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Identity Crisis

I left Delhi because the school where I worked was demolished by a godman's people who wanted the 15 acre campus for parking the vehicles of their devotees. I ported my phone.  But every now and then I get a call from the phone company about the veracity of my address.  The id proof I had given carried the Delhi address.  Now they can't find such an address.  So for their sake, here it is, the address that has been demolished by a godman's boys just for fun's sake. B 26 Sawan Public School, New Delhi is still the address in my identity papers.  And the address doesn't exist. Thanks to a godman .

Sarita Nair is a Symbol

Sarita Nair with Oommen Chandy A long-term entertainment in Kerala Sarita Nair is a symbol of the cancerous rot that has eaten into the Indian polity.  She has been levelling allegation after allegation against various political leaders, particularly of the ruling United Democratic Front, in Kerala.  The media would lap up the allegation, hold prime time discussions, call Sarita “a bomb,” and – nothing more.  Sarita became an entertainment for the watchers of Malayalam news channels.  Why does nothing happen to all the people against whom she levels serious charges? Yesterday she went to the extent of accusing none other than the septuagenarian Chief Minister, Mr Oommen Chandy , whom she had not so long ago described as “a father figure,” of having sexually exploited her.  According to various allegations levelled as the opportunity suited her, she has slept with Mr Chandy’s son also as well as almost every important Congressman in Kerala and the Congressman’s cronies.    

Food Politics

Source From the time the Biblical God planted the forbidden apple in the garden of Eden, food has been used as a political tool for bossing over people.  If God really did not want Adam and Eve to eat that particular apple, what was the need for planting it in the garden?  Politics is the answer.  God was playing politics.  “I have the power to make rules and you have the duty to obey my rules.”  That’s what God was telling them indirectly.  “You are my subordinates.  The apple tree is a symbol of my power over you.” We now live in a time when some people who export beef to other countries kill those people within the country who eat beef.  The holy cow is also a symbol just like the Biblical apple tree: a symbol of the power wielded by some over others.  I spent fifteen years of my life in a place where carcasses greeted people every morning.  Beef, pork and mutton travelled in open trailers through the winding roads and streets of Shillong to the various food markets

Why I am not a Patriot

“A world full of patriots may be a world full of strife,” wrote Bertrand Russell in his book Why Men Fight .  Patriotism assumes that one’s own country is superior to others.  Patriotism is like religion, Russell goes on to say.  Apart from the sense of superiority, it is also founded on a sense of self-righteousness.  The patriot believes that his country possesses the ultimate truths.  There are a few bloggers who have shot to prominence in the last few months – after nationalism became a pet theme in India – who vindicate Russell’s arguments.  There is no truth outside the Gita, there is no epic greater than the Mahabharata, and there is no greater religion than the Hindu dharma, according to these blogger-patriots. My primary opposition to patriotism is precisely the blinkered vision on which it is founded.  It prevents one from seeing the bigger picture.  It withholds one from admiring what is good in other countries.  How terrible a loser I would be if I were to shut my

Nationalism of the Deprived

Those who can afford it are leaving India.  According to a report by New World Wealth published in today’s Times of India , 4000 Indian millionaires chose to leave the country in 2015 and settle down elsewhere.  They are rich enough to abandon nationalism and embrace internationalism.  Source: TCN Cartoon The godman is missing from the cartoon because he is an internationalist! Nationalism is for those who can’t afford internationalism.  Those who can’t afford to leave the country will have to accept the laws and regulations about what to eat, what to speak, what to wear, etc from certain groups of people who have the support of the ruling party at the centre.  The report says that France witnessed the highest outflow and the reason is the religious tension in the country.  Other European countries such as Germany, Belgium, Sweden and UK are likely to face the problem of emigration because of religious reasons.  Perhaps, religion is the major villain in most countries w

The Poet meets Bharat Mata

Courtesy: The Indian Express Moving from Ghar Wapsi to Bharat Mata, Through Cow Protection and slaughter of men, The poet sought meaning Knowing rhyme there was none Rhythm there was none In spite of the umpteen slogans: Make in India Start-up India Digital India Democracy struggled for breath In the attenuated air in the Arunachal mountains, In the Devbhumi of the Garhwal Himalaya; And promised to die in Himachal and Manipur. “What is it that you want, Mother?” The poet asked Bharat Mata. And she said hiding the tears that welled up: “Azadi.  Azadi from my upholders.”

Veer Savarkar and Amit Shah

“We want to tell him (Rahul Gandhi) that we are honoured to be called followers of Savarkar…he was sentenced to life imprisonment by the British. He jumped into the sea, escaping from the clutches of British soldiers and swam for 10 km, and fought for Independence.”  Amit Shah thundered while addressing a farmer’s rally in a Surat village .   This is yet another instance of his party’s relentless efforts at rewriting the history of India.  What kind of a person was this ‘Veer’ Savarkar in reality? Vinayak Damodar Savarkar was brought to the Cellular Jail in the Andamans in 1911 after his conviction for the murder of A.T.M. Jackson, Collector of Nashik district, who was "sympathetic towards Indian aspirations."  Within six months of his imprisonment, he submitted a petition for mercy to the British government in India.  In 1913, he submitted his second petition in which he wrote: " I am ready to serve the (British) Government in any capacity they like ... .