Strong Winds from the West

Never have elections caught the fancy of my mind before… but this strange storm is brewing that is blowing northwards it seems. A certain air of inevitability is blowing, actually gusting.

Recently a friend was travelling in Kishtwad in forlorn Kashmir and when their car stopped at a remote village with no mobile connectivity the local tea stall vendor welcomed them as folks from Narendra Modi’s kingdom just by noticing their car’s registration no.!!! It has happened innumerable times to me when outside the state and if I would be heard talking in Gujarati more often at Cigarette shops some people would suddenly smile and congratulate at us being in Narendra Modi’s state ! :-/

No this is not a tribute to him, in many ways I always have thought of him to be a great marketeer than a performer. A champion orator who shines when in crowds and actually is able to almost hypnotise them. Gujarat always was much better with infrastructure and development than before Modi embarked. Amazing how much credit he has taken, however, it amazes me the kind of emotion I see him evoking among people who do not reside in Gujarat. A lot of people actually do give the eventual buck to him saying amongst all alternatives available, probably he is the better one… this coming from non Gujarati’s means atleast the opinion might be not as partisan as the Gujarati opinion.

Not that in Gujarat he is not a hero ! In fact at some places you are better off keeping mum about your views on him, such staunch supporters he boasts of. But when people who reside outside of Gujarat are so hopeful about him I wonder how people can now hold him back, from his journey to national mainstream politics, for his victory today in Gujarat seems almost guaranteed. The nervousness and excitement on everyone’s faces yesterday was quite apparent. The frenzy here is electric, apparently almost all I meet here feel, this is the guy India needs, the guy with guts, the guy who will do something, the guy who will stop the mediocre politics, everyone in Gujarat was waiting very very optimistically with bated breath for today and it seems the popular verdict which may not necessarily be the correct verdict is ‘Modi for Delhi’ !

The Wind from the West is blowing strong… pretty strong…

another day of cycling !

A very interesting discussion came up while cycling today with my friend, normally our conversations are circled around movies or food or females and their behaviour patterns. My friend like me is a true fan of the female ways and we absolutely love them. He is probably an even bigger fan of the opposite kin !!!! Anyways before I digress lets come to the main point, we rarely discuss politics et all… but before we go to the story, a lil background about this friend of mine, he is a Maharashtrian by caste but has taken birth in Gujarat and has grown up here. This friend of mine got really annoyed at Anna Hazare mentioning corruption in Gujarat !! His argument was there are so many places with so much corruption, infact Maharshtra has so much corruption why the heck should Anna Hazare poke his nose in Gujarat, there is so much development here and hence if some bit of corruption is there it is fair and in his opinion there is very little corruption at lower levels in Gujarat. He again is a staunch Narendra Modi supporter. My friend was like, “Aapda Gujarat nu corruption ma koie Naam nahi levanu !!” (no one has the right to name Gujarat with regards to corruption)

I couldnt reason much with him, I tried to reason with him that its in our benefit if even the lil bit of corruption that you feel is there would go wouldnt it.?? I even tried to tell him, although an Ideal state may not be reached, we must constantly strive towards it !!

Another argument he had was that our minister is getting so many industries in Gujarat and although I strongly opposed saying that too much land is being alloted to industries and even the circumstances in which this land is given is suspicious to say the least. Imagine 1100 acres of land was alloted in a blink of an eye to the NANO project. Lots of allegations are flying everywhere that the land was alloted at throwaway prices. Add to that our environment in Gujarat according to my opinion is not going to be worth living in another 20 years time and that we would all have to migrate to Himachal in a few years with so many deadly plants coming it. Any industrial plant that doesnt get permission in any state in the country will find easy access in Gujarat, this argument also didnt go down well with him.

I didnt know how to influence my friend and another word against Narendra Modi more by me and I would have probably faced his wrath… Sigh… !!!!

spineless !!!

That is what we Indians are… yes… and our leaders are hell bent upon proving it…

I like the cliche, people get the government they deserve and yes we surely deserve this as we dont care and hence we must face this.

I couldnt believe my eyes yeseterday in train as I was travelling I saw someone reading a gujarati daily with headlines that Indian team would travel to Pakistan for a cricket tour.

First thought that came to my mind was it was the politically minded BCCI that would have decided something like this as they would want to conjure votes of the PCB for the next elections, but to my horror and utter disgust it was Mr Krishna our foreign minister who was stating this diplomatic way forward.. !!!!!!

I mean WTF !!!!

This comes exactly the next day after Rana confessed that he had acted on the behest of the Pakistan Govt !!!!!!

I mean what a master piece by our Foreign Minister !!!! Excellent !!!!

Let me also suggest him this, Shoaib Akhtar has retired, so lets play a benefit match for him, also request Sachin, Sehwag and Dhoni to get out to Shoaib and give him a fitting farewell. That would be the most friendly gesture wouldnt it ??!!!!

Never mind the fact that the Sri Lankan players were shot at during the tour to Pakistan what I will never understand and never be able to comprehend or even be able to describe my DISGUST at the fact that how my country forgets blood that flowed on 26/11, I could still understand we had to play with Pakistan in the world cup but could never understand why our idiot Prime Minister invited his counterpart…

This gesture of S M Krishna is nothing but an extension of that act started by Manmohan !!!!

I though do have a suggestion, before deciding to send the cricket team, Manmohan and Mr Krishna should send their entire families, grand children et all with all their relatives for a 30 day holiday to Pakistan… !!!!!

I seriously hope atleast one of our cricket player stands up and simply says I wont tour and shows the middle finger to our politicians !

SPINELESS DUO !