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As the world draws it curtain on the most wretched year in terms of economy, lets look back at some of the people, event that defined new directions for many. This is a sort of continuation of a series of post that I had last year.

Let me begin with the most recent one, Barrack Obama, the man who is a symbol that humans have finally begun to recognize the individual beneath the color of the skin. I must confess that I didn’t think it was possible, deep down I anticipated that the Bradley effect would come into play. But it didn’t. I think my fear is more because of me being an Indian, where race, religion, caste are a major segregators in the society. The individual comes later. In India, the politicians draw overt advantages by playing these cards.

Anyways, so Obama is the man of the moment. The media ran the images of Jesse Jackson in tears, but I guess many more blacks, especially who have lived to segregation upto the mid 1900’s we shed a few more tears when Obama will take up the podium and deliver his State of the Union. A black defining the path the US will take, now that will be epic!

Obama is a good communicator, he speeches have that feel good factor, the punch lines, but whether he will surpass Bill Clinton as the best orator remains to be seen. After the euphoria, Barrack inherits the presidency at the worst possible time, the war in the middle east, the relations with Iran-N Korea are ‘bad’. Russians are trying to asserts themselves more coupled with the fact that the US dominance on the geo-political world is on the decline. And ofcourse, the economy is, well, dead!

2008 may have been his year… the next four are what will define him…

This one is long coming.

Last two weeks has hopefully shaken every Indian to the core. The siege of Mumbai for days has asked the most uncomfortable questions to all the people who believe in the idea that is India. I say an idea because India is a place for all humans to be equal and to prosper. To live and to grow. The reality of India is quite different. An Indian today is a hindu or a muslim or a christian. He is than a brahmin or a scheduled cast or an OBC. He is than a maharashtrian or a bihari or tamil. He is than rich or poor. And finally he is an Indian. The only matter of consequence is whether he will vote for you. That’s what an Indian is to the politicians for India.

Few things changed a couple of weeks back, or atleast I like to believe so. Call me naive, but I am hopeful. The last few shots of Hemant Karkare donning the bullet proof vest just before going to battle to salvage the idea of India make me. The Indian does exists. And the count is becoming more prominent now. Two weeks later, as the NDTV runs their tribute every now and then, I still try to imagine how Hemant, Kamte, Salaskar, Sandeep must have felt as they began their campaign to salvage the idea of India must have felt. But I know, there is no way I will ever know that. I am a bystander, I accept whatever is dished out to me, I complain about the system, yet I have done nothing pro active to change it. I have become comfortably numb. But things have to change. Blogging is one medium. But that’s not the end. Enough is enough is the common man’s movement that has started.

The media has brought out the imbecility that exists in our politicians, whether it the home minister’s comment, or the lipstick comment or the dog comment. The aam admi has heard & seen it and is disgusted. Let’s see if we are still shameless enough to vote these nalayaks back into power. Therein will lay the real test. I was pretty outspoken in my own little way about what I thought of our now ex, good-for-nothing Home Minister Shivraj Patil. But these are extra ordinary time. Heads have to roll. Infact I would demand that the PM step down. This may seem a bit extreme, but the accountability for the sheer mess the whole intelligence system that tackle the cross border terrorism is, demands some introspection in the pmo’s office. If his home minister, intelligence system could not protect the innocent mumbaikers, then he should own up to it. But I guess the sad part is that there seems to be no one who is charismatic enough to lead the nation right now in the Congress.

As the visuals of the nightmare is played countless time on by the media that looks to feed upon such tragedies and sensationalisation of these, the visuals of the gun battles, grenade explosions, the commando air drops, the gunshots, the faces of the family that lost a hero, compels the viewer to pause and take cognizance of the times we live in and appreciate the courage shown by the Mumbai Police, the NSG, the MACROS as they without any reservation entered the conflict zones to save lives and the idea that is India.

I am sure that this will not be the end of such tragedies, but hopefully the process to take actions to prevent them from occurring has begun. The first step being electing the right people atleast this time around.

” If anyone wants a first hand look of the Indian democracy, then please switch to the next available Indian ‘news’ channel. Showing now, ‘The Great India Tamasha’, live from the Parliament, 2 days only!!!. “

It’s so tragic, that it’s actually funny that we have such hypocrites as representing us in the Parliament. I am sure, not more than a few handful know anything about the Nuclear deal. Yet they will vote on the issue and make it look as if they are doing so because the people they represent compel them too.

For the record, I would like the Nuclear deal to go through, for I would rather live and hope that some day in my life time, in most places in both rural, urban India, there will be electricity, connectivity than prepare for a doomsday when we fire nuclear weapons on each other and die anyways!

The transposition of Bheja Fry from the tattered menu of a sleepy Irani restaurant to your chosen multiplex is no small tale. A (French) inspired tale of an upscale Mumbai socialite bringing along a local idiot for dinner was made at a miserable budget and laughed its way to surplus profits and is still adding to the sum total through DVD sales.

Enough statistics of the movie. I was not overtly impressed by the movie on the whole; it, of course, had its moments with the protagonist Bharat Bhushan (played brilliantly by Vinay Pathak) pulling the movie away from mediocrity.

The movie, largely, talks about a typical Indian middle class citizen being constantly abused, unbeknownst to him, by a rich snobbish socialite via innumerable contorted funny situations. Which led me to think about the typical mould into which the middle class has been cast into, both in media and in society in general. The urban middle class, which by reports, has been constantly burgeoning and being empowered over the last decade is, by far, the most abused caricature or social model that is thriving out there.

Beginning the last decade, the unknown Indian, created ingeniously by Laxman, has been used as an excuse for sympathy and grit time and again by movies and media. Be it socialist movies like Main Azaad Hoon or the media reporting on tragedies, the common man has been the showcased as the model of identity for his only attribute: being common. Till the late nineties, politicos and media used the tag to narrate heart pulling incidences and swell the pride of the common man.

The scenario changed early this century with the boom in disposable income that broadened the spectrum inhabited by the middle class and saw them making their way to malls and multiplexes enjoying their popcorns and plastic money. Again, the media kicked in singing hosannas about the common man and the power he now holds to change the destiny of the country. It is painful to realize how such marketing gimmicks seem to influence sane people into getting classified as the “common” man. If anything, I hate the tag and though I, by broad classification, fall into that category, I would refuse to called “common” by anyone.

The common man, if such a myth exists, is that individual who wants to up himself into the upper crust by munching the Big Mac, forming the bee hive on weekends at your neighbourhood mall and sporting the latest smart phone gadget in the hopes that he be recognized differently. Sadly, however, the common man remains common.. all alone in ever broadening spectrum…

Sometimes.. probably ignorance is bliss..

Interestingly, Mahatma Gandhi and the Nehru-Gandhi family are not related at all. Infact Indira Gandhi married Feroze Gandhi, Indian politician and journalist of Parsi-Zoroastrian descent born in Mumbai whereas Mahatma Gandhi was a Hindu from Gujrat.
But the common Indian seems to just love this family. If ever a family came close to a royal stature in India, it would have to be the Gandhi’s. There is some invisible aura that surrounds the Gandhis’ more so today than ever before. I really am not a big supporter of their political pursuits, but I have to confess that they really fascinate me. I like that they are the only leaders that walk amongst swarms of people with out any fear. I am sure most people will have an image of Rajiv Gandhi walking briskly through villages, waving out to common people, shaking hands with sick and the poor without any hesitation or reservation. His mother did the same and now it’s Priyanka and Rahul continuing where their father left. One can only appreciate this if one tries to recollect the last time one reached out and shook hands with the poor or the sick on the roads. Or what one felt when a homeless person came really close asking for alms. I am uncomfortable even shaking hands with strangers. I still remember the day when Rajiv Gandhi’s motorcade passed by me while I was walking home after school. I actually got a glimpse of him behind the window. A few days later he was killed.
With the election in UP, Rahul has plunged himself into the campaign promoting INC. Wearing bright while kurta-pyjama, he has managed to draw huge crowds solely because he is a part of the Gandhi clan. I think this election is his official initiation into to the murky world that is the Indian politics. I definitely see him one day becoming the PM of this Indian Republic. Though I think his sister Priyanka is much more a people person than he his but than she has a family to look after, which I am sure is more rewarding and peaceful than looking after the welfare of over a billion people.