Dear Manmohan

Dear Manmohan,

9 years is a long time to hang on to the dirty seat of Prime Minister. It gets even more difficult for a person like you who doesn’t hail from a political family and has worked his ass up the ladder. I understand that these are tough times, but as said every dark cloud comes along with a silver lining. The silver lining for you is that you will soon be relieved from the post of prime minister. A repeated effort made by you through your wish of making way for Rahul Baba. Soon you will be out of the hassles of ballyhoos against you from the power hungry opposition and the TRP hungry media. Life will soon be normal and you will back to your golden faculty days.

This isn’t the place for you professor. And this is why. This country has always been a preferred choice for under qualified and under educated chiefs. Which is why, a ward boy is seen as a preferred candidate for Home minister, a peon stands a chance of being a chief minister and a chaiwala can see himself as a future prime minister of India. You on the other hand, hold a degree from Oxford, took up a job at UN, headed the planning commission and took up the financial ministry. Despite these accolades, you don’t stand a chance. You are similar to a havaldar candidate who has passed out with merit in police academy. But the sad part is that the merit is lost when he joins the police force.

You are often criticized for being weak. But rarely do we realize that you are symbolic of the helpless employee in the corporate world who is strangled and intertwined in the jumbled up hierarchy of a political organization. Someone who has tons of potential and an opportunity to prove. But is sidelined and sacrificed for the need of selfish team members and greedy bosses. The only difference is the working class can call it a quit any day. The PM can't. You were turned down by the coalition parties, bogged down by the media, knocked down by the opposition parties and nailed down by the common man.  Yet you have held on the seat for past 9 years. Kudos to you.

Your predecessors too went down the same fate. Vajpayee was criticized for Tehelka scams and Gujarat riots. Rajiv was criticized for Bofors scam and IPKF adventure. Indira was criticized for emergency and operation blue star. Jawaharlal was back stabbed by the Chinese. It's tough being a PM of a country where everyone thinks he is fit for the top job. You are also criticized for the economic policies made by your government during these volatile global economic times. The fact is your opponents have turned a blind eye on the good that you have done to this country. You saved the country's economy from crashing like a card castle in 1992. Your policies made way for Mc Veggie burger, large Coke and Mc donalds. The same place where young Indians have a bite and crack jokes on you. You opened the gates for foreign multi-nationals and made us young Indians start our careers with a five figured salary. Something that was considered as a retirement take-home salary by our elders. Not just these, today we stand as a successful case study of a country brimmed with young entrepreneurs. Needless to say, you are the VVS Laxman of Indian economy who laid the platform for us to believe that we can come back from down under and win matches against a formidable opposition.

Weak and spineless are the terms associated with you permanently. Before you could understand what was happening to you, a lot of damage has been done to your image in the last 9 years. The tainted ministers of your coalition are known for their notorious scams. Starting with the fodder scam minister, then comes the 2G scam ministers, then the coalgate ministers and then the railgate minister. You have been a mere spectator to the corruption bizarre in this country. As said you are similar to a helpless employee of political organization where the rogue team members make money through holding key positions and bosses earn goodwill by putting you in forefront. The lower house isn’t a good place to be in. Isn't it?

On the international front too, you have been criticized for being spineless. If only they could understand what we have achieved. This nation often chants peace mantras. But when it comes to ground realities, we take a dig at the man who is steadily marching towards peaceful dialogues. In your term as PM, we have opened the eyes of west in context of Pakistan backed terror. We have smartly converted the terror attacks and the bomb blasts into a power point presentation and presented it to the west against our neighboring rogue. And that too we are successful. Something that has been alien to your predecessors. Adding a feather to your cap is signing the civil nuclear agreement with the US. An advantage that your successors will use for their benefit in erasing the title of a power starved nation. You also tried to sign peace accords with the worst of your enemies. Which also backfired against you from the opposition. Believe me giving peace a chance requires guts. And in a fragile security scenario, it requires more guts than ever before. Your predecessors failed in the past to get back to peace. Nehru never returned to peace after being backstabbed by the Chinese. So did Mrs. Gandhi after the 1971 war. So did Rajiv fail after the Jaffna embarrassment. So did Vajpayee after Kargil. You don't seem to give up on the hope of a peaceful region.  Be it bomb blasts, terror attacks, or the Chinese incursions.  You have been backstabbed again and again by your rivals outside the country, yet you didn’t give up on peace. May be the people of this country don't understand that for a growing economy like India, war is too costly an option to afford. Keep aside those annoying 'BEING SOFT' comments. You did a fairly good job.

As your term nears an end, you will go down as a silent hero of 1992 who laid down the platform for us to dream a better future. So what if you kept silent for so long. So what if you couldn’t scream in parliament by banging your chest. So what if you don’t hurl jokes at your opposition. So what if you don’t have a handsome face and a public appeal. So what if you don’t sound like a chaiwala, a wardboy or a peon. You at least fulfilled the hope of being honest candidate for the top job. You will always be remembered as a professor who went on to become the prime minister of India. May be we the people need to understand the magical figure 273 in lok sabha which is more important than the 1.2 billion people of the country. We don't understand the sacrifices made by you or the qualifications earned by you. But we do understand the mike throwing tamashas, blame games, media campaigns and social media jokes. If only we could understand your despair and stand by you in these tough times, we could have proved that 1.2 billion is more than 273 rogues in parliament. May be it requires a bit of wisdom on the part of we Indians. Difficult but we are trying. 

Yours Helplessly,

Indian Citizen.

Cold War II

Hitler's ambition of ruling the world failed miserably in 1945. The allied forces advanced into Germany by the early 1945. Much to the discontent of Germany, there was the Soviet Red Army advancing rapidly from the east. The result, Hitler shot himself and Mussolini was hanged by his own Italian people. A few months after the death of Adolf Hitler, USA dropped atomic bombs in the Japanese towns of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, forcing the Japanese to unconditional surrender. The World War II came to an end. But what the world didn't know was it was heading towards decades that would be dominated by fear and isolation. Hitler might have been no more but his intentions of ruling the world would be substituted by his equal rival, Joseph Stalin. The uncompromising Russian leader who led the Soviet Red Army to an unmatched victory.  Little was known to the world that Uncle Joe was busy drawing lines in Europe before even the World War II saw its end.

By the time US diplomats in Moscow could send the long 8000 word telegraph to USA, Europe was already seeing walls and barricades. A continent surrounded by Alps and filled with greenery would soon be divided into two different and opposite worlds. The western half of Europe would witness the pop culture, romance, free trade and capitalism. The eastern bloc would explore the hardline socialist revolutions, political reforms, nuclear arms race and military oppressions. And soon Germany got divided into two republics. East Germany and West Germany. Thanks to the Berlin Wall which not just divided the Berlin city or Germany, but ended up drawing a line between two super powers, USSR  and USA.

The world was switching sides and choosing its allies. The choices were eminent, communism or capitalism. Little pockets of restrains emerged from Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, Greece and other eastern European countries. But the seeds of change were suppressed by the USSR military might. In the meanwhile, Britain left India in 1947. Thanks to the costly World War II that left most of European 1st world countries in economic crisis. India learnt the developments in Europe and decided to join Non Aligned Movement which meant it would neither choose USA nor the USSR. A group of other countries like Yugoslavia, Egypt, Iran, Cuba and many others joined the league. The first scars of the divide between communist Soviet Union and capitalist western allies would be seen in 1949. This time it was People's Republic of China switching to communism. Mao Zedong stunned the world and the United States as the People's Liberation Army overthrew the Chinese Nationalist Party. Thus People's Republic of China was formed. India, tired of its 100 years of colonialism was the first to give recognition to China. 

The United States lost its closest ally in Asia to communism. Many in US saw it as a betrayal. But little was known that there were many more betrayals to come from China in the following decades. Meanwhile, another shock send tremors to the western world. This time by the USSR as it ended the nuclear monopoly of USA by detonating its first Atomic bomb in 1949. The west turned more cautious by the speed at which USSR developed nuclear capabilities. On the other hand, Mao Zedong was inspired by uncle Joe of Soviet Union. He rushed to Moscow to gain support but the charismatic Russian Premier was unfazed by the awe of his Chinese counterpart. Infact he was alarmed by the Chinese intentions of dominating the world by Mao Zedong. The year 1950 saw another scar between communism and capitalism. This time the battle ground shifted to Korea. The land of morning calm would see a bloody battle for the next 3 years. It was here that the first official battle between two ideologies would be fought. On 25th June 1950, the North Korean army invaded the southern country to reunify the divided country. The alarm was enough to wake up the united states which was alarmed by the rise of Communism in Asia after Europe. United States with 20 other countries of the United Nations sent in its armed forces to stop the military offensive. The gamble paid as the North Koreans were pushed back beyond the 38th Parallel by the US and UN. The conflict was to continue as this time it was the joint forces who invaded the North Korea. The forces moved swiftly towards Pyong Yang with little or no resistance from the communist mainland. On 19th October 1950, the Chinese crossed the Yalu river into North Korea to assist its North Korean forces. The UN woke up to a major shock on 25th October as the 1,00,000 men infantry of Chinese Army launched a major offensive against them. The West stood still to the undeclared aggression of the Chinese who feared that the US might step on its soil after conquering Pyong Yang. This would result into a retreat of the UN forces which would be followed by negotiations in the years to come. The war saw the first official booting of the WW II US hero Gen. Douglas MacArthur. The Korean War ended in 1953 as the two nations stay divided on 38th Parallel. However this was enough to send red signal about China to USA.

The same year saw Joseph Stalin's death due to a disease. The successor of USSR would now be Nikita Krushchev. An Anti-Stalin but Pro-communist leader reformed Soviet Union's Agricultural society. The west saw a hope in him but the hopes would be dismantled over the 50s and the early 60s by this very president. Under his leadership, USSR took a leap forward in technology. This president would trigger off an arms race. The USSR rapidly built missiles and ICBMs. They then stunned the world with Sputnik, the first ever space venture by mankind. Then it was time to send a dog in space followed by a man and a space station. The 50s saw built ups on both sides. On the opposing side, US built Colour Televisions. The West somehow criticized the Soviet Union of copying the technology from the west. The same propaganda we use against China in this era.

Ten years later, the mankind witnessed how close they were to a Nuclear War. A nail-biting event in Cuba would unleash a threat that we have ever witnessed till date. While Russia was building its nuclear missiles, USA was spying on its missile sites. Also it had placed its Jupiter missiles in Turkey in case of any eventuality by the Soviet Union. Cuba, a tiny country in close proximity of USA was waking up to the socialist ideology. Its leader, Fidel Castro declared Cuba a Socialist country after America's covert Bay of Pigs invasion. This gave Castro a reason to choose USSR over USA. USSR, understanding the strategic importance of Cuba, deployed nuclear missiles in Cuba. A nail biting 13 days in 1962 would see DEFCON 2 readiness of USA. And it was this 13 day Cuban missile crisis that saw another act of Chinese betrayal on Indian sovereignty. 1961 -62 is what it took to see the mankind in four walls of conservatism. The world was busy defusing the tensions between two superpowers. And a wannabe Superpower of China unleashed an unprovoked bitter war on the long Indian border. After the failure of Mao's policies in mainland China, it had annexed Tibet. This sent the spiritual leaders and the Tibetan government in exile. India welcomed the exiled government officials and Dalai Lama. This was seen as a caution by the Chinese as they felt that India was flexing its muscle to spread its territory till Tibet. In October, the Chinese troops launched a massive attack on the Indian Borders from NEFA (Arunachal Pradesh) to Aksai Chin in Ladakh. The Indian forces were caught unprepared. Further, the timing of the attack prevented India drawing attention from the Soviet Union or the West as they were busy defusing an escalating crisis. The war resulted in high Indian casualties and POWs. After 13 days, the Chinese went back to their prior positions and it was business as usual between US and USSR.

The following years would see many more tensions in the Indian Sub-Continent which fail to get attention from the west. Thanks to the ongoing Vietnam War where USA was involved directly and USSR was involved in supply of weaponry to the North Vietnamese. The late sixties and the early seventies would see battlefield Asia in action. The Chinese continued to support communism in Asia and the west continued to fight a costly and a long war in Vietnam. Amidst all these India faced a hard lined Pakistan and shifted its defense focus on its western and eastern front. India fought two wars in a span of 6 years which ended in wins but resulted in economic crisis. But the then Indian leadership was strong enough to face a bold crisis situation and test the first Nuclear detonation in 1970s. The west was surprised as the arms race was not just confined to USA and USSR, but was spreading fast in Asia. To its shock in the 1970s, the west witnessed two back to back backlashes. The first one being the loss in Vietnam. And the other one in Iran where an Islamist revolution overthrew the government and the fundamentalist captured the US embassy and took the hostages. The crisis would end for 444 days.  The oil rich nation gave a hard blow to the United States. This would be the first instance where religious fundamentalism would take a center stage in conflicts. At the same time, Afghanistan was shaping itself for a communist revolution. The hard lined Afghan leaders introduced land reforms and cultural reforms which did not go well with Islamic Radicals and the neighbouring Pakistan. A huge influx of refugees flew in to the neighbouring countries. The country was of utmost strategic influence for the super powers as the oil supply lines passed through it and it would give an edge to any of the sides to control affairs in central Asia and middle east. With the uprising of communism in Afghanistan, the afghan political leaders seeked Moscow's intervention. The Soviet Union denied initially as the economy was in a bad shape and the Warsaw Pact restricted the USSR to invade any foreign country. But seeing the situation topple down and fearing the uprising would effect the Islamic countries of Soviet Union, it agreed to send in forces to fight in Afghanistan. The US saw a perfect revenge situation in Afghanistan. It decided to give back USSR what it had done to US in Vietnam. The CIA then sponsored covert operations where it funded the guerilla forces that joined the fighting in Afghanistan. One of them being Osama Bin Laden getting benefits from USA funding. The radicals overthrew the Soviet forces in Afghanistan. Who knew it then that this defeat would be the first step in breaking down the USSR.

Meanwhile in Europe and Latin American countries saw a growing unrest against the communist satellite states. USSR was in a deep economic crisis as the cold war demanded a spending of 10 million dollars per day for each side. The little sparks in countries like Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, Poland and East Germany turned into revolutions that would oust the communist regime. Mikhail Gorbachev, the then USSR President with his wisdom let the revolution blossom in the eastern bloc. He allowed protests and marches along the streets which resulted in independent nations. 1989 saw the end of the Berlin wall as the city and the nation unified in the following years. The Soviet Union collapsed and globalization rose to power. By 1991, the cold war ended with creation of Russia by its president Boris Yelstin. The 90s would see a new world in the making. The world woke up to a fact that communism is a failed ideology and opened up to change. Free trade would prosper in the Asian sub continents.

In the meanwhile, India was going through a dire economic crisis due to 40 years of closed wall operations. The crisis man of India would rescue the nation in crisis. Dr. Manmohan Singh, the then finance minister opened gates for foreign companies to set up operational centers in India. The wall collapsed and globalization took a center stage. The World has changed but there is still one exception left behind. China. The reds still rule China. This time it's even more dangerous posing threats to the global economies and its neighbours. It's on the rise now. Similar to the rise of USSR in the aftermath of World War II. Two evolving global powerhouses are now locked in arms race. Rising defense budgets is common between two growing powers. Just like the one between USA and USSR during the cold wars. Boundaries are being drawn again. This time the cost of militarization has increased way more than the eras of past. Nuclear missiles, unlike the cold war era has increased its radius to 10,000 KMs. This time it’s not between communism and capitalism but between communism and democracy.  The west is waiting and watching. Shall we say Cold War II.  

 

UNCERTAINTY

Surely there is something unsure about this word.

Unknown. Unthought. Unimagined and unexperienced.

The 'JUST IN CASE' syndrome that looms through our mind.

Every now and then.

Might be it will happen. Might be it won't.

Uncertainty - A caution.

Uncertainty - An unhappy feeling.

Uncertainty - An unwanted 'IF'.

Uncertainty - The uncomfortable 'YOU'.

All that takes you away from present and puts you amidst the confused lanes of future.

Ever asked the self that is it necessary?

Is it worth spending a moment for something that can erase the joy?

Is it something that has to be dealt with pulling up your socks?

Is it worth doing away with your joy for something that's so unsure?

Uncertainty. It's what we live in.

On the other hand, there lives an ignored cousin, the certainty.

Often left aside, made to wait and done to death.

It comes for free and is often taken for granted.

Just because it’s so obvious.

Smile is certain. Joy is certain. Good is certain. Life is certain.

As said, always ignored, just because they are too easy to think of and even more easy to get to.

So here comes a piece of advice that you can choose to ignore.

Or you can prefer to adapt.

Leave the uncertainty behind and live the certain.

Live the smile.

Live the joy.

Live the good.

And live the life.

After all, it's worth living for something that can make you happy

than something that can take the cake away from you.

All it demands is doing away with one word that makes you so uncomfortable. UNCERTAINTY.

Who's the loser?

The first thing you love about a Sunday is the laziness. The second thing is a coffee mug with a newspaper. The third one is the morning news and the free commentary that follows it. Sundays. They were meant to be so. A happy holiday that visits us once in a week. But somehow this one was a bit different. Hurt, anger and uneasiness within. The reason: The sad Delhi Gang rape. Sunday newspapers filled with the same story. The news channels too focusing on the same story. People repeating what's said in news. You never expect a Sunday morning to be a dull one. But this time, you had to accept it. It seemed as if we are living amongst animals. Rightly so when a social animal has turned into a wild animal.

The ever increasing heinous crimes against women are nothing new to us. In past, they happened in closed rooms. Now it happens in the open. The only addition that has happened to it is the camera that is going places and capturing the stories. Just after the news of Delhi gang rape, there were 16 more incidents in just two days. The big question stands tall in front of us. Can stringent laws and strict police vigilance stop rapes and crimes against women. The answer is that it won't. But we still will go our way asking for these. Debate it in talk shows, discuss it amongst friends and then wait for another rape to happen. What else could you expect from a country where bangles that are symbolic of woman turn into a symbol of shame for men. Where a father of a girl scolds her for demanding freedom to live equal with guys. Sad but true. In India, you are never equal.

There are two types of people in the country. Good and Bad. Good ones bear the burnt, turn into victims and are often termed as losers. It’s the bad ones who make the news, get the much needed attention and turn cool in front of people. Mahatma Gandhi is a loser in his own country. The biggest examples of those who followed the rules have turned into losers in this 21st century. And we are left with a bunch of bad guys who have turned into heroes of the 21st century. They get all the desired importance from news channels, bollywood and reality shows. Thanks to bollywood that it has gone one step ahead in convincing us with a new term. Negative Role. Everyone's just loving it. Let’s love it too. Now a days, these negative roles are quite often seen in colleges, workplaces, family circles and amongst friends too. We live in an age where the bad has won over the good. How we live is not important in this 21st century. Instead it all boils down to one point. "KYA UKHAADA".

We have turned so result oriented that the only thing that matters to us is winning. Life has turned into a game, where winning or losing maters more than living and loving. Beg, borrow or steal. But come home victorious. The obsession with winning is so huge that we don't accept defeats. Be it in a cricket match or in examinations or in elections or in real life. A cricketer is not a cricketer until he has not slammed a ton. A son is not a son if he has failed in examination. A politician is not a politician until he has rigged and won an election. A man is not a man until he has won. Adding to it are the dogmas that we follow in life. It's okay to cheat sometimes. It's good to be bad. Who cares, break the rules. Everyone is at fault and in equal proportion. We all have given enough fodder for the bad to win over the good in life. The recent rape too was a triumph of bad.

The point is that we are seeing the ugly side of our very own thinking. The point is that change cannot happen until we change our mindset. You cannot demand stringent laws when you talk of breaking the rules. You cannot ask for strict police action when you lure them with bribes. You cannot think of good until you are done away with bad. Change doesn't begin in a discussion forum or in a news channel debate. Instead it begins with self. So when the discussions are over and the candle light marches are done, sit in a dark quiet room and ask yourself. Who is the loser? May be the answer to change lies in this question.