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Happy Independence Day

If there is one starving person in your country, your country is not independent. That old man called Gandhi said it.  May he rest in peace. 

 I live in a country of beggars.  The helpless beg, the slightly less helpless steal, and a few are billionaires.  Quite many others are our leaders in the Assembly Houses and the Parliament Houses.  And a few others are religious beggars, a very fascinating lot they are: they provide us with our daily sustenance of fun.

 Five individuals in my country possess assets worth Rs 5,23,897 crore rupees.  Mukesh Ambani's wealth amounts to Rs 1,49,474 crore rupees.  But he will sell our petroleum abroad and not give it to us.  That's called "the Gujarat model of development".  For more about India's wealth and beggary, read the report by Wealth-X.

 "Don't be a spoilsport," says M.  "Let us celebrate our Independence."

 OK.  I don't want to burst the balloons on Rajpath.  Quite a few crore rupees of the taxpayers in India have been spent on those balloons, I know.  Let the black ghosts in Swiss Banks rest in peace too.  If we can bury the father of the nation in peace, we can also bury the black money in peace.  Or vice versa.  And we, the ordinary people, should learn to bargain on Jan Path.

 Happy Independence Day.

 Let the emperor have his way.  Let him call the Tribal Chiefs for his coronation and have parties.  And then let him go to the borders and hurl challenges.  

 We have an emperor.  That is more important.  Not a dumb Prime Minister. We have an emperor who can hurl challenges to the neighbouring enemy.  We have nuclear bombs too to show off.  We are in a position to hunt heads. 

 Jai Ho!  Let us be happy.  

 Happy Independence Day.  

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Comments

  1. AnonymousAugust 14, 2014 at 9:48 PM

    Happy Independence Day to you too

    ReplyDelete
  2. drchinmoyhazarikaAugust 14, 2014 at 10:44 PM

    I wish being independent was the same as staying independent. :/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalAugust 15, 2014 at 9:42 AM

      Dr Chinmoy, did we ever become independent? When the British left, we started killing ourselves in the name of religion. Colonial slavery gave way to religious slavery. Then we learnt to live with it. Now, with the new govt at the centre, I think we will see a reenactment of the drama that Khushwant Singh depicted in 'A Train to Pakistan'.

      Delete
  3. hindustanisakhisaheliAugust 14, 2014 at 11:24 PM

    Happy independence day..nyc post

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalAugust 15, 2014 at 9:44 AM

      Thanks, Aparna. Wish you too a wonderful Independence Day.

      Delete
  4. Ravish ManiAugust 15, 2014 at 12:38 AM

    If we test countries' independence on Late Mohandas K Gandhi's criteria then no country would be declared as independent. It suddenly reminds me of that dialogue of the movie, Yeswant, where Nana says "Sau me se assi beiman fir bhi mera desh mahan." Anyway, Happy Independence Day!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalAugust 15, 2014 at 9:46 AM

      Nice observation Ravish. Now the ratio will be different; assi must be nabe. Even the economic ratio changed proportionately, you know. It used to be 80:20, meaning 20% f the population owned 80% of wealth; now it is 90:20, soon it will be 99:1 !

      Happy Independence Day.

      Delete
  5. Brendan DabhiAugust 15, 2014 at 1:46 AM

    Scathing enough!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalAugust 15, 2014 at 9:47 AM

      Couldn't help it, Brendan. Sorry for bringing such thoughts that don't match the occasion. That's why I'm a called a moron by some people. :)

      Delete
  6. UnknownAugust 15, 2014 at 11:22 AM

    Happy independence day sir :)... do you think India would have been more prosperous had it been still under the ruling of British ??? May be a completely different question but I wonder if independence has really made us independent!!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalAugust 15, 2014 at 11:33 AM

      Shruti,

      No. The British were in India not for making India prosperous, but for making the Great Britain greater.

      But their departure, unfortunately, didn't give us "independence". We have become more slavish now.

      Delete
  7. Alok VatsAugust 15, 2014 at 12:49 PM

    Truly said if the last person of the society won't get the feeling of Happy Independence Day, it won't be a happy Independence Day, just now published a blog on the same. Hope you will like it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalAugust 16, 2014 at 8:13 AM

      Alok, I completed reading a novel yesterday and have reviewed it today in my latest blog. It speaks about the human urge to create a better world. My endeavour, limited as it is, is the same: strive for a better world. Empower people to hope and dream as also to materialise the dream. Thanks for sharing your post with us.

      Delete
  8. IndraniAugust 15, 2014 at 2:59 PM

    oh! Few words and many meanings. :)
    Greetings!

    ReplyDelete
  9. JRDashAugust 17, 2014 at 5:46 PM

    Happy Independence Day

    ReplyDelete
  10. UnknownAugust 18, 2014 at 2:06 PM

    I'm surprised at some comments wishing gladly when the entire post is a satirical scathing attack on the state of affairs. Is it just my lack of clarity or did some not get the moot point of the post?
    Sorry if this offends someone...

    ReplyDelete

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