Simon Says.....

Baba re Baba!!

What a week! First Baba Ramdev decided to go on a 'Me Too' Anna Hazare fast, and despite leading all that healthy yoga lifestyle promptly buckled under starvation within day six, and had to consume honey and lime (And in my opinion, technically broke his fast) Looks like yoga and a satvik diet do not a strong system make.

It is a little difficult to believe that a fitness guru can collapse after fasting of mere five / six days.

On the other side a much older 73 plus Anna Hazare who follows no such diet or exercise regimen hung on resolutely surviving quietly on plain water till the government gave in... (technically, that is.)

The support that Anna enjoyed though was tremendous and spontaneous. People, especially, young educated professionals got shaken out of their insulated lives and sat up and took notice. Comparisons to Gandhi were made. Over and over again. There were frenzied texts, face book messages, tweets, singing and marches by the youth. Everyone who was young and optimistic was there for Anna and his cause.

In Baba's case the youth were not so charged. In fact not at all. I wonder why? Maybe because many saw /accused him as the mask for the RSS. Plus shots of him trying to flee in a white ladies outfit broke the saffron spell.

Baba Ramdev should have let the cops take him. That would have have gotten him more sympathy. And his call for arms, was shocking, desperate and unfitting for a Yogi Baba. Personally for me Baba has lost his magic. I kinda feel bad for the guy. He used to be almost worshiped and look what this has done for his image. He should have stayed out of politics and stuck to what he was best at, teaching yoga.

Then came the sad news of the passing away of Mr M. F Husain.

Almost every paper I picked up had devoted pages after pages of eulogies, praises and quotes of grieving celebrities. Where were all these people when he was alive? If only these newspapers had devoted the same amount of space to convince the govt to provide him enough security and confidence to get him back, the poor man wouldn't have died in a country that wasn't his own. Let’s own up, we just didn't do enough to fight for his safe return.

Barely had this sunk in, I heard horror struck, as a news reporter gave the news about a Senior crime reporter from Mid-Day being riddled with bullets in broad daylight.

I had to pinch my self, didn't these atrocities happen in countries like Pakistan or Afghanistan? Was this the beginning of a crime wave against reporters? Were we Journalists going to be used for target practice? Should we start applying for gun licenses? (More important since I cover crime, was it time for me to hire some one else to do my crime reporting?)

The government and the police should get cracking as they would, if this had happened to one of them. Forget killing a reporter,even hitting a journalist should be made a non bailable offense.

There has been talk about a legislation like this in the making for quite some time but it seems, that it has been put in the deep freezer. In fact some media reports say that certain parliamentarians are against passing such a law against attacking journalists. Someof them even want the term 'Journalist' defined. No prizes for guessing why, eh?

It is imperative that the bill against attacking journos is passed ASAP. If not, then it can only be interpreted as a tacit consent to freely attack or kill members of the media. Take away the freedom of the press and our country will be on the verge of collapse.

The killing of Senior Reporter, J Day is shocking, abominable and has no place in a civilized democracy like ours. The authorities should not drag their feet about this. The real killers should be nabbed and tried in a super fast track court. This is not Pakistan, for Pete’s sake folks. THIS IS INDIA! You just don't kill a Journalist and get away with it.

(Pssst....Heard that Baba is a millionaire. Maybe he could donate those millions to his country whilst the struggle to get back all that black money from abroad goes on.)

Simon Says

Watching the Cricket World Cup finals, was a first for me. I have never been much of a cricket fan but this year was different.

There was a sense of anticipation, a feeling that something great was about to happen. The excitement was palpable. Every time a run would be made, the crowd (not only the one on the screen but the one around me) would roar in joy.

As Dhoni shot the winning sixer the spectators erupted in ecstasy. I knew I was witnessing history. This was the first Cricket world cup I had seen India win (the last cup, I was too young to understand anything) and I was proud, so proud that I thought my heart would explode.

The people were screaming, yelling and cheering themselves hoarse. Each yell louder than the other, each decibel like a declaration of patriotism. Fire crackers were going off.....

Groups of young men roared up and down the streets on their bikes waving flags,hollering their love for India. It seemed every single person was shouting out their love for the country.

What we did not know then, was that we were going to witness history again, very soon, the very next week itself.

A quiet, simple, Marathi manoos, Kishen Baburao Hazare, better known as Anna took on the government of India and went on an indefinite hunger strike.

His empty stomach shook the conscience of the nation. He reminded us of Gandhi. This man made people walk out of their schools, homes and air conditioned offices and make a statement against corruption.

Hoards of people converged and meetings, demonstrations and candlelight marches were held not just in Delhi but all over the country.

Mumbaikars did their bit and organized candlelight vigils at Juhu and The Gateway of India. The Motormen of Mumbai pledged their support. But some of the suburbs were silent. We were witnessing history again for the second time this month and the same crowds were conspicuous by their absence. Their silence was deafening.

Where were the patriots? Those who had shouted out their Desh-Prem at the top of their lungs. Wasn’t this fight against corruption, a patriotic struggle too?

Wasn't this movement a unifying attack against the sickness that was eating into India's flesh?

Was their patriotism only limited to cheering for their country at a game or taking pot shots at neighboring countries?

We have to realize, just applauding and cheering for our Cricket team at a game is not patriotism.

The real patriot is the one who decides that he or she will no longer aid and abet corruption or any such evil that hurts our country, in any manner.

The real patriot is the one who pledges his support for activists like Anna Hazare and their cause.

The real patriot is one who embraces the values of Gandhi instead of mocking his teachings and his followers.

Gandhism is neither out dated nor dead. Anna’s victory just proved that.

If you love your country, you must do your bit against this evil of corruption. Look at yourself in the mirror and swear that no matter how hard it is, you will not support this sickness at any level. Make a promise to yourself that you will not buy even movie tickets in black.

Don’t pay bribes to anyone, no matter what the consequences.....

Report anyone who asks for one, because even if you don't indulge in corruption, but remain quiet when others do, you are giving your tacit consent and are as guilty as they are

. Remember - 'All that is needed for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing' (Edmund Burke)

Anna and his supporters have managed to make history without shedding a single drop of blood, without burning down a single bus and without throwing a single stone. People who ridicule Gandhians and non-violence must rrealize that it is the only way to bring about the change our nation needs.

No amount of bandhs could have achieved what this soft spoken Maharashtrian's starvation and his peaceful supporters have.

Political parties should take note of this and change their modus-operandi to peaceful movements and hunger strikes instead of indulging in threats, violence and vandalism.

If you love India, stand up for India and be counted. Support patriots like Anna and stem the rot in this system that is destroying our beautiful Nation.

I studied this poem as a child and it moves me as much now, as it did then.

(Thank you Mrs Pamela Sinha,for this!)

Written by the same poet and patriot who penned our national anthem, these words say it all.

Where the mind is without fear

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high

Where knowledge is free

Where the world has not been broken up into fragments
By narrow domestic walls

Where words come out from the depth of truth

Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection

Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit

Where the mind is led forward by thee
Into ever-widening thought and action

Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.

- Rabindranath Tagore