Tomichan Matheikal's blog

Fiction Once upon a time, not so very long ago, there was a kingdom.   The King was very particular about law and order, discipline and cleanliness, uniformity and conformity, and so on.   So he ordered that no one should criticise the administration overtly or covertly, explicitly or implicitly.   He had soldiers and spies throughout the kingdom to catch anyone who disobeyed his orders.   Divyanshu was arrested by one of those countless, nebulous officers.   His crime was that he had painted a portrait of the King.   In fact, the King looked more handsome and imposing in the portrait than he really was.   The King was displeased by something about the portrait.   Divyanshu was never told what it was that displeased the King.   He thought he had made a magnificent portrait.   He had placed in his prayer room along with his gods.   But the King was angry.   Without even seeing the portrait. Divyanshu was given the usual punishment.   He was ordered to set up his own

“Never forget what you are, for surely the world will not.   Make it your strength.   Then it can never be your weakness.   Armor yourself in it, and it will never be used to hurt you.”   Tyrion Lannister, a character in Game of Thrones gives this counsel to Jon, another character, who is a bastard.   Tyrion Lannister Lannister is a dwarf and all dwarfs are bastards according to his experience.   “All dwarfs are bastards in their father’s eyes,” he says.   No man likes to admit that he has sired a dwarf.   It is better to cast aspersions on his wife. Since his mother died giving birth to him, he could not ask her who his real father was, says Lannister sardonically.   He goes on to say that “All dwarfs may be bastards, yet not all bastards need be dwarfs.” Jon is a bastard.   But he has great qualities which make him better than many other people.   It is only the fact that he is a bastard that deters him from discovering his own greatness.   As long as he keeps fi

Prime Minister Modi’s demand from his ministers that they should not wallow in luxury , instead should focus on delivery and implementation of schemes is as welcome as his promises like Swachh Bharat, eradication of corruption, elimination of poverty, depositing ₹15 lakh in every Indian’s bank account by bringing back all the black money from abroad, and so on.   Will this latest demand make any difference to India?   The other promises have made no difference whatever so far. A lot of money is collected in the name of Swachh Bharat cess and Bharat has remained as filthy as it ever was.   Thousands of crores of rupees accrued by way of the cess.   What happened to all that money?   At least some people could have got jobs if they were employed to clean up the filth using those funds.   When it comes to corruption, PM Modi’s BJP stands one notch above all the other parties in India.   There are more cases of corruption against BJP people than against those of any other