago

There was once a beggar in a village who would go begging to two houses in a street. One lady always gave him alms, while the other always refused. One day as he came begging, the lady who gave alms said " I can't give you any alms today as my husband has come home and I need to serve him first". To which he replied ( a loose translation) " The lady who doesn't give alms anyway doesn't' give, you give alms everyday, what happened to you bitch?" 

Basically we've gotten so used to the mainstream parties backstabbing us, eating money, selling contracts, etc. that there is no shock or even a sense of outrage when they do it. But for a new comer - especially one who claims to not be like them - for him to make a genuine mistake?  ( or change his mind - like his decision to enter politics) NO WAY!! He's U-Turn Kejriwal! 

So yes, we cannot trust him anymore! I would rather scathe him with my scorn and my sense of betrayal when he resigned! Let us hold him accountable for having quickly resigned and take what the Congress says at face value - that IF the file had gotten central government approval they would've supported it. So what if they are the same people at the centre who refused to pass it? So what if even the much lamer version of the Lokpal bill was passed only when Congress saw that Kejriwal came to power on this massive sense of outrage in the people? No, we will trust and respect the "Lady who never gives" rather than respect what he had done or tried to do in 49 days! 

Note: All he did was resign - not eat money, not kill/ transfer an honest officer or anything like that - and the rest of us in India didn't vote for him, didn't donate money to him, didn't do anything to support other than to build up our own random expectations!

I could go on, whether it is about the Khirki Extension issue or the Rakhi Birla issue or any of the so many other issues raised against his governance! The simple question is would these things even be media worthy if done by a Congress / BJP guy? It would be run of the mill, not even worth the mention on TV, leave alone the bashing! 

I too started doubting my support to him when the Delhi Jal Board Chairman himself apparently said that Kejriwal's scheme isn't workable and would drown the board in debt! Then he gave the statistics in an interview! He said the Jal Board last year made 270 Crores profit! Worst case, that money will go back to the poor of the country! He then quoted another statistic wherein a Jal Board report itself shows the pipeline in a particular locality being fine and yet being replaced in a period of 4 months for a cost of approx. 400 Crores! ( Clearly done to benefit the contractor and through him the bureaucrats with their "percentage"). His point was that even if he is able to stop one such false work, he covers the money. The interviewer did not refute his facts. He moved on to the next accusation. No other party came back with data saying Kejriwal was talking out of his Nehru topi! They then said he's doing this as an antic as it still does not benefit those without meters! His answer that this will in turn encourage people to regularize their connections as they'd still get free water fell on deaf ears! 

This and many such allegations is what has made me today change from a "wise" and eternal cynic to a reluctant optimist! I still don't see too much hope for them. They will not win 272 seats. However, they've done enough to show us that those of us who inspite of the bleak world we live in have not given up our ideals, who still dream patriotically of an India which would be worth the many lives sacrificed for our freedom, we need to stand up and do what we can. I am reminded of the last lines in the movie Dev in the inimitable voice of the great Amitabh Bachchan where he says " The job of a warrior is to fight. It is not to think of the result. It is to fight till his very last breath even when he knows that failure is inevitable". While I might not go to that extent, I will not remain a silent spectator any more!

 

The other thing that changed me was his manner of facing interviews and the facts he rolled out! When one PM candidate refuses to give interviews - after his sweating, water gulping fiasco, the other becomes the George W Bush of India with his one interview in a decade of ruling, we find this man facing interview on interview, countering every allegation with facts and data and we still believe others and are not willing to give him a chance! 

Another final point in closure. I do NOT believe in all his policies. The concept of a local police reporting to the local Panchayat I think is extremely wrong! There is too much concentration of power. His approach of Soft Hindutva is sooo disappointing. His support of hyper patriotism too seems counter to modern thoughts. 

 

However, I believe that when the intention is right, they will change as required. He will - hopefully - take another U Turn there when he sees that what he's put in place is not working!

Jai Hind