An imperceptive attempt of a reckless loser

I am a Mumbaikar and I am proud to say so. But in the recent past, the so called sons of the soil have tainted Mumbai's image in front of the rest of the world. For the first time ever in my life, I feel like hiding myself in a closet so that nobody can ask me an obvious question - "You said Mumbai is a nice place. What's happening out there?" Even the most concerned questions sound sarcastic to me.

The recent comments passed by Raj Thackeray on North Indians (specially on people from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar) are simply ridiculous. I am a north Indian by origin but I am a Mumbaikar at heart. I love the city and I do not think my love for the city is any less than that of a (so called) Maharashtrian. Hell. I AM a Maharashtrian. I have spent almost my entire life here. My family has been here since last three generations. Who the hell is Raj Thackeray to call me an outsider. I care for the city as much as he does. Or probably even more than him. I can not see blood on the streets nor can I think of fostering an environment that supports violence on the city streets.

He is playing the same dirty politics that his uncle - Balasaheb Thackeray used to play. He is using the emotions of the people and using them against each other to create a space for himself in the political landscape. Thackeray family has been doing this time and again. There was a time when I used to admire the Thackeray family for having a frank and fearless attitude on even the most sensitive issues. But now, I see a desperate attempt to come back to the political scene. And they have gone to an extent of using all dirty measures to ensure they return into the power.

I would like to warn all my fellow Mumbaikars - this is no social issue. This is a purely political game that Thackeray family is playing with our emotions. As I said earlier, this is a desperate attempt by the Thackrey family to come back into the power.

I don't know what more to say. I am aghast with the proceedings so far. I can only hope things get better and Mumbai gets back on track.

Ant & Grasshopper

I was on vacation and had gone to Delhi to meet my fiance - Esha (remember that I got engaged a few weeks back?). It was simply beautiful spending time with her. Once I came back to office today, I had this huge pile of emails that I had to read (and in some cases, respond to them). While digging through the pile, I stumbled upon this email from one of my colleagues. The Subject line was "Ant & Grasshopper". I thought it would be some silly old story. But still, I went ahead and opened it. The first few lines were pretty standard (and boring because I have read it so many times). But as I read on, it became pretty interesting. I thought its worth posting it here.

So here you go... Read it and let me know what you think about it

Ant & Grasshopper

The Ant works hard in the withering heat all summer building its house and laying up supplies for the winter.
The Grasshopper thinks the Ant is a fool and laughs & dances & plays the summer away.
Come winter,the Ant is warm and well fed. The Grasshopper has no food or shelter so he dies out in the cold.

Modern Version

The Ant works hard in the withering heat all summer building its house and laying up supplies for the winter.
The Grasshopper thinks the Ant's a fool and laughs & dances & plays the summer away.
Come winter, the shivering Grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the Ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while others are cold and starving.
NDTV, BBC, CNN show up to provide pictures of the shivering Grasshopper next to a video of the Ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food.
The World is stunned by the sharp contrast. How can this be that this poor Grasshopper is allowed to suffer so?
Arundhati Roy stages a demonstration in front of the Ant's house.
Medha Patkar goes on a fast along with other Grasshoppers demanding that Grasshoppers be relocated to warmer climates during winter.
Amnesty International and Koffi Annan criticizes the Indian Government for not upholding the fundamental rights of the Grasshopper.
The Internet is flooded with online petitions seeking support to the Grasshopper (many promising Heaven and Everlasting Peace for prompt support as against the wrath of God for non-compliance).
Opposition MPs stage a walkout. Left parties call for "Bharat Bandh" in West Bengal and Kerala demanding a Judicial Enquiry.
CPM in Kerala immediately passes a law preventing Ants from working hard in the heat so as to bring about equality of poverty among Ants and Grasshoppers.
Lalu Prasad allocates one free coach to Grasshoppers on all Indian Railway Trains, aptly named as the 'Grasshopper Rath'.
Finally, the Judicial Committee drafts the ' Prevention of Terrorism Against Grasshoppers Act' [POTAGA], with effect from the beginning of the winter.
Arjun Singh makes ' Special Reservation ' for Grasshoppers in Educational Institutions & in Government Services.
The Ant is fined for failing to comply with POTAGA and having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes,it's home is confiscated by the Government and handed over to the Grasshopper in a ceremony covered by NDTV.
Arundhati Roy calls it 'A Triumph of Justice'.
Lalu calls it ' Socialistic Justice '.
CPM calls it the ' Revolutionary Resurgence of the Downtrodden '
Koffi Annan invites the Grasshopper to address the UN General Assembly.
Many years later...
The Ant has since migrated to the US and set up a multi-billion dollar company in Silicon Valley .
100s of Grasshoppers still die of starvation despite reservation somewhere in India...
As a result of loosing lot of hard working Ants and feeding the Grasshoppers, India is still a developing country !!!

Mahatma - from my perspective

As a youngster, I always hated Gandhi. For reasons that do not seem too obvious to me now. I just could not understand why someone would not support Subhash Chandra Bose when he was engaged in gun-battle with the British. Why would someone not retaliate when innocents were being jailed, tortured and even killed? These questions were coming from a child who could not understand the greatness of the principle of Non-Violence. At times, I would even go to the extent of endorse Nathuram Godse for killing the Mahatma.

I don’t exactly remember when this happened. I was talking to someone about Gandhiji and was exchanging heated arguments (to be true, it was just me who was arrogant). He then said something that struck my mind really hard. He said, “Take a plain white cloth and sprinkle a little bit of ink in the middle of it. Ask anyone to take a look at it and ask them what they see. They would say – ink spots. Hardly anyone looks at the white cloth but nobody fails to notice the ink spots”. “Gandhiji is a personality far beyond our analysis. We often ignore plethora of things he did for the country and keep our eyes fixed on some of his mistakes”. This thought kind of enlightened me. It was nothing miraculous or anything even close to being miraculous. But it gave me a different way of looking at things. Some people choose to call it as “Dimensional Thinking” or “perspective thinking”.

This incident forced me into reading more about Gandhiji and the history of those times. I read almost everything that was accessible to me at that point in time. Ranging from criticism, third party view, views of some of the British officers, praise etc.

Now I think, to some extent I understand what Gandhiji was and the difference he made to our society, our nation and to the entire world at large. While trying to understand a personality as great as Gandhiji, we must keep one thing in mind – Gandhiji was not GOD. He was a human being. And it is unfair if we expect a human being not to make any mistakes throughout his life. Everyone makes mistakes. We need to be wise enough to look at the larger picture and not confine our vision only the mistakes that he made (if I can take the liberty to say so).

As I write this today, I know and I understand that there are many (not just youngsters) who do not think Gandhian principles are applicable now. Today, on his 138th birthday, I am announcing a series of essays that I am going to write on my blogs about Gandhiji. This is an attempt to make people aware of what Gandhi was and how his principles can still change the way we carry on with our lives and how we can use them to make the world a better, safer place to live in.

Hindi version of this essay is available on my other blog.