These days it seems … India is into lots of Chaos. Elections. Congress. BJP. IPL. Varun Gandhi. Everyone seems to fighting for a piece of India. The last one in this list is most desperate one.
I was really upset and out of seer frustration I told myself "Thanks God that I am not there in India to witness all this shit".But this is a feeling of disregard. Disregard of the fact that I was born in India. Disregard of fact that its my Country.
Seldom have I loved India beyond Cricket and Bollywood. I rarely got any other reason. Nuclear Test ,Chandrayan, 20K sensex,etc are the things that we come across once in a decade.And between those decades , too many things happen to force you think beyond those achievements. Thats why Patriotism, for me, rarely meant anything beyond Bollywood and Cricket. I feel over the Clouds when I see Indian Actors being hailed at Oscars and Golden Globes. It makes me a proud Indian when I see Sehwag demolishing bowling attacks all over the world. And every time I try to love India beyond Cricketers and Movie Stars…, someone starts pushing me back. Someday its Narendra Modi, someday it’s Advani, someday it’s Raj Thackeray and someday there are Shri Ram Sena Fanatics and now its Varun Gandhi. I know, many would argue that these are just bunch of unworthy Politicians. To this I will say it’s not about what these people do or say. It’s about India. India does nothing about these people. They do whatever they want. They say whatever they want. People and Media Debate for few days till they get something new to debate on.
End result. Nil. Void. India moves on, till someone strikes back again.
When Sri Ram Sena hit women with their Moral Values, entire India responded. Debates followed. TV Shows. Exclusive Reports followed by routine arrests and bails. But as expected India moved on. Moved on to prepare herself how to avoid Shri Ram Sena’s and Bajrang Dal’s ire on 14th Feb. Karnataka State Govt supported Sena. Congress Govt acted spineless. They just wished why doesn’t 14th Feb fall in Leap Year? Sena activists roam freely on the streets, teaching Moral Values every now and then. And here am advoting either Valentines's Day or Women Freedom. We will come to that, some other day. Till then be prepared for some Moral Lessons, courtsey SR Sena.
In 1942. Mahatma Gandhi gave a slogan. Quit India. It generated Revolution. India won Freedom, only to see Raj Thackeray giving another slogan in 2K8. Quit Hindi ,Quit Maharastra. Poor , hard working UPwalas and Biharis were aliens this time. It generated Chaos. Many got Hospitalized, Train Coaches were set afire, and one was murdered in Cold Blood by Maharashtra Police. Maharashtra Nav Nirman Sena were torchbearer for this REVOLUTION .Bunch of Activists. Goons I must say. And they are also a “Sena”. I wonder why aren’t all these Senas fighting Terrorism in Kashmir and Assam?
Again, Media was active. “Ye Desh Kiska Hai” was the new topic. Media Covered Raj Thackeray as if he was Hero of Maharastra. Raj Thackeray dared Govt to arrest him. "If Raj is arrested, entire Maharashtra will be set on fire," he said. Congress Govt preferred to be mute. Spineless. India moves on. Again.
And now Varun Gandhi. He said "If someone slaps you, what do you do? (They say) turn the other cheek ... I haven’t heard a stupider thing”. Why in the Hell he uses the “Gandhi” as his last name if he hates Mahatma Gandhi so much. Most of us have seen the rest of the video clip. I have no desire to quote what he said regarding some community. Everybody has either seen or read. But what really hurts is that he is being hailed as Hero by few people. Bal Thackeray and Muthalik are front runners. Video Clips, considered as evidence, have been declared as “Doctored”. BJP is criticizing Election Commission for acting tough. Congress got a chance to criticize BJP. Media got a new topic. India is again moving on.
And now The Icing on the cake. IPL has been moved to South Africa. India does not have enough Para Military forces to provide security for cricket matches and Elections at the same time. A nation of over 1 Billion, after 60 years of Independence and with world’s 3rd largest Army is INCAPAPLE of hosting two major events. Jai Ho.If they can provide security for Elections , why cant they provide for IPL. And I am not talking about Indian Dream of Organizing Olympics in 2016.Not even about dream to be Super Power by 2020.
I would have surprised many of my friends with this blog. Coz I have been know as someone who loves movies n cricket and doesn’t care about anything else. But I was sick at reading the pathetic headlines on indiatimes.com, hindustantimes.com. Some headlines were really disgusting to read.And as I am writing this Blog here is the latest headline from ndtv.com
Varun's 'hate speech' makes him a big craze in BJP
How to tolerate this nonsense? I dont have any answer . Not right now.
Many would disagree with what I have written.They are welcome with their comments . And offending any of my friend would be the last thing in my mind. So my apologies if I have offend anyone.
Regards
Tauqir Akhtar
Mar 25, 2009
New York
I was really upset and out of seer frustration I told myself "Thanks God that I am not there in India to witness all this shit".But this is a feeling of disregard. Disregard of the fact that I was born in India. Disregard of fact that its my Country.
Seldom have I loved India beyond Cricket and Bollywood. I rarely got any other reason. Nuclear Test ,Chandrayan, 20K sensex,etc are the things that we come across once in a decade.And between those decades , too many things happen to force you think beyond those achievements. Thats why Patriotism, for me, rarely meant anything beyond Bollywood and Cricket. I feel over the Clouds when I see Indian Actors being hailed at Oscars and Golden Globes. It makes me a proud Indian when I see Sehwag demolishing bowling attacks all over the world. And every time I try to love India beyond Cricketers and Movie Stars…, someone starts pushing me back. Someday its Narendra Modi, someday it’s Advani, someday it’s Raj Thackeray and someday there are Shri Ram Sena Fanatics and now its Varun Gandhi. I know, many would argue that these are just bunch of unworthy Politicians. To this I will say it’s not about what these people do or say. It’s about India. India does nothing about these people. They do whatever they want. They say whatever they want. People and Media Debate for few days till they get something new to debate on.
End result. Nil. Void. India moves on, till someone strikes back again.
When Sri Ram Sena hit women with their Moral Values, entire India responded. Debates followed. TV Shows. Exclusive Reports followed by routine arrests and bails. But as expected India moved on. Moved on to prepare herself how to avoid Shri Ram Sena’s and Bajrang Dal’s ire on 14th Feb. Karnataka State Govt supported Sena. Congress Govt acted spineless. They just wished why doesn’t 14th Feb fall in Leap Year? Sena activists roam freely on the streets, teaching Moral Values every now and then. And here am advoting either Valentines's Day or Women Freedom. We will come to that, some other day. Till then be prepared for some Moral Lessons, courtsey SR Sena.
In 1942. Mahatma Gandhi gave a slogan. Quit India. It generated Revolution. India won Freedom, only to see Raj Thackeray giving another slogan in 2K8. Quit Hindi ,Quit Maharastra. Poor , hard working UPwalas and Biharis were aliens this time. It generated Chaos. Many got Hospitalized, Train Coaches were set afire, and one was murdered in Cold Blood by Maharashtra Police. Maharashtra Nav Nirman Sena were torchbearer for this REVOLUTION .Bunch of Activists. Goons I must say. And they are also a “Sena”. I wonder why aren’t all these Senas fighting Terrorism in Kashmir and Assam?
Again, Media was active. “Ye Desh Kiska Hai” was the new topic. Media Covered Raj Thackeray as if he was Hero of Maharastra. Raj Thackeray dared Govt to arrest him. "If Raj is arrested, entire Maharashtra will be set on fire," he said. Congress Govt preferred to be mute. Spineless. India moves on. Again.
And now Varun Gandhi. He said "If someone slaps you, what do you do? (They say) turn the other cheek ... I haven’t heard a stupider thing”. Why in the Hell he uses the “Gandhi” as his last name if he hates Mahatma Gandhi so much. Most of us have seen the rest of the video clip. I have no desire to quote what he said regarding some community. Everybody has either seen or read. But what really hurts is that he is being hailed as Hero by few people. Bal Thackeray and Muthalik are front runners. Video Clips, considered as evidence, have been declared as “Doctored”. BJP is criticizing Election Commission for acting tough. Congress got a chance to criticize BJP. Media got a new topic. India is again moving on.
And now The Icing on the cake. IPL has been moved to South Africa. India does not have enough Para Military forces to provide security for cricket matches and Elections at the same time. A nation of over 1 Billion, after 60 years of Independence and with world’s 3rd largest Army is INCAPAPLE of hosting two major events. Jai Ho.If they can provide security for Elections , why cant they provide for IPL. And I am not talking about Indian Dream of Organizing Olympics in 2016.Not even about dream to be Super Power by 2020.
I would have surprised many of my friends with this blog. Coz I have been know as someone who loves movies n cricket and doesn’t care about anything else. But I was sick at reading the pathetic headlines on indiatimes.com, hindustantimes.com. Some headlines were really disgusting to read.And as I am writing this Blog here is the latest headline from ndtv.com
Varun's 'hate speech' makes him a big craze in BJP
How to tolerate this nonsense? I dont have any answer . Not right now.
Many would disagree with what I have written.They are welcome with their comments . And offending any of my friend would be the last thing in my mind. So my apologies if I have offend anyone.
Regards
Tauqir Akhtar
Mar 25, 2009
New York
this is probably the best and most honest post I have read I agree to almost everything but yet India moves on.And I also agree to the fact that we as a nation should not tolerate any such individuals u named but one thing i don't agree is the IPL ...its not about being INCAPABLE as u put it..its about national security at the time of general elections and I think the govt. for a change did what was right
ReplyDeleteAgree with every word that you have written. Posts like yours actually make us sit back and think over what the youth of this nation can do to mitigate the current sorry state of indian affairs. Regarding the IPL being hosted now in South Africa, I think India was aiming to avoid a 'Lahore' episode and thus liberate itself from the mounting International pressure on security. But yeah...it does put our country in a 'not-so-good' light, especially in the eyes of Indians. International players wouldn't care less about the venue, as long as they are safe...
ReplyDeleteNo comments on Varun Gandhi...if the Shiv Sena et.al. guys can be disregarded under the pretext of being uneducated and orthodox, then I am speechless on the fanatic views of this 'so-highly-qualified-and-educated-gentleman'.
To do the least, I feel we all should think of doing our bit, no matter how little...register ourselves on 'jagore.com' and vote. Lets vote this time, all of us, and elect a representative who we really trust with bringing a difference.
well, I understand your perspective and share your sentiments, however, I disagree to an extent.
ReplyDeleteCertainly India is beyond wot you have define above. Its more than cricket, bollywood for sure.IPL is not happening in India bkoz of security reasons. IPL shift abroad is not a failure of the system although... Fears over the security of some of the world's top cricket stars has prompted the Indian Premier League to be moved out of India.As they dont want to take risk after seeing couple of months back when cricketers were being targeted in pak.No sensible country would love to take the risk. They could have choosen the IPL in India as it gives lot of money to them but still they have choosen security of the Players over Money.
hmmm i guess We have the kind of politics we deserve. The problem is that the truth is almost always unpalatable. If we get politicians who lie, it is because we don't vote for those who tell us the unpleasant truth. Instead we always fall for those who con us by telling us what we want to hear and promising a simple quick fix!
To an extent we people are part of this dirtier game of politics. how many of us( educated slot ) really choose politics as our carrier over Doctor, Engineers, jounalist, lawyers...none.. why so????. If people like Rahul, Priyanka , Juothirmaya can join the politics then why can't you or me.
We people love to be specataor rather then come and play the game. It's always easy to criticize from a distance, especially as part of an anonymous crowd.
Kanika
"Thanks God that I am not there in India to witness all this shit.But this is a feeling of disregard. Disregard of the fact that I was born in India. Disregard of fact that its my Country."
ReplyDeleteI believe a person who feels great that he is out of the country, when it is in the middle of a crisis, has no right to comment about it!The best past time people have, is to curse everyone they can think of, and blame them for the current state.
My question is, what have you done for the country? Whatever you are, sitting in the confortable confines of the big apple, would definitely have reasons to make you feel that you owe alot to the country, somehting that cannot be returned in a lifetime.
And the irony is, that the people you idolise are all proud to be indians, and have reached the heights only because of this country.
Be the change you want.Do your bit.
" ...inquilaab ki aamad ka intezaar na kar, khud aagay bad aur inquilaab paida kar"
Proud to be an Indian!
(I might have been rough, but i have tried to be true throughout.)
@ Tauqir, i heartily appreciate your most sincere efforts to come out of the womb of movies and cricket and write something you feel like.
ReplyDeleteAnd you have left a lot of stuff to think about. And the best thing is that you care about India and that's why you have written the blog. I could have also criticized some of the points but unlike my respected mates i give you thumbs up, bcz atleast you tried and came out with back and white...
So keep on posting
Hey Tauqir, I do agree wid your all point posted on your blog except one .."Thanks God that I am not there in India to witness all this shit.But this is a feeling of disregard. Disregard of the fact that I was born in India. Disregard of fact that its my Country."
ReplyDeleteThis is not a good quote which one i will support bcoz we people should proud to be an Indian.
I specially dunn care anything about what is happening in political era.But i did really hurt to read in news paper about the IPL became NRIPL.
And last but not least,I appreciate your thought and your full effort that at least you are thinking something about our beloved country from a far Distance...Keep it up darling....
PS:
ReplyDeleteWhatever I wrote does not to question your patriotism any bit, or not something that has to be taken personally.It is supposed to be a generalised view of the opininions of people.
Just because a good friend of mine writes something, does not mean i have to agree with everything.Thats what comments are for,!If it sounds a personal attack, i have been poor with my word selection, as that was not my intention any bit. Apologies for the same ;)
keep posting!
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThanks you all for your valuable comments. And m glad that all of my friends are True Patriots. All I hope that we could come up with something to a LITTLE difference. This was just a infinitesimally small bit from my side.
ReplyDelete@Nabil::
I totally agree that you have every right to disagree with me.
I think you misquoted me . I never said that I am happy to be away from India in these times. I wrote
[ I was really upset and out of seer frustration I told myself "Thanks God that I am not there in India to witness all this shit" ]
So its not that m feeling great to see my country in chaos.
Sitting thousand miles away from homeland and thinking abt family n friends back there , in midst of ever degrading political senarios, makes you feel helpless. Frustrated. You just wish you can control things back there.
And I know, i haven't done anything SIGNIFICANT for my country , to criticize her. But this cant disparage the facts that I wrote abt.
Nobody can pay back what they owe to their Mother and to their Country. Nobody. Period.
But ....
Cant they talk abt her ill state?
Cant they raise a question?
Cant they write and make people think abt her?
Think abt it.
Or better let us know what we can do in these times, to have an "inquilaab".
And lastly..... I am very sorry to say that there are people in India and outside India who dont even care to think abt her. Forget abt PASSING their TIME in writing Blogs, they dont even give a damn abt her.
Regards
Tauqir
hmmm...
ReplyDeletethis has turned into a disucussion from a blog.. now that you ask me what can we do, believe me , a thosuand small things, which when done collectively becomes huge.
Actions speak larger than words.Think before you throw that wrapper on the street.We all complain of not having wastebins on the streets, I carry my empty packets home; instead of complaining, we have to find alternatives, not easy, but not impossible either.
You find someone breaking a que, embarass him, and see the results.(right or wrong , i do it)
How many of us go to consumer courts, have we ever called the police on seeing a suspicious packet, it may be a false alarm, but its any way better than being sorry anytime later!
I dont believe everyone can enter politics, but whatever one can do, one has to.You see people using electricity by jumper wires, call the cops! Millions of things can be done!!Its just we dont think in that direction! ... There`s a simple guiding principle actually ; "The Prophet PBUH is reported to have said, if you see something wrong, correct with your actions, if you cant, speak against it, if you cant do that either, atleast think in your heart that it is wrong, but this is the weakest of faith"
Well, coming to the statement that was given out of frustration, well, never will anyone give such a statement out of happiness.But the whole point is, getting frustrated is not a solution, its something that shows hopelessness.I admit one can feel low after the seeing the state of affairs, but there are thousand good things that happen in our country too. It is not without reason, that Indians are world over recognised as an intelligent and hardworking set of people, (although a little stingy when it comes to smiling), but otherwise, we have a pretty decent image all over.
We are one of the very few countries in the world, where anyone can voice his/her opinion anytime.In the end its just the perspective that matters, its one`s own choice, you can see the dark tunnel or the light at the end of it!
Straight from the author's heart...
ReplyDeleteThe 'sheer' frustration, as mentioned somewhere, shows author genuine concern about so much brouhaha happening in our very own India.
Yeah, I definitely do not agree with the lines:
"Thanks God that I am not there in India..."
because I am sure that my house needs me the most when there is some trouble than when its all calm. But then, this also shows that his heart has played the major role for all the outpourings.
With the election times back there, its an hour for some to attain cheap publicity, others who remind themselves of their principles and the innumerable other gimmicks adopted by the friends cum foes.
Definitely, Bollywood and IPL have their own contribution to the fabric of India, but it does not deserve even a substantial lime light.
The world took a note of India with the Nano becoming its very own invention, a reality, which the critics had put aside with 'not at all possible'. And its just an example.
Negatives have always been there. And most of the times, its because of the disregard at the recieveing end, and it becomes so much substantial that it becomes a trend in the society.
But going by the basic rule of mathematics, of nature, the rule of plus and minus.
We need to just increase the positives around. And that's more easier said than done.
I still remember my college days, when I used to throw the Nescafe cups around the stall (ZHCETians do remember it). And there were lots of dust bins there, with big wide smile, that if you would have taken a shot from 5m away, it would have readily taken the trash inside.
And then they say: "It's too small an example to be mentioned."
Well, then lets read the history to identify the iota of contribution done by people, when generations have taken a note of their disregard, when citizens have started taking responsibilities.
You sitting in Americas and shouting there would definitely not let your voice heard anywhere in India. But a silent, constructive thinking will definitely help your presence felt in the some corner of Azamgarh (author's native), helping someone cope up with his life, even when you are miles away.
I still repent for the time when some quarter expected something from me, and I ignored it. But the realisation brings in a scope of responsibility and an era of initiative, however small it is.
The 'Jaago Re' campaign, the 'Earth Hour' initiative do give us live examples of pragmatic thinking, of how its possible to reach the masses around, with one stroke of superb thinking from our mind.
I wish the author all the luck to continue with his writing, for an idea of his can create a rainbow of hope, the sunshine of positives.
Its never too late, but its not worthy even to wait.
Nadim Anwar
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
(8:11pm - 19 minutes to 'Earth Hour')
Every line is debatable; it’s not a matter of agree/disagree, I will not go into discussion; many have already given their views.
ReplyDeleteThis is not the matter cricket, movies, politics; it’s about INDIA our mother land. “..Incredible India...”
It’s easy to say then to act, writer took what he wants, his passion for cricket & Movies, simply finds India enough, it doesn’t matter to him whether it is his place, family, friends, neighbor, and community.
Sure, India too has its crisis points, it is an imperfect democracy, battling poverty, farmer suicides and unemployment, but despite the imperfections, it’s been astonishingly resilient.
In the remarkable book, India after Gandhi, historian Ramachandra Guha tries to unravel the enigma of India. Why does India survive he asks in his final chapter?
His answer, a sense of a shared symbols - cricket, cinema, music - a respect for diversity, and above all, a remarkable constitution that guarantees fundamental rights and enshrines the principle of one man one vote. I think this country owes a huge debt to the framers of the constitution. I cannot think of a more progressive document anywhere in the world, one that respected individual rights above all.
Remember that old chestnut: those who forget their history are condemned to repeat it.
So, remember 1947 partition, when one community raised voice for separate nation, they succeeded, all of them were educated they had wide thoughts, but they left their people behind, as WE still struggling for needs. Don’t try to repeat history; we are from the same community & trying to get out. We have reached here after 60 long years, almost a generation passed. We should sit on driver’s seat, to drive in the right direction.
Let’s get out from it, pledge to our self’s, as I always believes “we should contribute to our community before leaving...”
What so ever reason may be, I am glad I am one of them, and I am proud to be an Indian with all if & buts.
Thanks
Sohaib Bin Taiyab