Manmohan Singh -To Sir With Love !!

I should have written a thank you note for  Manmohan Singh the day he announced that he was not in the race of trying to be the PM for the 3^rd time .But I chose to hold it till today because tomorrow the curtain will officially come down on his government .Even in the “rarest of rare” cases if the Congress wins –he will not be the PM .The knives are already out and some of his best friends are ready to plunge the knife into a ageing body and blame him for everything that happened in the last few years .Yes –he must take the responsibility of not being tough on crooks who looted the country of its spectrum and coal .He must also be blamed for being soft on a extremely slimy Railway Minister who took bribes through his nephews and relatives to sell high posts.He must take the blame for the fall in the rate of the rupee and for Indias growth rate .He should have quit when a young bearded handsome scion ,walked into a Press Conference with a sycophant in tow ,rolled up his sleeves and tore a piece of paper saying it was “non sense”.He should have immediately quit –even though  he was in the USA .But those are the flip side of the coin .

Thank you Sir for maintaining decorum and never being unparliamenatry .Thanking you Sir for making me always feel proud that I also belonged to the same tribe as you –a teacher .Thank you for speaking sense every time you spoke and reminding me that it is not how much you speak but what you speak that matters .Each word of yours was loaded and well thought out .Thank you for personally being honest to a fault and to your nails .Thank you for making every Indian have a choice of cars beyond the Ambassador ,Fiat and the Standard Herald .Thank you Sir for giving us fabulous telephony ,excellent highways ,Pepsi ,Coke ,Pizza Hut ,Costa Coffee  –everything we used to only see and get when we travelled abroad . Thank you for opening up  Airlines that were so competitive that I haven’t travelled in trains and buses for years now .Thank you bringing television into a remote village in Himachal where kids sit around and watch IPL matches and hear politicians bark and snipe at you .Thank you for the RTI and the UID .And thank you for allowing me to leave home everyday with a empty purse because I have a ATM Card which I can swipe at thousands of ATMs .Its a  amazing and mind boggling  achievement which only a very ungrateful or a  ill informed human being can ignore .I thank God that you were my Prime Minister because  you made life happier and easier for me .I don’t know what historians will write about you .I suspect that they will remember tha bad things that happened in your times .I quote from Julius Caesar ,Shakespeares great play

 “The evil that men do lives after them, the good is oft interred with their bones,” 

.But that is what historians may write .Personally I would like to quote this from the same novel His life was gentle, and the elements so mixed in him that Nature might stand up and say to all the world, “This was a man.”

Thank you Sir for getting India out of the clutches of a backward looking economy and putting it on the world map as a strong global and envied nation .And thank you for making it so conveinient for me  to buy my Levis ,Raybans and Brut without begging others to get it from abroad .

  

Dont Worry Ma -I Am Fine !!

Who ran to help me when I fell,
And would some pretty story tell,
Or kiss the place to make it well?
My mother.
~Ann Taylor

She had a unusual name –Guro .It may have been a corrupted form of “Guru” which in Sanskrit means –teacher .Or it may have been influenced by someone who was a Filipino in whose language “Guro” means –a martial arts teacher .I suspect that she got her name from the former (Sanskrit)rather  than from the latter –because my mother was one of the gentlest and God fearing woman I have ever met .I cant ever imagine her to do anything with martial art –even in her name .

I have many memories of her , even though she passed away when I was not even 15 years old .She was born into a rather prosperous joint business family in Mandalay .She lost her dad when she was very young and made her way back to India to Hajipur in Talwara ,Punjab with my Naani .From what I recall ,she was full of stories of the bad times just preceding Indias independence when young and pretty women had to be safeguarded from murderous and wild men who had lost their sense of decency and reason .But she survived all that and was married to my Dad who was for all practical  purposes was a “British Hindu” and empowered with a degree from the prestigious King Edward Medical College ,Lahore .She was rather tall for a Indian woman ,not overweight and extremely pretty looking .

After getting his medical degree ,Dad got a job in Burma and my Mom went with him as a newly wed bride .I don’t have photographs of their marriage ,but I do have lots of them in their early married life .She gave birth to six of us –and with not much gap between any  two of us .It must have been tough .And it must have been very demanding to manage so many of us more or less simultaneously .And in the middle of looking after all of us  –she must have looked after Dad as well ,because he was a social climber , flambuoyant and a successful doctor who liked to socialize.He had fondness for whiskey and cigarettes and was surrounded by pretty women .

When I look back –I think Mom was a exceptional human being .I don’t want to sound like a good son ,but I do think that she had a lot of resilience .Primarily because she looked after 6 of us .Secondly because she tried to mix and match with the lifestyle of a successful man .And lastly because she coped so well with her illness .She was struck with hypertension at a young age –and in those days hypertension was a killer .

We came back to India when General Ne Win overthrew U Nu (both were my Dads friends !!)and asked all “foreigners” to leave .We were very young .And my Mom was pretty ill .I remember someone  showing her our new  house in Clement Town and Dad telling her “Guro ,now we will stay here till we die”.!!And when she passed away before him –he made sure that part of her ashes were buried in our house .He obviously loved her a lot and appeared very dependent on  her emotionally (all overbearing men are very dependent on their wives I feel ).Being a doctor ,he looked after her very well .He would check her blood pressure everyday ,read journals to see the latest in medical breakthroughs ,and administer her medicines .Even she was very interested in medical breakthroughs .I remember how excited she was when the first heart transplant was performed in South Africa by Dr Christiaan Barnard .She was a star gazer and had great fantasies about what stars were all about .She was convinced that life existed in the some stars  .She lapped up every bit about Louis Armstrongs landing on the moon .She was surprised that he met no one there.

The one thing that she apparently thought a lot about was death .She took tranquilizers to sleep most of the time .Maybe she was not worried about what happened after death to her as much as to what would happen to us once she left the world .None of us were settled –except my eldest sister who had got married .The rest of us –were still studying .She was particularly worried about me .I never got the grades that my other siblings got .My father often reminded her that I was a school headboy and very talented .But she had a mindset that jobs come with marks !!. “He will be left behind” she would say .I had no clue as to why she was so apprehensive .

Finally ,hypertension got the better of  her .I remember I had just walked  into the house after getting off from the school bus .She would normally wait in the main bedroom through which we would pass to change and have our lunch .She would enquire about how school was .We would ask her “Ma ,what has been made for lunch today”!!If she was averagely okay ,she would get down from the bed and make paranthas for us .She was a specialist in  making them.But on that fateful day -19^th Feb ,1970 –she was lying down .I asked her “Ma ,how are you?”,.She smiled ,tried to say something ,nodded her head and tried to touch me .She convulsed ,her eyes shut and she fell silent .She had suffered a massive stroke .It was the last time I had addressed her as “Ma”,  to which she had responded .Three days later –she passed away after my father tried everything to save her .For three days our pet dog Tiger did not move from under her bed –either to have food or go out for his normal chores .My father bathed her (as is customary for Hindus to do),dressed her in a resplendent saree ,applied  sindoor and bindi .In our customs it is said that lucky women leave the world before their husbands .In that sense Ma was lucky .It was also for the first time that we saw our father with a unshaved bristle .All of a sudden he looked immensely old .It seemed as if a 100 meter runner had tripped and fallen ,and who refused to get up and run again  .He passed away in less than 2 years after  her death .

Life is strange .We do not know have a clue as to  what happens to the dead .As human beings we have conquered many frontiers –but not this one  .Maybe she can see all of us every minute of the day .Maybe she can see her young schoolboy son now all grey .Maybe she can understand that her  ageing son has been very conscious of what ideals she has taught him .Maybe she can read this blog .And if she can ,then here is a message for you Ma –don’t worry ,I have done fine . But because you were not around , I always felt  that instead of going in to every  fight with backup, I was going  into every fight alone.It has been lonely at most times . On Mothers Day –thank you for bringing me into the world and thank you for imbibing values which have given me happiness .Only a  mother like you could have done that .

Elections -What Should NOT Have Happened !!

The IPL has moved back to India after a successful run in the UAE .Inspite of being a die hard cricket fan and inspite of having premium seats and passes for dinner with the players ,I was neither  able nor interested in watching any match .I am too much of a purist to want  to watch cricket without slow motion  replays capturing  spin, swing,catches ,strokes and mannerisms which a cricket match generates .I can never get that when I am in the stands .The closest I can get to 22 yards of the cricket pitch is from the television in my bedroom !!

Anyway ,the IPL moving back to India also signals that the elections are nearing the end.Remember that it was shifted to the UAE because of security reasons -all forces were on duty for the gigantic task of making the elections in India safe for the voters and the candidates.

Its always fun to be a part of Indian elections .The passions are great ,the conflicts are out in the open and the debates sharp and sometimes shrill .It also showcases all aspects of the candidates and their supporters .Sometimes it also reflects ignorance of political processes .There has been a lot of hue and cry about the coverage Priyanka is getting .Some have come down heavily on her by asking “what has she done “ or “why is the press giving her so much importance ?”.History, contemporary politics,and society  is replete with  examples as to how people without doing much assume positions of power ,because of the heredity factor  .A doctors son/daughter has a advantage  in his/her quest  of becoming  a doctor and so do a lawyers ,politicians ,actors ,businessmans ,buruecrats ,or engineers kith and kin .It is much the same in politics –what had Akhilesh Yadav ,Sacchin Pilot ,Omar Abdullah ,Randeep Surjewala ,Supriya Sule,or for that matter Naveen Patnaik  and hundreds of others done to get close to the crown?They sometimes have to prove much less than ordinary mortals like me .!!Whether Priyanka does anything or not –she is a prospective PM of India because of her ancestary ,whether we like it or not.And lets not forget that at the moment she is not a active politician .She is like you and me who is out in the field to support a candidate –whether it is her mother ,brother or a political party !!

What  are some of the things I did not like in these elections ?I would have liked the leaders to have avoided being personal .I would have respected  the PM in waiting much more if he would not have accused Nitish Kumar of being   a opportunist and a betrayer of JPs ideals .I would have liked if he had not called Arvind Kejriwal AK 49 and the Defence Minister a  AK 47 who is helping Pakisan .I would have expected him to respect not just a former PMs  office  but also  Devegowda the man when he said he would make arrangements for him to stay at a old age home .I would have liked him to avoid terms like “Shehzada”  or “Damaadji”  Yes ,I know that there have been horrendous and ghetto talks by people like Lalu  who called Modi a “jallaad”,and by the phoney Derek O’brien who called Modi a “butcher”. And  the less said about Mani Shankar Aiyyar –the better.His calling Modi a “chaiwallah”,was not only in bad taste but also reflected the eltism of his schooling  and college.II hope the Alumni disown him to prove that sometimes one gets stuck with a rotten apple .I also feel sad that Mulayyam Singh passed such snide remarks about Mayawati .And I think we should not even begin to argue about the validity of personal attacks as a response to Beni Prasad Verma who reflects  the worst specimen of a Indian politician when he indulged in verbal diarrhea .

 But  Modi is different .He is on  a high .And is already a certain PM .After all you cant compare and say that  he was reacting  and speaking the same language as the other I have named .They are no way in the same league as him .I would have liked it if he had not persisted in the same way because  he has already won the hearts of his core voters.Its time he feasted like a king and not like a vulture .I wish I could have seen the mellowness creeping in before the results are declared .

I also wish that dholaks and loudspeakers were allowed and the Election Commission was not so obsessed with having a election bereft of its drama and dance .The elections when we were in college and later were so much fun as candidates were escorted to the beat of drums and loud music .The scooter rickshaws would go around colonies blaring racy verses set to the tune of popular Hindi songs .There were posters and flags by millions during my younger days .It used to be like a big mela with lot of “naach and gaana”!!Sadly it seems to have all vanished .!!

And finally I wish there was much less politician bashing .The social media being as powerful as it is today needs to introspect .I know its very fashionable to indulge writing crude and make  persistent and personal  attacks on politicians .Remember - if we start to create a “hate politician” culture –the we run the danger of becoming a second Pakistan .If we hate politicians –we will begin to hate democracy .I for one feel Indian democracy is  very vibrant and needs to be zealously guarded .The Indian voter is very sensible .You cant buy his vote by giving him money or liquor .Otherwise  people with money would always win .But it is not so .And I am hoping it will not be so this time too .For me –the election results are not about whether party A or party B wins .Its whether Indian Democracy wins or loses .We will know about it on the 16^th of May .!!