Tomichan Matheikal's blog

Irom Sharmila in Santhi Gramam Sixteen years of youth is the price that Irom Sharmila paid for learning the lesson that politics is not meant for idealists.  She has reasons to feel disillusioned and dejected.  She has reasons to seek shelter in Santhi Gramam in Kerala.  “Politics is dirty by nature,” she learnt the hard way.  There’s no place for idealists in politics.  The age of the Mahatma and his hunger strikes are fairy tales today.  We live in a world of hardcore pragmatism of the kind espoused by none other than Lord Krishna in Kurukshetra.  Politics is war.  Strategies matter, not idealism.  “Dharma is subtle,” the great idealist can only philosophise. And perish for that Dharma.  Ms Sharmila blamed money power and muscle power.  It’s much more than that, dear Ms Sharmila.  It’s brain power.  And there’s divine power too.  There is a whole pantheon of gods involved in this war called politics today in our country.  It’s a war to redeem Bharat from all kinds

Vast majority of people are ideal followers.  Ask them what they are following and you will get blank looks.  For example, ask a person why he believes in his/her religion or why he/she votes for a particular party.  I’m ready to bet that you won’t get satisfactory answers unless some quotidian blah-blah is enough for you.  People want other people.  Not merely for company.  People want other people in order to get on in life.  From the simple drinking water problem to the complex games that people play, everything becomes much easier to deal with if you have other people to help you.  Other people throw in support if you belong to their religion, political party or some such group.  Religious beliefs and political convictions are not much more profound than that.  If you don’t believe me, probe a believer’s knowledge about his/her religion.  In 9 cases out of 10, you will meet with ignorance.  Politics is likely to fare better. Even if there is awareness, probe a littl

I share the cynicism of George Orwell’s donkey, Benjamin, in Animal Farm .  When the revolution took place on the farm, Benjamin with his asinine stubbornness refused to be enthused. “Life would go on as it had always gone on,” he said, “that is, badly.”  The animals were so much overjoyed by the revolution that they did not bother to label him antinational.  Eventually, Benjamin was proved right.  The original motto, “All animals are equal”, changed into “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal.” I congratulate Mr Narendra Modi and his Sancho Panza Amit Shah on BJP’s sweeping victory in UP and impressive performance in the other states. Though impulsive actions like demonetisation bring to my mind the images of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza, Orwell’s Animal Farm may be a more apt metaphor. Dreams are galore.  Promises abound. In the end, however, some chosen animals remain more equal. I love the dreams, however.  I am a dreamer myself.  I would love to see