Vacation to an unknown world - Part-2

In Part-1 of this series, we discussed some serious stuff. Here's Part-2 in which we talk about the fun stuff :) 

Update: In May 2015, the Prime Minister of India asked us to share our travel experiences across India. He acknowledged this blog :). 

Scuba Diving

There was eternal debate on whether to do this or not! And finally, one day before leaving the Andaman's it was decided that I will take the plunge! And what an experience it has been - at first it was scary. The guide tells me this - "relax, you are not going to war, it's just a dive with me holding you"! And then we go into the water. It took about a minute to get acclimatized and realise that I was actually looking directly at life under water! 

The deeper we go, the more colourful the fish become :) - Parrot fish, Joker fish, Sponges etc were a revelation. There were also fish that were 1/3rd the size of a normal finger! Truly a world unknown to us! No adventures happened because there were no sharks around ;) 

After about 15 minutes, we came out. It took about 2 hours before the churning in the stomach stopped and 2 days for the ears to regain their full hearing capacity! But like they say when the idea of Scuba Diving is being sold to you - this is an experience you will never forget! 

Mangroove Forests

Another one of those spot decisions - we had about an hour of waiting time to board a cruise from Havelock Island to Port Blair , so we figured we might take a speed boat ride in the blue waters. The boat driver tells us that they have a package wherein they take you through the mangroove tree range. He also tells us "if you are lucky, you will see some crocodiles"! Lucky?! 

Anyways, we take the ride and it turned out to be a once in a lifetime experience! It was as if we were travelling through the narrow lanes of Amazon river (we saw them on TV and always wondered how it will be traversing through them!). The driver plucked a stem and showed to us how the leaves are formed and subsequently how the trees themselves are formed! Mother Nature is phenomenal really! 

Apparently through this lane, crocodiles walk in and out. Like I said, we were not "lucky"! 

Buildings captured by trees :) 

Take a look at the pics below - the trees have literally taken over the remnants of the old buildings. This picture is taken on Ross Island, which was the headquarters of the Britishers while they were here. This is a small island that is very near to Port Blair, and the britishers enjoyed their heydays in this small and beautiful island. The island is replete with thousands of coconut trees, some GIANT trees (you would look so small while standing near them), deers, birds, and houses captured by trees! 

And finally, Radhanagar beach on Havelock Island. 

There was so much hype around this beach on Havelock Island that I was more than 100% sure that it is over-hyped. And the moment we saw it, we were bowled over! Havelock is an island that is about 90 kms away from Port Blair. We have to go there by a cruise (we took this one - poshly named as Makruzz!). In our return journey, we tried for a sea-plane ticket but couldn't get one! Anyways, there is only one place that needs to be visited here - the Radhanagar Beach! 

This was for the first time we were seeing a white sand beach, green and blue waters, and lush greenery! Never knew such beaches could exist in India! We have spent close to 4-5 hours at this beach over 2 days - still couldn't get enough of it! We got sea-sick while travelling to and from Havelock, but this Radhanagar beach experience made us forget the sickness in no time! 

Miscallaneous Stuff

There was this "sofa ride" as part of the water sports - you sit on sofa balloon, a Jet scooter will drag you around :) The ride was fun, till the point where the smell from diesel of the Jet Scooter  was too strong to bear! 

In the whole tour, we came across only one place that's named after Rajiv Gandhi! Looks like Port Blair has a long way to go to meet the demands of the Congress party :P! 

There is a light house on North Bay Island near to Portblair. The Rs. 20 note has this image on it :) 

And finally, for the telugu movie lovers, somewhere on this beach area, the telugu all time blockbuster movie Sultan starring Yuvaratna Balakrishna, Super Star Krishna and Rebel Star Krishnam Raju - was shot here! 

Vacation to an unknown world - Part-1

Update: In May 2015, the Prime Minister of India asked us to share our travel experiences across India. He acknowledged this blog :). 

Recently, for a long vacation, we went to the Andamans. Port Blair looked like a laid back town - no one is in a tearing hurry to rush; everyone is pretty relaxed and life moves on at it's own pace! A stark contrast to the mad rush that we see in our daily life! Each day exploring the various landmarks, beaches, and acquatic life was a learning experience; it was more like exploring a world that is unknown to us! 

Following are some of the experiences that I am sharing :) 

The Cellular Jail 

The above picture is a model of the original cellular jail. Only three blocks exist now; the others were damaged in a Japanese bomb raid. A hospital has now been constructed at that area. 

While explaining the methods of torture at the Cellular Jail in Port Blair, Andaman, the guide made an emphatic statement -  "So many people have suffered so much for the cause of Independence. All we get to hear are the names of Gandhi, Nehru and others." He moved on to talk to us about other facets of the jail, but that statement just stuck with me! This is was one of the poignant moments in the whole visit to the Jail. 

One of the first thing that the guides here show is the gallows - another poignant reminder of the torturous history of this jail. The guide then takes you to the "condemned cell block". These are 4 cells, which have a direct view of the gallows. If you are in this cell, that means your next stop is the gallows. While taking a look at the cells inside, they didn't look anything like the cells we see in the hollywood movies. Something was amiss, and that's when the guide pointed us to it. The cells had no toilet! 

According to the rules of the jail, the inmates were taken out for answering nature's call for only three times in a day. The last such outing was at 6 in the evening. And if you had to answer the call after that, they were given a small bowl - Veer Savarkar describes this plight in detail in his autobiography (picture below). 

Just a bowl! 

Look closely below: - the inmates of one block cannot see the inmates from the other block because the jail doors of one block face the back walls of the another block - Veer Savarkar did not know for two years that his brother was also in the same jail!

More methods of torture were explained at the shed (the red block between the buildings) - coir binding and oil grinding with unreasonable expectations was the order of the day. Political prisoners were made to toil worse than animals. Below extracts from autobiographies of the inmates is a must read:

The way inmates were chain cuffed; the massive hunger strikes which often ended with massive force feeding that led to death of the protestors - so many stories to imagine and feel fortunate to have been born in today's day and age. Statues of some of these fighters are installed outside the Cellular Jail. 

 All during this tour, I was sweating profusely and constantly wiping it (because of the climate) - and then realised that the inmates had to endure all this every single day of their stay here - most of them endured this for our freedom. The poignant stories of the inmates, their struggle and their fightback made for some really inspiring reading. 

Then there is this whole section on Netaji Subash Chandra Bose's visit to Port Blair and his appointing of Mr. Loganathan as the commissioner of Port Blair before leaving. We were also told that this was the last flight he took before his ill-fated last flight (there's too much controversy around that though..)

There is a sound and light show that's well organized. Cellular Jail is a story that needs to be told far and wide - and this is a small attempt to spread that story. 

Chatham Saw Mill

This was listed as one of the places to visit - many were casual about it, but even this place turned out to be a learning experience! This Saw mill was established by the British, on a small island called Chatham and hence the name. The first thing we learned is that the there are multiple types of wood used in various places! 

And then there was a self-tour of the entire saw mill, including a "bomb-pit" - Japanese bombed this island to inflict damage to the British during the second world war. The tour of the entire mill was in itself an experience - how the logs are cut; how they are processed; transported etc! 

As always, it was very sultry and workers were really sweating it out! We in IT industry have forgotten to literally sweat it out! Some pamphlets were around - looks like there were elections to the workers union recently. Workers Union at the mill put up a notice telling the management that bio-metric verification of attendance was not acceptable to them :D 

The naming of Corals and Shells

So there was this musuem called "Samudrika" - and one of the rooms had exhibits of Corals and Shells. Various sizes of shells were displayed and to my astonishment, all of them were given scientific names too! I mean, I never knew that so much effort went into classifying shells that we take for granted! Below picture is an example (never knew such large shells existed!) - the small shells in the enclosure behind all have scientific names associated with them! 

Oh wait - the musuem also houses the skeleton of a whale! 

Tribals and their life style! 

One of the most fascinating aspects of Andaman is the tribal life there. The Jarawa tribes are the only tribes that mingle freely with the outside world - and this was causing some health problems for them it seems! For good or bad, the Supreme Court has currently banned any tourism in the area where the Jarawas stay. Currently, there are only about 240 Jarawas living. 

The Setinelese are another tribe that stay in a small island away from the main one. They are not as friendly, and tend to get violent when approached it seems! Below image describes it better :). I think there are only about 98 of them living. 

You will now be tempted to ask - Dude - what about the fun that Andaman is associated with? What's with all this "learning" you are bombarding us? ;) Part-2 will talk about all the fun we had :) 

When "achievement" is not "substance"

This article was written for Niti Central. Reproducing it here. 

Gujarat CM, Mr. Narendra Modi gave a nearly one hour speech at the Shri Ram College of Commerce in Delhi on Wednesday. Formerly national bureau chief of CNN-IBN and currently with DNA, expert analyst Mr. Diptosh Majumdar analysed the speech in a few tweets. The analysis included the following:

Modi’s speech did not have much substance but it was politically influential – the young people lapped it up

Modi's speech at #SRCC was without much substance because except for Vivekananda's vision, he had not much to offer.

The wretched trolls on twitter started bombarding him primarily one query - how come he didn't find any substance in the speech? To which, he bombarded them back with the same query: 

The wretched trolls went on to give him examples of "substance" in the speech, to which he replies to one: 

never once referred to 2002. U haven't yet told me what outside Gujarat achievements is substance in that #SRCC speech?

And despite such prodding, Diptosh has not bothered to enlighten us with what "substance" he was looking for. Instead he set a new barometer of judging a speech – discussing achievements don’t count towards “substance” in speech!

So was there any substance in the speech then? To answer this question, let’s not rely on the wretched trolls. CNN-IBN’s deputy editor Sagarika Ghose said this:

At SRCC, we have heard Modi speak about cotton, salt,, bananas, ayurveda, teachers: but his big ideas on challenges facing India?

Cotton, salt : He spoke about agriculture revival in Gujarat (from 12^th minute here), in which he detailed many innovations – from soil health cards to water management to integrated approach. In the course of this speech, he mentioned how cotton production increased in his state and how a value addition to this prodcution that will benefit the cotton farmer, was developed through a new textile policy – Farm to Fibre; Fibre to Fabric: Fabric to Fashion; Fashion to Foreign!

Bananas: He gave a very interesting anectode of farmers from a tribal belt approaching him for a much higher quality of roads so that their bananas that get exported to Finland don’t get smashed! Modi pointed out (from 19:20 onwards) that such aspirations of the tribal farmers to do better business in the global market is what drives the country ahead.

Ayurveda: While speaking of service sector and industrial development, he mentioned about the need for better branding and packagaing. And he cited many examples to make his point – one of which a report by Hathi commission on Ayurveda. (from 38:20 onwards)

Teachers: From the 28^th minute, he spoke about the role and importance of teachers in shaping the society and how he recognized the need for better teachers and therefore set up the first teaching University in India.

Just by merely looking at the four points that Sagarika Ghose mentioned, it turns out that there is indeed a lot of “substance “ in the speech. He made many additional points, even talked about “India’s development through Gujarat’s development” - but then Sagarika Ghose is not impressed for these don’t’ count towards “big ideas on challenges facing India”.

Agriculture, law and order (he describes some of his attempts towards police reforms), better teachers, better infrastructure, better ideas, better implementation, better growth, better hope - in his speech, Modi described the challenge and then went on to tell how they either overcame or are trying to overcome those challenges, by not relying on mere rhetoric, but by citing specific examples. But hey – these are not “big ideas” nor do they count for “substance”!

Not to be left far behind, Bhupendra Chaube of CNN-IBN does a 2 minute report on this speech in which he says Modi made political references to Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi! Perhaps he is the only person who thinks a reference was made to Sonia Gandhi in the speech! This video report is all the more surprising because on twitter he said this:

U gotta give it to @narendramodi . Orator par excellence. Very very convincing arguments. Always speaks logically and rationally

None of Modi’s “convincing”, “rational” and “logical” arguments made it to his report though!

No discussion on Modi and media is complete without mentioning Mr. Nikhil Wagle. He has a single point agenda – “Modi should apologise for 2002”. Whatever the context – that’s his only demand. It was pointed out to him many times that if he believes Modi is guilty of murder, he should demand punishment according to the law but not a mere apology but that’s beside the point. This speech bothered him so much that he went a step further and said this:

Most of middle class is hypocritical. They voted for BT after riots n probably will vote for modi. They want dev even if its on dead bodies!

It’s one thing for you to have strong anti-Modi feelings, but to blame “most of the middle class” who struggle to make ends meet of being hypocritical speaks volumes about the sanity of a person making such rile statements. It is no wonder that a speech filled with substance and big ideas has disturbed Mr. Nikhil Wagle so much!

So there was nothing in this event that satisfied this ilk? Turns out that there was one thing indeed:

Nikhil Wagle: I appreciate left student unions who protested against @narendramodi in delhi yesterday.They proved a point of dissent. All r not with modi!

Diptosh: And can you seriously root for a Prime Minister who is shown black flags wherever he goes outside Gujarat #SRCC #Modi

The Hindu had a full report that concentrated on the travails of the protestors here. A very casual reference to the speech and a very elaborate report on the protests outside! Rajdeep Sardesai wondered why The Hindu didn’t front page this report when other newspapers did. The Hindu’s editor, Siddarth Varadarajan replied thus:

We refuse to be part of the herd. Every story on our p1 was far more newsworthy than a speech by a CM to a Delhi college.

It is the newspaper’s prerogative to decide what item is “newsworthy” and that prerogative must be respected, but that tweet also said “we refuse to be part of the herd”. A natural question arises – was the decision not to carry it on page 1 (or anywhere in paper) based on the desire not to be “part of the herd” or was it based on “newsworthiness”? In the answer to this question lies the key to thinking of the media on Modi.

All said and done, no image captures the media bias as superbly as the one below that compares some reactions to Rahul's rant in Jaipur to Modi's speech in Delhi (put together by ShivSBharat). Like they say – a picture is worth 1000 words!

PS: News channels, as always, have had noisy “debates” on the speech – the outcome of which is nothing!

Congress tangles Telangana beyond repair

This article was written for Niti Central. Reproducing the same here.

This article is not intended to make or break a case for splitting AP. It merely seeks to explain the current vitiated scenario; how it becomes impossible to take any decision in such an atmosphere; the lack of a proper road map; and the lack of attempt by the ruling party - the congress party - to attempt any sort of conciliatory measures. Until such point of time, where the people of both the regions reach a general agreement on the split - this unrest will continue. 

Recent past

When questioned about their view on Telangana, from 2004 to 2009, every congress person worth his/her salt had pretty much this to say -" Sonia amma is seized of the matter. She will take an appropriate decision". For all those five years, the same echo everywhere - "madam" will decide, "madam" will decide, "madam" will decide. None of us had any clue what was going on in Madam's mind - the people of the state were never told. 

And then, in late November 2009, TRS President KCR started his umpteenth fast unto death for Telangana. Congress party still did not have an opinion till then. Within 10 days, things changed. KCR was getting weak. Students were getting involved in the agitations; non-political leaders too got busy with agitations; bandhs, dharnas became the order of the day. And then Madam decided that on her birthday, December 9th, her government will announce a favourable decision. At 11:45pm that night, then Home Minister P. Chidambaram announced that the "process of forming Telangana will be initiated". 

And all hell broke loose in the rest of Andhra Pradesh. People took to the streets, demanded that their representatives resign; students, non-political leaders took to the streets; bandhs, dharnas became the order of the day in these regions! And within 15 days, Madam took another decision - her birthday gift will have to be put on hold. It was also decided that an all-party will be called and a commission headed by Justice Shri Krishna will give a comprehensive report within an year. 

Ever since, there have been dharnas, bandhs, strikes, marches, meetings etc in both the regions (more prominent in Telangana though. One such strike by govt. employees of Telangana lasted for more than a month, putting many common folks to misery). First affected are school and colleges - fearing any law and order issue - they shut down. Exams get postponed; special classes get arranged later to make up for these losses. The Sri Krishna commission, after extensive deliberations across the state, recommended that the state should not be split. More agitations! Periodically, a buzz is created about a "possible announcement" - and then there is again an unrest in one region or the other. This has been the story of the state since December 2009. 

The Present

Amidst all this, in early December 2012, UPA was hell-bent on pushing through the FDI bill in Parliament. Since there was widespread opposition to it, a vote was necessitated  Seizing this opportunity, Congress MP's from Telangana decided to boycott the CPP meeting to protest against their own party's indecisiveness in atleast calling for an all-party meeting from AP! And since winning this vote was of paramount importance, the Congress leadership agreed to set-up an all party meeting on the 28th of December. Home Minister Shinde convened the meeting and pompously announced that he would take a decision within one month. 

As January 28th was approaching, the congress incharge of AP, Mr. Ghulam Nabi Azad made a prolific announcement - "One month does not mean 30 days". While this amazing scientific assertion will prompt a re-look at some basics followed the world over, the government promptly followed up this announcement by saying they need more time to decide on this issue!  And now the stage has been set for the next round of unrest in the state. Remember, this round of unrest started because GoI was keen on pushing through FDI. The common folk have already begun to dread 

No proper road-map

Whilst Congress party and "madam" have been dilly dallying, some other parties have made their stand "clear" on Telangana. And herein lies the main problem. These parties have no stance on some basic points, like:

1. Assuming AP will be split into two - Telangana and Andhra, what will be capital city of the two states? 
2. Assuming Hyderabad is the capital for Telangana, what will be the capital city of Andhra? 
3. How long will it take to build a new capital city for the new state?
4. Till such point of time, what is the proposed roadmap to govern both the states?
5. How will water distribution take place between the split states?
6. Is it safe to assume that granting Telangana would mean that AP gets divided into 2 and not 3 states?

Believe it or not, not a single political party (BJP, TDP etc) that claims to have "clarity" on Telangana issue has answers to the above! A capital city is the basic requirement in a road map. Without answers to such basic questions above, how would one proceed with splitting a state? Assuming there is some secret master plan for the same - how does the BJP plan to convince people and parties across the state and create a separate state "within 100 days"? 

The only thing that reigns supreme in AP now is confusion! Endless debates on status of Hyderabad, special packages, community interests (MIM's main plank) happen day in, day out - draining out the viewer's interest! The mess that Congress party (and Sonia Gandhi) created is something that cannot be undone in 100 days, especially with no clarity on some basic requirements for splitting of a state. One cannot simply brush aside the comprehensive report of the Justice Shri Krishna commission, that advocates a united state. 

Since that dreadful December month of 2009 - one section strongly wants a separate state and the other strongly opposes it. Both sections have powerful political leaders in them; both have powerful articulators who will throw facts at the drop of the hat; both have regular involvement of students and civil society leaders; both have strong support from the common people of the regions - amidst such a vicious atmosphere, it is improbable to imagine that this can be mitigated and a way is paved for a long lasting solution "within 100 days". 

And then there are advocates of smaller states as a matter of principle - but where emotions are involved such theory will not pass muster. In our online world, many outside the state are always curious about the political prospects of Congress and the BJP in various scenarios. Whatever their political prospects are - one thing is for sure - the prospects of a stable Andhra Pradesh has gone for a toss. And as Shashi Shekhar mentions in this article - there is no leader in sight who can help resolve this. 

Page 1: Allege freely Page 10: Denial

The Hindu published a front page article yesterday - in essence saying that Pakistan has lodged some secret complaint with the UN that the Indian Army killed its civilians and soldiers over the last 15 years. 

Remember, front page. 

Today, the Indian army denied Pakistan's claims. Which page was it published?

Page 10 - the last letter in "Letters to Editor" column.

The author says this denial did not come when he mailed them before publishing the story. How does that imply that they can publish such a story on page 1 and a denial in some obscure corner of the paper? 

This happened earlier too - Guilty, Page1. Not Guilty-Page 14

The "power" struggle in AP...

This article was written for Niti Central. Reproducing it here. 

Would the state be divided or not? Will the Congress buy peace with Jagan? When will Jagan come out of jail? Will TDP President, Chandrababu Naidu gain from his 114 day (and still counting) padayatra? Will PCC President buy peace with the AP CM? Will Cong-MIM rift affect peace in Hyderabad? 

These and many such questions might dominate dining table discussions across the state, but come first week of the month - the only thing every single family dreads is the power bill. The power of woes in AP are not some recent random occurrence - they have been around in a sustained manner since nearly 2 years. 

The woes first began in Aug-Sep 2011. There were production related issues (owing to strikes etc) and instead of trying to atleast resolve the issue, the AP government started imposing power cuts on hapless consumers. Matters did not improve even days after the strike was called off. Infact matters started to become worse, and the government increased the time of power cuts in the state. And when there was uproar from the hapless citizenry, we were given the ultimate explanation - the power situation is precarious in the entire country! A side note here: When the power scenario was "precarious" in the country, Sushil Kumar Shinde was the Power Minister! 

But am being vague about these power cuts, so please allow me to give you some details on the timings. It started like this - 2 hours in cities, 4 hours in district HQ, 6 hours in municipalities  8 hours in mandal HQ and 12 hours in villages. In November 2011, it was emphatically announced that there will be no power for villages during the day time. We were also told that if "If any village gets supply for one or two hours during daytime now, it may be by mistake of the field staff."

And since then, the power cut times have been slowly increased by an additional 2 hours. So the state was facing power cuts for 4-14 hours. 4-14 hours per day! Thankfully, since October last these power cuts are not happening (for long hours) but we are being warned that the upcoming summer is going to bring back those haunted memories! 

Domestic consumers will still survive these power cuts. What about industries? The power situation went so bad that the government, at one point of time had to tell industries to have a 4 day power holiday per week! That's right - industries were running only in 12 days per month! Their situation is still precarious. All small scale industries have been hit badly - since they cannot afford to have more man power than required for those 12 days, layoffs had to happen. And it takes no genius to understand that lesser number of working days leads to lesser production which leads to slower growth! 

It was widely advertised that the farmers though are still getting 7 hours of power supply; that there would be no compromise on that aspect (even if others had to compromise massively). With a situation as precarious as this, it is anybody's guess if farmers were getting 7 hours of power supply too! 

So now we have all sections of the society pretty much frustrated with long hours of power cut, for more than a year - unfortunately this situation did not receive as much attention in the "national media" as much as the TN power situation received, but that debate is not needed now. 

I mentioned that these power cuts have come down since October, so you must be wondering what is all the fuss about now? Amidst all this, the government first increased the cost per unit. Understandable, since no increase has been effected since 2004. And before the hapless consumer could grasp the repercussions of this increase, another bombshell was dropped. A new concept called Fuel Surcharge Adjustment (FSA) was introduced! Many consumers were even unaware of what this FSA even meant - all we knew is that an inflated bill started showing up and we had no option but to pay.  Simply put - the distribution companies are transferring the fuel charges incurred in 2009-2010 to the hapless consumer in 2012-2013. So even if one did not stay in that house in 2009-2010, one still has to bear the tax burden on electricity consumption that one was not responsible for! 

Let's leave the jargon aside. A snapshot of two different bills from two different consumers in two different months! below:

Consumers plan for a monthly budget of  Rs. 400- Rs. 500/- at the end of the month, a bill ends up at their home that says they hve to pay Rs. 1500! And this tax will be imposed till July 2013. So from October 2012 to July 2013, every single bill will have amounts that are 50-200% higher than the actual energy consumption bill. Explanations would not matter to small time consumers - to dish out Rs.1000-1500 instead of Rs. 450, all of a sudden is a burden many will find it difficult to take! 

As if this was not enough, early this month, the state government was presented with proposals to effect another massive hike in the power tariff itself! The uproar amongst political circles and the local media must be seen to be believed. Entire local media dedicated front page space for about a week on this topic, detailing how the proposals will break our backs. Ministers themselves were strongly opposing these proposals (Congress has an amazing work culture, no?) - for now they have been put on hold but it wouldn't be long that another tarriff hike will be effected. 

And worse of all, there have been no words of solace from the Chief Minister. All that we keep hearing from him is that the consumer has to bear this burden; we keep hearing that the power situation is precarious and the consumer has to support the government (as if we have a choice). Sometime in these 2 years, we were also told that the problem is because of Reliance also, but frankly will the consumer care? 

So whilst the political unrest and machinations make good dining table discussion points, the woeful power management in this state is what will spell doom for the Congress government. 

A compilation of all his rants!

This piece was written for Niti Central. Reposting it here: 

In the summer of 2007, Rahul Gandhi uttered these sagely words: "I belong to the family which has never moved backwards, which has never gone back on its words. You know that when any member of my family had decided to do anything, he does it. Be it the freedom struggle, the division of Pakistan or taking India to the 21st century"

In the spring of 2011, Rahul Gandhi enlightened us by saying: "Corruption is taking place because doors of the political system are closed and the average person who wants to do good is not allowed in"

In the winter of 2013, Rahul Gandhi further asserted, by saying this (amongst many other gems): "All our public systems....are designed to keep people with knowledge out. They are closed systems. They are designed to promote mediocrity."

Ever since that summer of 2007, Rahul Gandhi has been dishing out such rhetoric on a very regular basis. Rahul Gandhi's latest Jaipur speech would have been just another repetitive rant against the "system", but for the fact that he was appointed as the Vice President of the ruling party of this country. And hence it becomes imperative for us to understand what exactly he wanted to convey. There was a lot of anger in the speech. A lot of "we" don't do this, "we" don't do that etc - but ranting is what we mere mortals would do. "Leaders" like Rahul Gandhi and "his family" have been given the opportunity to show us the solutions for these rants - which they have spectacularly failed to do. 

In his Jaipur speech, he also says "Power is grossly centralized in this country. We don't believe in empowering all the way to bottom." Who exactly is "we" here? His family? His party? Or the wretched "aam aadmi"? 

There was a lot of anger that poured out in his speech. At the fag end of his angry rant, he says thus: 

"The time has come to question the centralized, unresponsive and unaccountable systems of decision making in governance, administration and politics....The answer is to completely transform the system".

Perhaps this is the time to take a quick look at who led this wretched "system".  Rahul Gandhi's great grandfather headed this "system" for 17 years. His grandmother headed it for 16 years. His father headed it for 5 years. His mother has been heading it for 9 years (and still continues to head it). That makes it a grand, 17+16+5+9 = 47 years. The ever magnanimous Rahul Gandhi always fails to mention 2 other Prime Ministers (who are not from his "family") from the Congress, who have ruled us for 7 years. So, that makes it 54 years out of the 65 years we've had independence! 

So essentially the bulk of his speech is a damning indictment of the very same political system nurtured for 47 whopping years by his own family! Strong words were used left and right - no accountability, no respect for rules, all mediocre leaders - yet this speech is being hailed for it's "emotional" value. In the entire speech, there is not a single solution he proposes for all the ills his family has thrust upon us. He makes the cursory reference to Aadhar cards, MNREGA, RTE, DCT etc, but that's about it. He even rues that the very same Congress party headed by his family gives little regard to rules, and yet somehow manages to win elections because "India is in it's DNA". 

9 years is long enough time to bring in massive changes - we have leaders who have shown us what can be done in 5 years only! Yet, Rahul Gandhi does not have a single achievement to boast of (as an MP, as general secretary of his party). He seeks more time to bring in changes, telling us that he learnt that we have to correct things however long it takes! Irony died a million deaths when Rahul Gandhi rued that mediocre people become powerful in this country. 

It might not be a big deal for many, but when a "leader" reads out even personal anecdotes and experience from a written speech, it speaks volumes about his articulation abilities. Flawless articulation comes when there is clarity of thought - something that's missing in Rahul Gandhi, as is evident from his rant at Jaipur. Remember he said " You know that when any member of my family had decided to do anything, he does it." Are we to infer that his family decided to to bring in all those ills he is frustrated about? 

The speech is merely a compilation of all his incoherent rants all these years, and has failed to convey anything to the people of this country. The compliant media doesn't seem to question him on any of these aspects - they are just happy to tag along with his "emotional" speech. A cursory reading of various newspapers and viewing of various news channels only create the impression that he is the "eternal opposition leader" waiting and wanting to usher in the much needed change and relief to our "system". Or maybe that's the gameplan - to isolate Rahul Gandhi from the ills of UPA 1 and UPA 2 and set the stage for UPA 3 based on anti-incumbency of UPA 1 and 2! If that succeeds, we have no one else to blame, except us. 

అదే మాయ, అదే మాధుర్యం

"గోవుళ్ళు తెల్లన గోపయ్య నల్లనా, గోధూళి ఎర్రన ఎందువలన" - సప్తపది సినిమా లోని ఈ పాట జానకి గారు పాడి దాదాపు 30 ఏళ్ళు కావొస్తుంది. చిన్న పిల్లల గొంతుకి జానకి గారి గొంతు మాత్రమె సరిపోయేది ఆ రోజుల్లో.

మొన్న శనివారం నాడు "మా మ్యూసిక్" అవార్డ్స్ కార్యక్రమానికి మేము వెళ్ళాము. జానకి గారికి జీవన సాఫల్య పురస్కారం ఇచ్చారు ఈ కార్యక్రమం లో. దాదాపు 30 ఏళ్ల తరువాత కూడా గొంతు లోని అదే మాయ, మాధుర్యాన్ని వినిపిస్తూ, జానకి గారు చిన్న పిల్లాడి గొంతు లో మల్లి ఇదే పాట  పాడి వినిపించారు. ఒక్క సారి గా సభ  మొత్తం ఈలలు, కరతాలధ్వనులతో  తో మారు మొగిపోయింది. నాలుగు గంటల పాటు జరిగిన కార్యక్రమం లో ఏ ఒక్క సారి కూడా సభ మొత్తం ఒకే సారి ఇంత పెద్ద ఎత్తున చప్పట్లు కొట్టలేదు!

మా అదృష్టం అంతటితో ఆగలేదు. సభ కు విచ్చేసిన వారి కోరికను మన్నిస్తూ, జానకి గారు "మౌనమేలనోయి" పాడారు. సభికుల పులకరింత చూదాల్సిందే తప్ప, చెప్పలేము ! ఒక్క సారిగా అందరు లేచి మరి చప్పట్లు, ఈలలు !

మా అదృష్టం అంతటి తోనూ  ఆగలేదు. జయసుధ గారు మాట్లాడుతూ, "సిరిమల్లె పువ్వల్లె నవ్వు" పాత కి జానకి గారు నవ్వింత అందంగా తను నటించలేక పోయాను అని చెప్పారు. తరువాత జానకి గారు మాట్లాడుతూ, అప్పటికి ఇప్పటికి జయసుధ సిరిమల్లె పువ్వల్లె ఉంది అంటూ కితాబు ఇచ్చారు. ఒక్క సారి నవ్వు అని జయసుధ ని అడిగారు. జయసుధ గారు "మీరు నవ్వండి, నేను నట్టిస్తాను " అని చెప్పారు -జానకి గారు  ఆ పాట లో నవ్వినట్టే నవ్వేసారు ! సభికులు ఇంత కన్నా ఎక్కువ ఏమి ఆడగలరు చెప్పండి!

ఇంకా కొంచం సేపు ఈ సన్మానం కొనసాగి ఉంటె బాగుండు అని అనిపించింది. ఇంకా కొంచెం సేపు ముందే మొదలు పెట్టి ఉంటె బాగుండేది.

కాని,  అరగంట పాటు "ఐటెం" సాంగ్స్ కోసం కేటాయించారు :( . బుర్ర వేడెక్కిపోయింది  అసలు - అర్ధం పర్ధం లేని బాష, అంత కన్నా అంతుపట్టని , చెవులు మీద భారం వేసే "బీట్స్"! ఎప్పుడు ఎప్పుడు అయ్యిపోతుందా అని వేచి చూస్తూనే ఉన్నాం ! ఈ అరగంట మోత అయ్యిన తరువాత చెవులకి వినసొంపు గా ఉండే జానకి గారు పాటలని పాడి వినిపించారు, ఈ తరం గాయని మణులు. హమయ్య అనుకుంటున్నా తరుణం లో , సమయాభావం వాళ్ళ ఆ పాటల్ని ఆపేసి సన్మాన కార్యక్రమం మొదలు పెట్టారు!

ఈ కార్యక్రమం లో మేము ఆస్వాదించిన మరో ఘట్టం - చిత్ర గారు 6-7 పాటలు పాడారు. ఎంత ఎదిగినా ఎలా ఒదిగి ఉండాలి అని చిత్ర గారిని చూసే నేర్చుకోవాలి. ఆవిడ మాటల్లో లోని నిజాయితి బహుశా ఇంకా ఎవ్వరిలో ఉండదు ఏమో. జానకి గారికి సన్మానం జరుగుతున్నప్పుడు కూడా ఆవిడా అందరికంటే వెనకాలే నించున్నారు! "నాకు అమ్మ లేదు, జానకి గారే నాకు అమ్మ" అని ఆమె జానికి గారి పక్కనే కుర్చుని చెప్పారు! చిత్ర గారు పాడుతునంత సేపు సభికులు పరవసిన్చిపోయారు! ఇంత కన్నా ఇంకేం కావాలి అంది ఒక సంగీత కార్యక్రమ నుంచి :)

పండిట్ జనార్ధన్ అని ఒక సితార్ కళాకారుడు ఒకళ్ళు ఉన్నారు అని నాకు ఆ రోజే తెలిసింది. నేను ఎంతో ఇష్టం గ వినే ఘంటసాల భగవద్గిత కి సితార్ ఆయనే వాయించారు అని తెలుసుకుని మురిసిపోయాను ! కార్యక్రమం లో సితార్ కళాకారులు అందరు, ఆయనకీ ఇచ్చిన మర్యాద అపూర్వం ! కాకపోతే అయన పక్కన ఒక్క సినిమా తీసిన గబ్బరి సింగ్ డైరెక్టర్ కూర్చోవడమే నాకు ఇబ్బంది అనిపించింది!

మొదట్లో కోటి గారు కొన్ని పాటలు పాడారు - "ఈ పేట కి నేనే మేస్త్రి" లాంటి "మాస్" పాటలు పాడారు - ఈ మధ్య వచ్చే "ఐటెం" సాంగ్స్ కంటే ఎంతో వినసొంపు గా ఉన్నాయి అలనాటి "మాస్" పాటలు!  మొత్తానికి ఆ రోజు సాయంత్రం చాల ఆస్వాదించాం - ఆ అరగంట "ఐటెం" సాంగ్స్ లేకుండా ఉంటె, జానకి గారి సన్మానం ఇంకా బాగుండేది ఏమో :)

చివరిగా ఒక మాట. ఒక కార్యక్రమం ని నిర్వహించాలి అంటే,  సుమ ని ఎవ్వరు దాటలేరు. పక్కన ఉన్న వాళ్ళు ఎవ్వరు ఆమె తో సరి తూగరు .