Last few weeks have been grueling, both physically and mentally. From social gatherings to personal commitments, each and every experience has squeezed the best out of me. But I seldom have the right to complain.
Why not?
Why should I not complain about my daily struggle in the past few weeks? When a million Indians can complain of the poverty, unemployment, corruption, etc. then why should I be the odd one out? Or on the contrary, when the entire country is down with the election and cricket fever, whom am I supposed to complain?
But I am too busy to complain against these ‘petty’ things. What I want to complain really about is wtf (read as where the f**k) have I landed? Neither can I display my charismatic analytical skills in politics nor can I provide my million dollar tips on cricket.
The Reason(s):
What to watch?
What should I go for? Should it be the IPL or the General Elections? It is another matter that I have to go by what the hooligans in the common room of the hostel prefer.
First let me talk about the IPL (Indian Premier League) which has started with a bang. It was great to watch the old war-horses fire and lead their respective teams to the podium. ‘The Wall’ stood tall when a little known bowler (nothing needs to be reminded about his batting prowess) created an early havoc in the red camp. Together with the new skipper of the men in red, he laid a solid foundation for the team. Then when it was speculated that the Challengers might miss the services of Zak (a.k.a. Zaheer Khan), another fighter of yesteryears, Jumbo, claimed a neat fiver. Then came another showpiece from the master. It was the aamchi mumbai flavor of Sachin and the the prodigy, Abhishek Nayar. Seriously speaking, I am personally betting on the men in yellow, the Chennai Superkings, to go all the way. With Freddie being hit for 3 sixes in an over, the morale must have been down. With the batting going out of sorts, it was all but over in the first encounter for Dhoni’s men.
Just when I thought I am just about ready to release my trillion dollars worth predictions and trends, I heard that around 62% of polling was recorded in the first phase.
What went right? Is this the Youngistaan effect? Or have the people become smart enough to avoid further crisis by bringing some awkward coalition to New Delhi? So passionate was our Sanju baba (Sanjay Dutt) that he offered a ‘jaadu ki jhappi’ to our behenji! To tell something who are going out of sorts, a high polling % helps in bringing a stable government and if this trend is to continue for the coming phases then only two possible coalitions can make it and I bet the one who makes it will make it comfortably. My sixth, seventh and eight senses predict that ‘the Congress ka haath will pluck out the Lotus and dump it in the opposition’. Regional parties will come up and create some unnecessary drama and the run up to the formation of the government will be spicy hot.
But the biggest regret will be that I will be unable to cover this ‘YAATRA’ and also the other in distant South Africa. These two are my ‘kids’ and I being the ‘Guru’ (??????) has till 1:30 A.M., 21st April, 2009 no choice but to dump it.
Mr. Reagan, I am borrowing this from you:
HONEY (WHEREVER YOU ARE), I DUMPED THE KIDS!!!...
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Saturday, April 4, 2009
IPL ???...
The general elections are knocking hard on the doors of the Indian mindsets and the aspirants are busy doing their routine work of setting long term objectives (manifestos) which will be discarded at the shortest possible time. Gone are the days of majority government at the centre. This is the age of coalition politics where coalitions are broken and formed at the toss of a coin.
No doubt that the coalition governments were there a decade ago as well but what is of utmost significance is the intensity with which pre-poll alliances are formed. A quarter of the resources and time is spent on devising strategies which intend to find the most lucrative poll partner for a party.
This era of coalition was highlighted and publicized by the NDA government at the end of the 20th century and was made an issue against the Congress which till then was portrayed as a bad coalition player (remember I.K. Gujral and H.D. Devegowda governments?). The reply from the Congress was imposing enough as it showed that it can act in a coalition by forming the UPA government. Hence, this time, there are two prominent coalitions in the scenario, the NDA and the UPA. Hold on, there is the Third front as well. Simply stating, this front comprises of those parties which will part ways immediately after the end of the elections and align themselves with either the UPA or the NDA. If we pay a glimpse at the history of the constituent parties of this ‘front’, we can conclude easily by removing the clouds of suspicion. We have the Left parties whose only political agenda is ‘secularism’ and for which it will align even with an anti-social party (Kerala). Then we have the TDP, who was with the BJP not long ago. The major partner off course is the BSP who do not have any job other than creating quotas for every possible fragment of the society. This party aspires of continuing the dream run in UP by forming a rainbow coalition of candidates.
The present major party in the opposition, BJP, has had a history of making and breaking friends in a jiffy. It criticizes each and every move of the government in one of the most intellectual manner but when it comes to the elections, it sees itself nothing more than a temple construction company. It ruthlessly attacks the government on the economic policies but what it forgets is that the NDA was the first and probably the only regime at the centre to have a separate ministry of disinvestment and went on a selling spree of the PSU’s which were grossly undervalued. I bet had the economic crisis occurred during the NDA regime, the Sensex would have nosedived to the lowest possible value. However, not all is bad in this camp. They have an influential person in their ranks in the form of Narendra Modi, whose vision and policies not only brought about a transition in Gujarat but created a vibrant Gujarat (barring his political image!).
Talking of the ruling coalition, it is not without its woes as well. The major constituent, Congress, is more of a family corporate than a party of representatives. No doubt the respect enjoyed by the family is commendable but it also prevents the emergence of able candidates who can occupy the centre stage. The result is the periodic production of rebellious factions which broke away from the parent. The irony however is that some of the major factions like the NCP are its allies.
Then there seems to be an effort to reorganize the Janata Regime in the north where the big guns including the RJD, the SP and the LJP have reunited to avoid division of secular votes. However, in the broader picture, this coalition is the result of the popularity the NDA, Congress and the BSP have started to gain in the Hindi heartland in the past couple of years. In Assam, the local party of AGP agreed to concede a major share of the Lok Sabha seats to the BJP in return for more number of seats in the 2011 assembly elections.
So, coalitions have started to emerge from everywhere and in no time. This is the era of globalization and cooperation and politics is no exception.
This is the era of what one may say as the era of ‘INDIAN POLITICAL LEAGUE’.
No doubt that the coalition governments were there a decade ago as well but what is of utmost significance is the intensity with which pre-poll alliances are formed. A quarter of the resources and time is spent on devising strategies which intend to find the most lucrative poll partner for a party.
This era of coalition was highlighted and publicized by the NDA government at the end of the 20th century and was made an issue against the Congress which till then was portrayed as a bad coalition player (remember I.K. Gujral and H.D. Devegowda governments?). The reply from the Congress was imposing enough as it showed that it can act in a coalition by forming the UPA government. Hence, this time, there are two prominent coalitions in the scenario, the NDA and the UPA. Hold on, there is the Third front as well. Simply stating, this front comprises of those parties which will part ways immediately after the end of the elections and align themselves with either the UPA or the NDA. If we pay a glimpse at the history of the constituent parties of this ‘front’, we can conclude easily by removing the clouds of suspicion. We have the Left parties whose only political agenda is ‘secularism’ and for which it will align even with an anti-social party (Kerala). Then we have the TDP, who was with the BJP not long ago. The major partner off course is the BSP who do not have any job other than creating quotas for every possible fragment of the society. This party aspires of continuing the dream run in UP by forming a rainbow coalition of candidates.
The present major party in the opposition, BJP, has had a history of making and breaking friends in a jiffy. It criticizes each and every move of the government in one of the most intellectual manner but when it comes to the elections, it sees itself nothing more than a temple construction company. It ruthlessly attacks the government on the economic policies but what it forgets is that the NDA was the first and probably the only regime at the centre to have a separate ministry of disinvestment and went on a selling spree of the PSU’s which were grossly undervalued. I bet had the economic crisis occurred during the NDA regime, the Sensex would have nosedived to the lowest possible value. However, not all is bad in this camp. They have an influential person in their ranks in the form of Narendra Modi, whose vision and policies not only brought about a transition in Gujarat but created a vibrant Gujarat (barring his political image!).
Talking of the ruling coalition, it is not without its woes as well. The major constituent, Congress, is more of a family corporate than a party of representatives. No doubt the respect enjoyed by the family is commendable but it also prevents the emergence of able candidates who can occupy the centre stage. The result is the periodic production of rebellious factions which broke away from the parent. The irony however is that some of the major factions like the NCP are its allies.
Then there seems to be an effort to reorganize the Janata Regime in the north where the big guns including the RJD, the SP and the LJP have reunited to avoid division of secular votes. However, in the broader picture, this coalition is the result of the popularity the NDA, Congress and the BSP have started to gain in the Hindi heartland in the past couple of years. In Assam, the local party of AGP agreed to concede a major share of the Lok Sabha seats to the BJP in return for more number of seats in the 2011 assembly elections.
So, coalitions have started to emerge from everywhere and in no time. This is the era of globalization and cooperation and politics is no exception.
This is the era of what one may say as the era of ‘INDIAN POLITICAL LEAGUE’.
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