Nation Awakening – of the people, by the people, for the people!

Last week, if Indian Government had desired, then the next Telecom policy could have been formulated inside the Tihar Jail!!! Don’t believe me? Consider this – Ex Telecom Minister A Raja, Bigwigs from Telecom companies like Reliance, Unitech, Swan Telecom, all were in the jail for their roles in the 2G scam!!!

Suddenly, the Indian jail has seen celebrities like never before. Ramalinga Raju, Shiney Ahuja, A Raja, Vinod Goenka, Sanjay Chandra, Suresh Kalmadi, all normally found in the Page 3 every week, found themselves in the jail. Not to forget the Mumbai Shooting Star – Ajmal Kasab, who has, unfortunately turned into a celebrity over the last 2.5 years, sponsored and endorsed by our spine-less Government! And going by the media reports, Kanimozhi, daughter of Tamil God-like CM Karunanidhi could be the first female high profile figure to grace our jails by next week!!! The petty criminals must be partying and rejoicing to be brushing along with such who’s who in Indian sociality. God, they can’t believe their damn luck!!!

What brought about this? I thought I heard people say that in India, the rich and powerful are always above law. That they might get charge sheeted, but arresting them is completely different kettle of fish!!! India is a Democratic Republic. It is ‘of the people, by the people, for the people’. But tragically, it had become a Republic ‘of the elite, by the elite, for the elite’. If you were rich and powerful, no one could touch you. Legislators and Polity circles work hand in hand with Executives to toss the system upside down for their own good!!!

But events in the last 3-4 months have defied that logic. What has happened to our corrupt executive? How come the same investigative agencies which behaved as a Government’s and rich man’s pimp got their acts now? Well, the answer lies in the people. Things have changed!!! Don’t know how much has changed or for how long? India is still for the elites. But what has changed in the last 6 months has been the perception of the general people – the ‘aam aadmi’!!! People are tired of being ignored; they are tired of being taken for granted. An Indian man wants a simple life. He has a ‘4-point agenda’. He needs a good family, a safe accommodation, good food and a stable source of income. If he has all the above, he does not bother if there is rampant corruption around, if his chosen legislators are ripping off money for their benefits, even if there is politician-criminal nexus around - as long as it does not harm him. You might say that it’s an ignorant attitude, but to me, he does not have many choices. Either he stands up against the system and risks losing everything mentioned above or he chooses to be a meek spectator. He chooses to be the latter more often than not. He plays loser to survive. For him, for his family!!! Believe me it takes a lot of guts to do that, to constantly fight himself, to accommodate, to sacrifice, to pretend ignorant!!!

The last one year has actually affected his life in a subtle way!!! Huge scams. As huge as 40 billion USD. That’s the figure India lost due tom the 2G scam. CWG, Adarsh, Karnataka land scam, Black Money scam, etc. have made the ‘aam aadmi’ sit up and take notice. Prices have multiplied, Inflation has shot up, systems have rotten, and he has been sucked into those to make him even poorer and more susceptible. He felt angry. He felt his ‘4-point agenda’ at risk. He felt betrayed, humiliated, ashamed and angry!!! Believe me combination of fear, anger & shame can be productive at times!!! Media also has to be lauded for its role. They have, for once, played a constructive role. Perhaps, they too felt threatened by the same system which they had become corrupt part of!!! And then, we have had numerous civil movements, of which ‘Anna Hazare’ movement became a huge success.

The result – Executive and the Legislature have been forced to act. Even if, it’s a mere token response at present, getting some hot shot guys in jail to prove that they are serious and can act. Indian public is happy. We are Happy to see the elite being taken to task!!! I hope this gathers momentum and we are able to lessen the epidemic called Corruption. Make no mistake; we ourselves have to play our parts too!!! It’s a long way ahead!!!

For now, let’s rejoice and appreciate the fact that our Republic is being seen to make a statement ‘of the people, by the people, for the people’. It’s certainly a jolly good statement. Let’s make the most of it - while it lasts!!!

The petty criminals in jail might be thinking on similar lines too!!! With all the celebrities around!!! :-P

Bleed Blue, not orange, yellow or pink!

Did I just hear someone tell me that IPL4 has already started??? Oh my, how could I miss it??? Well, relax guys, I'm kidding. I know that IPL has started in 2011 and as I write, Sachin is on his way to another T20 50. Well, the zest of this man to score runs and score them plenty amazes me always!!! He is indeed the Greatest Batsman to have walked on the cricket pitch in the modern era.

The IPL brings no excitement this year. Is it just me or you guys are also going through the same feeling? IPL this year is a lame duck affair when compared to the high velocity drama of last year - both on field and off it. Then we had the charismatic Lalit Modi who brought the IPL up as his own baby, BCCI who got behind him for spoiling the baby. And then who can forget Shashi Tharoor and his lady love Sunanda Pushkar who became the biggest stars of IPL3. Oh did I forget the actors on field? Forgive me if I failed to mention Dhoni, Kallis, Sachin & Pollard who were the stars on field.

Dhoni, to me, is the blue eyed boy of Indian Cricket. If Tendulkar is the God of Indian Cricket, then Dhoni is the King. World T20, Asia Cup, IPL, Champions League and now the best of the best World Cup!!! Not to forget that India regained No. 1 Ranking in test cricket under him. He's the one with Midas Touch.

Did you watch the WC Final on Apr 2? Stupid question. Ofcourse you did. How many of you seriously thought that India will pull it off once SL had scored 270+, or when Sehwag and Sachin left for pavilion with very little on board? I would confess that I lost hope. It was the same old show for me. Sachin failing on a big stage, India capitulating under pressure. Me and Arpita in fact switched channels and started watching a movie. But the cricket was too big to ignore that evening. Every few minutes, we would switch channels just to check the scores. I, for one, was quite surprised when I saw Gambhir and Virat put up a gusty partnership under extreme pressures. Then enter MS Dhoni. The stage was set. He had to play the innings of his life, perhaps the most important innings of all time for India in an ODI. And sure he did!!! No Gambhir, no Virat, no Yuvi could have saved the day. It had to be Ice Cool Dhoni. This was not a 147 against Pakistan, this was not a 183 against SL where he mauled Muralitharan into pieces, this was a different calculated innings, cautious at most times but explosive when it demanded. An innings which can be played just once in a life time – at the biggest of stages, on the biggest of occasions. The way he soaked up all the pressures and back pains to sail through reminded me of Sachin's 136 against Pakistan. Only difference was that, Sachin did not finish the job and India ultimately went on to lose the test match. But here, Dhoni made sure that he was there to finish it off. And what a finish it was - a six to win WC!!!

I can easily say that I had not felt this proud to be an Indian for a long long time. Team India and Dhoni gave us the joy of our life time. Thanks guys! The emotions post match brought tears to my eyes. And I'm sure that I was not the only one crying during those moments, millions were sharing the feelings!!! Including the 14 on the field at that time. This was the first time I had seen men like Sachin, Bhajji and Yuvi cry like children!!! Truly incredible!!! I wish my Baba was alive to see this moment. He was a bigger cricket fanatic than me! He sure must be partying big time in Nirvana reliving the moments of 1983 in 2011!!!

Indeed guys, bleeding green, pink, orange, yellow, black at IPL does not inspire at all this year, especially when we bled blue just a few days ago!!! That was the ultimate! Special thanks to Nike for giving India the ‘Bleed Blue’ campaign. It is such a big hit!!!

Bleed Blue for the next 4 years guys!!! All the best!!!