Skip to main content

Modi is one among three, says Advani


One of Osho Rajneesh’s witty tales is about a man who runs into his old friend after a gap of some twenty years.  The man (let’s call him Ram) took his friend (let’s call  him Shyam) home and gave him the best clothes he had.  Then both the friends decided to take a stroll in the village.

Interesting body languages
Everyone on the way enquired about Shyam.  Ram realised that all the people took note of Shyam’s clothes.  In fact, Shyam looked charming in those clothes.  Beautiful women eyed him wistfully, or so thought Ram. 

They visited the houses of some important personalities in the village.  “This is my friend, Shyam, whom I’ve met after some twenty years,” Ram introduced his friend.  Then he said, “he’s a very successful and charming person.  But the clothes he’s wearing, they’re mine.”

Shyam flinched slightly but ignored it.

A similar introduction was given in the next house too.  When they came out of the house, Shyam said, “You know, if you wish we can exchange our clothes.  I’d be happy wearing those clothes you’re wearing.”

“No, not at all,” said Ram.  “You look fine in them.  Keep them.”  But the manner of introduction did not change.  So Shyam explained to his friend that he was feeling awkward with that introduction.  Couldn’t he avoid the mention of the clothes?

“Oh, sure,” said Ram.  “I won’t mention them.” 

In the next house, Ram said, “This is my friend, Shyam, whom I’ve met after some twenty years.  He’s a very successful and charming person.  About the clothes he’s wearing, well, I’ve promised him not to mention them.”

I was reminded of this story when I read Mr L K Advani’s comments about Mr Narendra Modi – reported in today’s newspapers.  “Our Modiji isn’t the only one who has scored a hat trick in elections,” said Advaniji.  “Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Raman Singh have also been elected thrice like him.”  Advaniji did not forget to mention also that in 1990 Modiji escorted him during the Rathyatra he led demanding a Ram temple at the site of the Babri Masjid. 

How destiny reverses roles!


The moral: Even destiny cannot suppress jealousy. 

Title courtesy: The Hindu


Top post on IndiBlogger.in, the community of Indian Bloggers


Comments

  1. Enjoyed reading. The message you shared in the end is what we should keep in our minds.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Isn't it interesting to note that even approaching the grave doesn't cure one of certain basic human vices?

      Delete
    2. Yes, it is. We are humans, we won't change.

      Delete
  2. Hello sir, visiting your blog after quite sometime. Interesting connection between a short story and modern politics. Btw, that witty tale is also a famous comedy scene in Padayappa - a Tamil movie starring Rajinikant

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's interesting, Adarsh. If I'm not mistaken I read this tale in Rajneesh's book, 'From Sex to Superconsciousness' written in early 1980s.

      Delete
    2. I am sure the story came much earlier. Here is a link of the video, in case you understand a bit of Tamil http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9uVbTOfiWM

      Delete
    3. Thanks, Adarsh. Of course, I understand "a bit of Tamil".

      Delete
  3. What a fate for Advaniji!
    Well noticed and brought out. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You can imagine the frustration of the man, Indrani. For decades, Mr Advani nurtured the dream of becoming the PM. And now this!

      Delete
  4. Agreed that his demands should have reduced with time but still a Leader takes everybody together..A dictator forces people to fall in line...
    You are smart enough to spot the difference

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I certainly wouldn't want a dictator to rule my country, Kapil. I don't fall in line easily, either. Anyway, it's my choice that matters in the end.

      Delete
  5. Well said.... and yes even the looming gravestones can't deter the 'feelings'

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. And in Mr Advani's case it must be more painful to let go the "feelings" since his lifetime's ambition is being stolen by his own acolyte.

      Delete
  6. Wow....sharp observation...the message in the end...awesome

    ReplyDelete
  7. I would put the moral in a slightly different way. It was destiny that seems to have actually squeezed out (or even given rise to) the jealousy. If Advani's destiny was to become PM, the jealousy perhaps would not have existed. Destiny's tricks!!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Adventures of Toto as a comic strip

  'The Adventures of Toto' is an amusing story by Ruskin Bond. It is prescribed as a lesson in CBSE's English course for class 9. Maggie asked her students to do a project on some of the lessons and Femi George's work is what I would like to present here. Femi converted the story into a beautiful comic strip. Her work will speak for itself and let me present it below.  Femi George Student of Carmel Public School, Vazhakulam, Kerala Similar post: The Little Girl

The Second Crucifixion

  ‘The Second Crucifixion’ is the title of the last chapter of Dominique Lapierre and Larry Collins’s magnum opus Freedom at Midnight . The sub-heading is: ‘New Delhi, 30 January 1948’. Seventy-three years ago, on that day, a great soul was shot dead by a man who was driven by the darkness of hatred. Gandhi has just completed his usual prayer session. He had recited a prayer from the Gita:                         For certain is death for the born                         and certain is birth for the dead;                         Therefore over the inevitable                         Thou shalt not grieve . At that time Narayan Apte and Vishnu Karkare were moving to Retiring Room Number 6 at the Old Delhi railway station. They walked like thieves not wishing to be noticed by anyone. The early morning’s winter fog of Delhi gave them the required wrap. They found Nathuram Godse already awake in the retiring room. The three of them sat together and finalised the plot against Gand

The Final Farewell

Book Review “ Death ends life, not a relationship ,” as Mitch Albom put it. That is why, we have so many rituals associated with death. Minakshi Dewan’s book, The Final Farewell [HarperCollins, 2023], is a well-researched book about those rituals. The book starts with an elaborate description of the Sikh rituals associated with death and cremation, before moving on to Islam, Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and finally Hinduism. After that, it’s all about the various traditions and related details of Hindu final rites. A few chapters are dedicated to the problems of widows in India, gender discrimination in the last rites, and the problem of unclaimed dead bodies. There is a chapter titled ‘Grieving Widows in Hindi Cinema’ too. Death and its rituals form an unusual theme for a book. Frankly, I don’t find the topic stimulating in any way. Obviously, I didn’t buy this book. It came to me as quite many other books do – for reasons of their own. I read the book finally, having shelv

Vultures and Religion

When vultures become extinct, why should a religion face a threat? “When the vultures died off, they stopped eating the bodies of Zoroastrians…” I was amused as I went on reading the book The Final Farewell by Minakshi Dewan. The book is about how the dead are dealt with by people of different religious persuasions. Dead people are quite useless, unless you love euphemism. Or, as they say, dead people tell no tales. In the end, we are all just stories made by people like the religious woman who wrote the epitaph for her atheist husband: “Here lies an atheist, all dressed up and no place to go.” Zoroastrianism is a religion which converts death into a sordid tale by throwing the corpses of its believers to vultures. Death makes one impure, according to that religion. Well, I always thought, and still do, that life makes one impure. I have the support of Lord Buddha on that. Life is dukkha , said the Enlightened. That is, suffering, dissatisfaction and unease. Death is liberation

Cats and Love

No less a psychologist than Freud said that the “time spent with cats is never wasted.” I find time to spend with cats precisely for that reason. They are not easy to love, particularly if they are the country variety which are not quite tameable, and mine are those. What makes my love affair with my cats special is precisely their unwillingness to befriend me. They’d rather be in their own company. “In ancient time, cats were worshipped as gods; they have not forgotten this,” Terry Pratchett says. My cats haven’t, I’m sure. Pratchett knew what he was speaking about because he loved cats which appear frequently in his works. Pratchett’s cats love independence, very unlike dogs. Dogs come when you call them; cats take a message and get back to you as and when they please. I don’t have dogs. But my brother’s dogs visit us – Maggie and me – every evening. We give them something to eat and they love that. They spend time with us after eating. My cats just go away without even a look af