Development lies in the eyes of the beholder – not developer

Development is a word that has been used extensively by many political leaders to their own advantage. I stay in a state where we are served development for breakfast, lunch and dinner. In fact it is savored as fried snack too along with cutting Chai.


Development is a word that I compare to Beauty. It lies in the eyes of the beholder and never the developer. When I move around the state in my car, I take pride in having great roads. But then I go beneath and see tragic stories of development and people who have been displaced due to development of big projects. So in short every development comes at a cost. Now who am I to value this cost as long as I am a beneficiary of this development.


In UP, development has a different meaning. People of this largest Indian state are watching helplessly as the democratically elected Chief Minister is erecting her statues all over. This is more of inferiority complex issue than anything else. Mayawati is asserting herself as someone more powerful and valuable to the state than any other leader. In a state that is horribly divided by caste and religion, this assertion helps her to be a messiah among a set of people who have never tasted development. She wants her Dalit identity to be transformed into a powerful tool that can beat any caste or creed. If it has cost millions to make these statues, there is another blunder that is going on. Election Commission has ordered these statues to be covered. This will cost millions more.


Along the Ahmedabad roads in Gujarat, I walk in the middle of vehicles. Even the most posh areas with western style of development do not have walking paths. So what development are we talking about? And as I go further I see helpless citizens relieving themselves wherever they find space. I tried once to scold a man who took shelter behind a tree to relieve himself. He stopped his activity for a while and asked me if I can find a loo anywhere so that he can pause his current activity and resume if I help him in finding one.


The real disgraces of this development are its side effects. We define development in terms of big road, bigger buildings, bigger malls and not the quality life we should be living. Today how many children walk to school? Development has taken place so suddenly that a section of people have not been able to match with its pace. They felt they have been left out of this development. Their brains worked overtime to find out the reason why this was happening. They got quick answers when CAG mentioned an astronomical figure as the kickback A Raja has taken for telecom spectrum. Their blood boiled as they thought their share of development and progress was snatched from them on a single stroke. As the frustrations grew, entry of anti graft crusaders and civil activists helped it fuel the fire. It gave much needed tonic and everyone joined the bandwagon without realizing what they were protesting for.


The one disgraceful word ‘corruption’ became the rallying point. I watched in shock and dismay as people gathered in thousands to protest against an unknown enemy waging a war against unknown people in unspecified locations. They uniformly gave the name ‘corruption’ to every evil that we are facing today.


People who invented this terminology also brought out solutions and they called it Lokpal. The government, faced with mounting criticism and a silent PM, quickly brought its own version of this. Today, the entire campaign has got fizzled out because the people who were behind this campaign had more to hide than to reveal. 


The campaign could not sustain its steam not merely because of the people involved but because the main protagonist – corruption – was nowhere to be seen. After much deliberation, people realized a protest or two cannot remove this evil. They saw their own neighbours and friends – those who feed the corrupt with corruption capsules – were in the forefront of all these protests. 


So what has corruption to do with development – the topic which we began this discussion? In fact it has. I will illustrate the correlation. A posh bunglow owner asked one of my lawyer friends to file a stay over a proposed demolition of his parking space- which he admits has been encroached upon. He is of the opinion that since he has used it for the last 15 years without any problem, why this sudden move by the civic body to widen the road and cut the portion where he keeps three of his five cars (the rest two are on roads outside). I was a witness to this conversation between the lawyer and the client. As I always pokes into unnecessary things, I intervened and asked for his pardon if anything that I speak hurts him.


I told him the story of hundreds of thousands of tribal who stayed hundreds of thousands of years at a place where they never bothered to have a document or a panchayat receipt. They believed the land was owned by them and all of a sudden a group of people with well dressed attire on beacon led vehicles comes to their land and asks them to vacate. They refuse but in return are shown court orders which they never understand. They are forcibly vacated and a dam is built in that place. No one knows the whereabouts of those people. The labourers you see around at construction sites could be their second or third generation. People who owned large tracts of land are homeless with no fault of theirs. The fruits of their pain are directly poured into your kitchen tap and named as Narmada Water. You praise political leaders forgetting the sacrifice these people gave. He had no remorse and instead asked me if I was a Maoist or friend of Arundhati Roy and Medha Patkar – Gujarat’s sworn enemies.


The lawyer got a stay for him but it lasted a few months. Today all his five cars are parked on the road. Coming back to the main topic of development, I ask myself whether it is my fault not to see the fruits of development to my benefit and instead ponders over things that are not relevant. Or have I chosen a path where I confront everyone and take a stand to what I believe is reasonably correct. Development for me is human development and not a Gurgaon style of development. A nation can mature only with human development. The rest are just byproducts.


From Random Notes – Binu Alex

Can you enforce Dress Code for believers?

This morning as I attended the Church, I was amazed to listen to an order by the Diocese Archbishop. Among others, it mentioned a dress code for worshipers. While it was not clear what to wear, jeans and T-Shirts were clearly in the negative list.


Ashley E. McGuire, the editor-in-chief for altcatholicah.org says the way many people dress to mass in the US is completely offensive. “Strapless tops, cleavage, skirts that hardly cover the derriere, shorts, tracksuits, cut-offs. Tank tops.  Midriffs. Minis. How this became acceptable is a mystery. How to change it, is not.”


But this is not the case with the Church in Ahmedabad, especially Orthodox Church truly orthodox in many ways than one. Here people come with everything covered. I for one, regularly use T Shirt and Jeans. Not because it is one of my favourite nor do I look like a star in this attire but more because it is more comfortable than the formal ones that I wear for all the other six days.


Indians are not very akin to a dress code that the Vatican has. It prohibits anyone from entering a holy place wearing Shorts/skirts above the knee, • Sleeveless shirts, • Shirts exposing the navel, • Shirts for women that expose cleavage. But these are conveniently forgotten by all Catholics, especially in the Konkan region. They face a major issue of Religion Vs Culture.


In defense of the dress code, Ashley writes “let’s not forget, Jesus also flipped tables in a rage when he saw his Father’s house disrespected. He also reminded us in a parable that the man who showed up to a royal wedding not wearing the proper attire met a dreadful fate. Jesus was clear throughout the gospels: What you wear matters. He went to his own death in a garment so fine that men gambled for it.”


But when did this practice of advocating dress code in Orthodox began? I presume I have not heard any order since I seriously started attending Church. I would consider this as the biggest insult to my identity if anyone in this world directs me what to wear in my place of worship. 


Moreover how would you stop tones of perfumes, silk clothing, plucked eyebrows, gold watches, gold rings, gold ornaments, hairs straightened (list is long) from being transported to Church? My good friend at Tailor’s Point, one of the up market boutiques for men showed me an Italian Shirting costing Rs 17000 per meter. This means a shirt piece would cost almost 40,000. Wearing it is not a sin but poor souls like me wearing a T Shirt worth Rs 300 is a sin.


The Pentecostal Church, famous for picking up bits and pieces from Bible to justify their point of view, is the biggest offender in this saga. They don’t wear gold or any other ornaments. But each of them has a Rado or TAG Heuer. Their weddings are one of the costliest in terms of dress materials and food items but yet claim they are closer to God by not wearing ornaments.


If I argue this with any of the Pentecostal members, they will open the Bible in a split of a second and show me Genesis 35:2 which says – “Let us not allow the worldly, wrongly and wickedly dress fashion to be one of the gods in our lives. We need to cleanse and change our garments.”


And with absolute no knowledge of Bible, I will be left speechless. And since they are smart with Bible, they will further flip to Timothy 2:9-10 or Matthew 5:28. They will certainly show me the basic tenets of their faith - All Christian women should not wear the garments that pertain to the harlot – taken in bits and pieces from Proverbs 7:10; Isaiah 47:1-5.


While it is fair to call upon the believers to dress simple, putting pressure on them to wear what the priests and bishops like is undemocratic. 


When I see animal activists of Hindu Fundamentalist parties limiting their protest against killing of animals to only cow, I wonder what Goat, Chickens and Buffalloes have done to them. In a similar way I was wondering what sin has Jeans done to the Church to ask for its overall ban.


The first and the foremost, to me, is that almost all criminals wear Jeans. They are also favourite dress for hippies and rascals and all non-believers. More so Jeans is called "breeches" in Exodus 28:42.


Not wearing a Jeans and T Shirt is not a sign of modesty. One has to go overboard to make Clergy understand what the purpose of clothing is. It remains the same as mentioned in Genesis 3:7 even thousands of years after Adam and Eve realized it. In fact clothing is meant for covering the body, not revealing it and this is what the entire quotes from Bible also meant. But when twisted, these scriptures can mean anything. Jeans and T Shirts also serves the same purpose that the Clergies are calling for with other type of dress codes that we are no longer naked and unashamed.


I follow what my conscience says and I am pretty sure that it is not only Biblical but also social. There is a famous saying in Hindi by Habib Jhalib which goes like this 


ऐसे दस्तूर को, सुभ ए बेनूर को, मैं नहीं मानता मैं नहीं जानता




And I am an ardent fan of this unsung poet.

Voice of dissent can never be tolerated in a democracy

Voice of dissent can never be tolerated in a democracy. Confused? Believe it or not, this is the reality in India. You cannot talk to Medha Patkar and then live in Gujarat because she has fought for some ‘unwanted tribal’ depriving the enterprising people of Gujarat the most precious water from Narmada. You cannot voice your opinion against the large scale industrial loot in the name of economical growth because it will deter foreign investors from coming to India. 


You should be as superman to read any piece by Arundhati Roy because she is a right wing labeled left wing terrorist. You cannot enjoy M F Hussain art because his drawing had hurt somebody somewhere and no one remembers who these people are. You cannot say anything against the religious tourism subsidy being doled out for no reasons to a particular community because it will have major repercussions including cold blooded murder. You cannot object to the actions of a particular chief minister of a state for his role in a sectarian violence because a decade has passed and it is time to forget and forgive and also because he is the darling of masses and a prime ministerial candidate. 


There are other exceptions too. You cannot offer a rose to your lover because a particular Sene has objection. You have to put the local language on your shop because a particular party doesn’t understand Hindi or likes Hindi speaking people. Anti-Hindi south Indian parties indulge in similar but more dramatic activities down south. January 1 is not your new year because there are parties around the globe. Inter religious relation and dialogues have become the biggest taboo. Dating and courting is out question and same sex relations cant even be a thought process.


The biggest of all these is the Kashmir issue. Because it is not debated well, no one knows what the issue is especially the youths. What they know is a piece of land under Indian occupation which is being snatched forcibly by Pakistan. Beyond this even those who hit Prashant Bhushan may not know.


In the process of curtailing freedom of expression, we have curtailed the knowledge acquisition process of an entire generation. No youths want to know or debate any controversial issue because it will label them as right wing or left wing or pseudo secular or a terrorist. Universities and colleges have stopped open debates because it could turn into ugly war. Friends from different religion and caste is a thing of past. Many Hindu youths studying in posh schools have never met a Muslim in their entire life and vice versa with Muslim students.


Where is this leading us to? Make no mistake, we are going to face anarchy – in true Rajnikant style.


And still we castigate our doubts over Saudi Arabia, Iran and other so called conservative countries? At least they accept what they are doing. We don’t.

Story of a social network traitor

Binu Alex
Post August 16, 2011, two types of India emerged. Nationalists and Traitors, thanks to Bush doctrine. If you give good TRPs to the roaring televisions, high traffic to social networks like Facebok and Twitter, put Anna’s picture on your Facebook profile, have a candle vigil and have your kids put up a good demonstration in front of television cameras, you are a crusader against corruption, a true patriot. Or else……..

Suddenly all political leaders have become caricatures. Baba Ramdev, Sonia Gandhi, Manmohan Singh, Anna Hazare, Kapil Sibal have all figured and interestingly not a single BJP leaders are in this list. Not a single soul made even a slight remark of Gujarat High Court asking the government of Gujarat why it has not appointed a Lokayukta despite its instructions. Convenience is the key to escapism.

I have some 300 odd friends on my Facebook and 99 per cent of them consider me as a traitor because I don’t support this. This is my story, story of a traitor, a social network traitor.

I don’t support this because I know this is not going to end corruption. I also know very well that corruption is not a temporary phenomenon that can be eradicated with a protest or fast. It is a disease and the best way to eradicate it is to clean the channels, which makes corruption so easy to develop and spread. I have been with some of the most corrupt people for ten long years in one of the most corrupt government departments in this country. It is easy to be corrupt in any government department. But it takes real courage to be straight and non-corrupt just like the current movement. It is easy to join a protest and flow with the stream. It takes courage to take a stand. I take a stand and I am out of contention for best Indian patriot.

Today we have an unprecedented nationally telecast, emotionally charged carnival running across the country written and directed by TRP hungry televisions’ well fed journalists who demonstrates live on TV each and every action of the main protagonist. They bring kids from around the ground and asks questions which an average TRP giving viewer would like to hear and feel proud of the movement. There are mimicry artists like Kumar Vishwas to keep the public busy. There are bhajans, orchestra, doctor visits and everything that can beat the best running soap opera.

So when I add myself to the countless number of people into Facebook with my own opinion, I immediately get response in different forms. Almost all of them painting me as a traitor – a social network traitor. According to them, by not supporting Anna, I am encouraging corruption. And what are they trying to do after eradicating corruption and bringing back the foreign stuffed black money back to India? They are going to have a big bash. Here is one observation :

“My dear frnds, If all black money comes back to India then Beer 8Rs Vodka 20Rs Whisky 35Rs ...Wine 45Rs Champagne 55Rs Soda 1.25Rs Atleasttt now support Anna... :-)..”

The entire movement has become a joke and still a majority of Indians still do not understand the underlying danger behind this. Their arguments are simple. ‘You can be wrong, but the entire country cant. See how they have marched in millions in support of this cause and you are the lone man standing.’

So much so that the most vocal critics of media who used to abuse the television channels just last week back are now putting rose petals on their TV. The opportunists they are, the chauvinism they show is unbearable. India has become a convenience store where you do whatever you like at whatever cost to the exchequer or the unity of the country.

I was going through a message put up by the Modi bête noire, Sanjeev Bhatt that said “Corruption has its own motivations and is self-perpetuating. No Ombudsman, howsoever powerful or no Law, howsover stringent can effectively deal with corruption untill we thoroughly study the phenomenon of corruption and eliminate the very conditions that breed and nourish it.”

I fully agree with this. But the biggest problem here is execution. How can you wash a man who is laced with corruption from tip to toe? Is it through another bill? Thanks to Raja and Kalmadi, India has found a new hero in Anna Hazare. The team behind this Gandhian simple person is cultivating Anna to be the alternative to the current disposition, creating a myth that introducing the Lokpal will eliminate corruption in the country despite the fact that two of the Anna Team were once government officials.

Arvind Kejriwal worked for Income-tax, one of the biggest breeding centre of corruption. Kiran Bedi worked for police department, where corruption is next to God. Both of them are very well aware that this bill is not going to change the corruption standards in this country. But this is their chance. Now or never. They are bargaining hard to get this bill passed and also to create a new hegemony where a select few civil activists will run the country from their backyard – without actually going to the people or being elected from any constituency.

I asked myself a question. Have I voted these people to represent me? No. So is this a Lokpal bill or Annapal Bill? But then those people whom I voted to represent never represented me anywhere. This is my grievance and shared by millions of people. This brings to what Arundhati Roy wrote in her article (read here) “This crisis has been forged out of the utter failure of India's representative democracy, in which the legislatures are made up of criminals and millionaire politicians who have ceased to represent its people. In which not a single democratic institution is accessible to ordinary people.”

Knowing very well that this is nothing but a carnival without any result (even taking into consideration that Annapal Bill will be passed without any changes), I have no option but to put my frustrations in social networking sites. But then that brings to the core question about your loyalty to the country.

Today, I am a social networking traitor. I don’t know about tomorrow because there is nothing called tomorrow.

School Reunion – Great memories

Does distance matter in friendship? This was the first point raised when some of us met to discuss the venue of our class reunion. It took us less than a minute to finally say, Damn, how does it matter.

Yes, the crowd at the official second reunion of 1988-89 and 90 batch proved us right. And the fact that the news of this meeting spread like wild fire soliciting calls for invites surprised us and made us to believe that at any level of life, school life is something that people cherish forever.

So when Rajya (Rajeev Agarwal  fondly called) offered his farm house, we had a sigh of relief. Primarily because we had initially thought of a banquet hall which would have become a marriage reception party. We realized people need space and freedom to move around and nothing can prevent people from recognizing each other if such space is provided. Not even the distance.

The farm was almost empty at 7 in the evening. By 8, there was no space to move around.  It was a great sight to see friends hug and then asking each other to identify.

Nowhere on earth you get the freedom to open up as it is with school friends. We will make this an annual event and for this to happen we have now formed a page wherein all your remarks are expected to come. This is where we will interact further.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Amrut-School-Reunion/105106792872441?sk=wall

Go to the above link and you will find a Like button. Click on it and you automatically become its member. This page will be displayed on your Wall wherein you can post your comments to each other. Please spread the word and let the classmates come and join this page.

So it was a great meeting acknowledge by one and all. There were many hands behind the success of this event.

Let me thank Manoj Dalal for his unrelenting work of calling up people, Dinesh Agarwal for his valuable time and energy, Rajeev Agarwal for his everlasting openness, Mahavir and Narendra Lunkar for all the support towards making this a grand event. Nikhil Anand towards his great work in preserving this nostalgia in frames. He will be uploading the pictures in a day or two after he comes back from one of his assignments.

A big applause to those who made it to the event. Even a bigger one to the families of these batchmates who came with them and bore the brunt of extended friendship. Of course how can we forget the effort of our esteemed teachers who are happy that the values and belief they bestowed on their students didn’t go waste.

Binu Alex

Craft of Graft

Graft is a word hitherto unheard in India. It used to be corruption. Now this new craft has come to the fore? How and Why?

Earlier there used to be simple corruption. People would take money and give money. Now it has taken a different genre. You can use the style that Reliance uses which is the corporate style, very raw and rural way called Pawar route or athletically using Kalmadi highway. And how can you forget the most modern wireless route of Raja?

Now in general, these are not corruption. They are graft and they need to be treated in a different way. If you have any idea, then please keep it to yourself because it is not going to work in India, the country of grafters.

Anna Hazare Fast? Who are the supporters?

Joining protests is the latest fashion for high society guys and gals. Many think reaching Jantar Mantar is the way to support.
The real beneficiaries of Lokpal Bill are not those who come to support blind folded but those who cannot afford to bribe the babus sitting across the country.

How on earth can you stop the Talati demanding Rs 100 from a poor labourer for paying off his wages which amounts close to the same amount? How can Lokpal Bill change the way Indians think? How can this fast bring sensitivity towards humans?
Indians are known to be insensitive towards each other. Rich doesnt know what poverty is. The industrialists doesnt have an idea how they can help the downtrodden.Indians are known to be insensitive towards each other. Rich doesnt know what poverty is. The industrialists doesnt have an idea how they can help the downtrodden.

How many Indian companies help the Indian poor in education, healthcare and other basic amenities?

New Method to dupe you

New Method to dupe you

The latest mails being circulated to fool innocent guys are getting popular. Thank God the mailing algorithms gives you a warning message too

Warning: This message may not be from whom it claims to be. Beware of following any links in it or of providing the sender with any personal information.  Learn more

Here is the mail reproduced

ANTI-TERRORIST AND MONITORY CRIMES DIVISION
FBI HEADQUARTERS IN WASHINGTON, D.C.
FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION
J. EDGAR HOOVER BUILDING
935 PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE, NW WASHINGTON,
D..C. 20535-0001
NUMBER 206-350-8270
www.fbi.gov/
Date; 03/03/2011.

ATTENTION

We have made our investigation on you. As Federal Commission, we are here to protect your interest and the interest of all the United State citizens as well as this great Nation. You have been investigated as the beneficiary of the said funds that is why you are in touch with the FBI.

Series of meetings have been held over the past 7 months with the secretary general of the United Nations Organization. This ended 3 days ago. We have gone through your Identification record, we have verified a lot of things about you. It has come to the attention of our Money Trafficking Investigation Department, that you have some funds valued at U.S $5,800,000.00 Five Million Eight Hundred thousand Dollar to your name, The said payment is awaiting adjudication and crediting to you from Inheritance 'willed ' from C.B.N REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA precisely. & amp; nbsp; due to past corrupt Governmental Officials who almost held the fund to themselves for their selfish reason and some individuals who have taken advantage of your fund all in an attempt to swindle your fund which has led to so many losses from your end and unnecessary delay in the receipt of your fund.

The National Central Bureau of Interpol enhanced by the United Nations and Federal Bureau of Investigation have successfully passed a mandate to the current president of Nigeria his Excellency President Good luck Jonathan to boost the exercise of clearing all foreign debts owed to you and other individuals and organizations who have been found not to have receive their
Contract Sum, Lottery/Gambling, Inheritance and the likes. Now how would you like to receive your payment? Because we have two method of payment which is by Check or by ATM card?

ATM Card: We will be issuing you a custom pin based ATM card which you will use to withdraw up to $5,000 per day from any ATM machine that has the Master Card Logo on it and the card have to be renewed in 4 years time which is 2015. Also with the ATM card you will be able to transfer your funds to your local bank account. The ATM card comes with a handbook or manual to enlighten you about how to use it. Even if you do not have a bank account.

Check: To be deposited in your bank for it to be cleared within three working days. Your payment would be sent to you via any of your preferred option and would be mailed to you via UPS. Because we have signed a contract with UPS which should expire by February 20 2011 you will only need to pay $150 instead of $420 saving you $270 So if you pay before March 13, 2011 you save $150 Take note that anyone asking you for some kind of money above the usual fee is definitely a fraudsters and you will have to stop communication with every other person if you have been in contact with any. Also remember that all you will ever have to spend is $150.00 nothing more! Nothing less! And we guarantee the receipt of your fund to be successfully delivered to you within the next 24hrs after the receipt of payment has been confirmed.

Below are few list of tracking numbers you can track from UPS website to confirm people like you who have received their payment successfully.

Name: Donna L. Vargas: UPS Tracking Number: EO 989 255 511 US (www.usps.com)
Name: Rovenda Elaine Clayton: UPS Tracking Number: 873944886796 (www.fedex.com/us)

Note: Everything has been taken care of by the Federal Government of Nigeria, Thace United Nation and also the FBI and including taxes, custom paper and clearance duty so all you will ever need to pay is $150.

DO NOT SEND MONEY TO ANYONE UNTIL YOU READ THIS: The actual fees for shipping your ATM card is $480 but because UPS have temporarily discontinued the C.O.D which gives you the chance to pay when package is delivered for international shipping We had to sign contract with them for bulk shipping which makes the fees reduce from the actual fee of $420 to $150 nothing more and no hidden fees of any sort!

To effect the release of your fund valued at $5,800,000.00 Five Million Eight Hundred thousand Dollar you are advised to contact our correspondent in Africa incharge of the delivery of your fund with the information below,

Contact Person: Mr. kelvin Williams
Email: www-fbi-gov2011@hotmail.com
Office Address: LAGOS/NIGERIA
NUMBER +234-808-184-8416

You are advised to contact him with the informations as stated below:

YOUR FULL NAME:--------
HOME ADDRESS/COUNTRY:--------
SEX/AGE:------------
TEL:/CELL PHONE----------------
SCAN COPY OF YOUR DRIVING LICENCE------------

Preferred Payment Method (ATM / Cashier Check)

You are hereby advised  to Contact him through the email address above to enquire from them on how you are going to send the fee to him,the FBI agent the ensure that the delivery of your fund is sent to you within 24 working hours. Because we are so sure of everything we are giving you a 100% money back guarantee if you do not receive payment/package within the next 24hrs after you have made the payment for shipping.

Faithfully Your's
Robert S.Mueller 111
FBI Director
FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20535

Note: Do disregard any email you get from any impostors or offices claiming to be in possession of your ATM CARD, you are hereby advice only to be in contact with James Richard of the ATM CARD CENTRE who is the rightful person to deal with in regards to your ATM CARD PAYMENT and forward any emails you get from impostors to this office so we could act upon and commence investigation.

RIP : The thinking man

“The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out... without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost inevitably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane, intolerable."

I remembered these words of American journalist and essayist H. L. Mencken as I see India as a country. In Indian environment, silence is golden. Mayawati can plunder the state revenue to fulfill her ambitions and Shiela Dixit can flout all rules for a CWG. Narendra Modi can do no wrong even if each step of his is a disaster. But the urban class are satisfied with GDP and upset with inflation.

But any one who criticizes these actions are taboos themselves. They are considered as fools who are used to making such noises. Even the journalists are awestruck at some of the political figures which they think are ‘towering’ personalities.

It takes the judicial system to question the questionable actions of these leaders. I have heard people saying that all other leaders have the liberty to do anything but if it comes to Modi, he becomes the target of so called pseudo secular activists. People have become deaf and dumb. So much so that the so called lion of Gujarat needs certificate from a Maulana to stamp his secular credentials for future endeavors.

These are our urban class. They live in glass chambers. Unless they get everything under one umbrella, they are happy. The moment they stop getting the facilities, they start their usual self – cribbing. These are the same people whose one feet unauthorized extensions in front of their palatial bungalows cannot be reclaimed by the government. They go to any extent and get a stay from the court to stop the demolition. At the same time they argue why the tribal, who have owned the land for centuries, cant give their land for betterment of the state.

Aapka bacha ladla, hamara bacha jansankya. This is a common saying in Hindi which is very apt for such people. I have seen people cursing the street vendors for encroaching on roads. But these are the same people who park multiple number of cars outside their bungalow despite the fact they have been given enough space to park their vehicles inside.

Mencken goes on to say "the one permanent emotion of the inferior man is fear – fear of the unknown, the complex, the inexplicable. What he wants above everything else is safety."

We all come under this category.

Who is this man? Guesswork allowed.

He is one person who can do wonders. He can make things work. He has the midas touch and his words and actions are copied everywhere. He is at the helm of a state where Black, White and Brown skinned entrepreneurs arrive and sign MoUs in an event that has rhymes  of vibrations.

He is one person who has fought single handedly all the NGOs, human rights organisations and international bodies to come out as a hero. He wears stylish clothes and is a fantastic orator. He is alleged to have presided over a mayhem that killed thousands in his state. This has elevated him to a superman status since none of his predecessors could do this wonder.

The Supreme Court has observed that any murder can be justified if the intention was to teach a lesson to the other. So this person’s intention was to teach the community of Osama a lesson. He will be exonerated from all sins by judiciary and the process is on.

But he has already proven innocent by the people of his state. He presents himself as a technology savvy leader who has more black cat commandos around him than his pet five crore people have to protect them. He jams mobile network wherever he travels. He can make no mistakes. He has a non-corrupt image. But in actual terms he is arrogant, doesn’t listen to any one, have little knowledge of world outside, lives within his own egoistic borders.

He is the projected Prime Minister of a country where sleeping beauties and silent monsters have ruled. He is often praised in all social networking sites, especially the one after which a movie of similar. He is the only person in the state with a beard where all other bearded men were hacked to death.

His fan following has only increased. For a flock that has severe leadership vacuum, his acumen and oratory skills have given new lease of life to them. He rules a state, which is de facto the 51st state of the world’s biggest economy. He is a person who left behind his married partner and takes care of all the other partners across the globe. He is a person who has turned agriculture tracts into industrial zones. He is a person who has a vision, but lacks acceptance. He is a person who wants to implement but surrounded by corrupt people. He is from a party that forgot its agenda was to build a temple and not give good governance.

He is a person who is not welcome in any other states. He is a person who is strictured by every judicial system. Yet he is the darling of many sections who wants a person who can protect them from the catastrophe of human avalanche – religiously and technically.

Who is this man? Guesswork allowed.

The undercurrents against Modi. Is it for real?

The other day I was at the Knowledge Series conducted by Divya Bhaskar where two journalists, Kundan Vyas of Janmabhoomi and Rajdeep Sardesai of IBN presented their views on Media Ethics especially in the light of Radia Gate.

For many years, I have been listening to such lectures and so it came as no surprise to me though many in the audience, consisting of Media related students and elders who have no work at home and a number of activists, enjoyed the talk.

What surprised me was the mood in the audience. As the interaction session started, one guy stood up to say how Narendra Modi is on a mission to sell the state to corporate illustrating how he demolished poor people to build Mahatma Mandir and other corporate structures. He was stopped in between by the organisers and asked to focus on the subject.

My sudden reaction was that the audience would support this move. I also thought the audience will behave the way they behave in all the podiums – drag out the question maker out of the hall and thrash him for having dared to question the lion of the state.

But to my surprise I found people in unison asking the organisers to let the man speak. Some of them even ridiculed the Gujarat CM on his so-called achievements and image makeover as a national leader and natural man to lead Gujarat. The voice got bigger and then people joined him to ask uncomfortable questions to the discomfort of my good friend Ajay Umat – the head of Divya Bhaskar editorial in Gujarat.

Is this an undercurrent happening all over the state? If yes, why is that this undercurrent is not shown during the polls results? BJP won all the elections held so far. I understand that almost all the audience that NM attends has manufactured audience. But this came as a surprise to me because the majority of the people sitting in the jam packed room at Rajpath Club were in their twenties – the so called brain washed people of the state.

Unfortunately for Gujarat and fortunately for BJP, Modi doesn’t have an alternative both within the party and outside the party.

At lat nap cabins at airport

For long I wondered why Indian airports never had cabins to take a nap. At last Delhi T3 now have this. Enjoy

Sonia, Maya, Pinky, Renuka, Muskan: The Kinnar party

As I went collecting contributions for an Apartment get together, I realized how difficult it is for the ‘Kinnars’ to reach out to prospective money givers and then keeping track of them on a regular basis.

We were certainly in a group and the members were more than happy to contribute. One of the group members suggested we should leave a mark on the doors the way Eunuchs write their names to declare that a group has visited the house and has made a major hole to the monthly earning of that particular family.

I have parted a major part of my salary to this tribe both at home and office. I tried to reason with them to produce a bill so that I can pay by cheque. She/he glanced at me as if they will take revenge by getting me admitted to their group. Last year, we tried to make them wait after having agreed to a small sum to discuss internally if we can reduce the amount further.

 One of them forcibly entered our meeting room in the office and said any one could count a million by this time. We settled for the agreed amount. The new office and the new home were bigger than the previous addresses. So the amount has to be bigger. So Sonia, Maya, Pinky, Renuka, Muskan and Party entered with demand of nothing less than an IMF loan.

Their leader Pinki massi was soft on me kindling me like her/his son. Sympathetic towards my helplessness in disbursing an amount on voucher without a proper bill was nothing short of a maternal care. I asked her a basic accountancy question of how to show this in the account. “It is none of my business,” she replied loudly but with compassion.

Their departure left a permanent mark. Not in my heart or body but on the walls outside the door. They also promised to return by Holi, Diwali, New Year and other festivals. Wonder where they are going to inscribe their Fateh Nama if this series go beyond a decade. And I also wonder how much of my income has to be earmarked for this SPV (Special Purpose Vehicle)

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Jews, Gujaratis and Marwaris

Recently I happened to read a piece by Calev Ben-David in Bloomberg News about Jews. There was nothing revealing though but I gave a thought of Jews being compared to Gujaratis or Marwaris.

All Indians are made equal; all Indians have got the same opportunity, market and access. How is that these two communities have got runaway success in business whereas a majority of the other tribes are not able to make it even beyond first step.

Every region has its own specialization. For example you find the highest number of journalists and authors from South India or West Bengal. They become great journos but die in penury. Gujaratis and Marwaris who become journalists turn themselves into ‘journalistic entrepreneurs’ in their own style.

Malayalis, for instance, have this special knack of being in secretarial job. Whether it is a Private Secretary of any Civil Service officer or some private entrepreneurs or even the Prime Minister of President of India, they excel in this field. They are sincere, hardworking, punctual; good command over language, articulate and above all never learns the trick from their masters to overtake them.

Just like the Jews, Gujaratis and Marwaris (Let’s call them Gujmar) work hard, gambles on money they never own, are found everywhere, are greatest capitalists, great US lovers, have a far flung diaspora and have this great knack for identifying and running successful business.

While a major part of the globe trounced capitalism as the root cause of problems, Jews and Gujmars refused to accept it. And they continued to prosper while the Socialism advocates made painful exits.

Both Jews and Gujmars have close relation to Bull and Bears. Both are pretty close to all the financial markets – or in other words, they control the Fin Markets. They are the people who built the market and they are the same people who continue to bash it – taking advantage of all the loopholes in it.

Jews continue to dominate the Hollywood scenario, Gujmar dominate Bollywood – except perhaps for chocolate-faced Khans. Jews have become victims and then perpetrators of large-scale violence; Gujmars have had the same experience.

Let’s call this comparison a great coincidence. That’s all.

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Touchdown Fear of all air passengers

After the Mangalore crash, where nearly 160 passengers where charred to death, every passenger anywhere in India is a little worried each time an aircraft descends for landing. I am one of those awe and fear struck passengers undergoing the trauma of being at the mercy of pilots whom we don’t know. What I know is that despite tens of lands and hundreds of flying hours, the pilots can make error and one single error is enough to be the last error for not only the pilot but also the error free passengers.

Even when I am on the Vashi bridge traveling either from Pune to Mumbai or Nerul to Mumbai, I ensure that my head is turned towards right to see a line of aircrafts descending one after the other. I am not looking at those aircrafts per say but thinking of those passengers mind set.

But most of the time I have traveled and touched down at most airports, including Mangalore and Calicut, I have not experienced the thud landing. But I always ensured to peep through the cockpit and see who the commanders are whenever I board an aircraft. If I see grey hair with smiling faces, I always got a big relief but if I see young teen looking, boyish-girlish-childish commanders, my blood pressure goes up. Will I reach my destination or I will be left to destiny?

I don’t have a problem while taking off  with any commanders and as usual I starts my prayers whenever the commander says, “Cabin crew to seats please”. But as soon as the commander repeats this on the descend, the heart beats double and my prayers go into a different zone. Though I look outside the window for a better view of the ground, my mind is always spiritual for that little time.

Gradually I found that all these are myths. As I went deep into aircraft behaviour, I realized that when it gets locked into ILS, the pilots are just dummies. But believe me these childish looking pilots have always had some of the smoothest landings I have ever experienced. At times, I don’t even feel the plane has landed until it starts applying brakes. I feel like going into the cockpit and kissing the commanders for their great landing but if I do so, I may land in police custody for harassment charges.

In earlier days, before the advent of private airlines, Indian Airlines and Air India ruled the skies. Just like the Doordarshan days when the audience never had an opportunity to compare television programmes, air travelers never saw chilled cabin and young and beautiful cabin crew.

So if you fly the national carriers, you get two servings – one is warm welcome and the other is maternal care. Warm because the air-conditioners never worked in the national carriers and maternal care because the cabin crew has always been aged at par with your mother or grandmother. They always served you food as if they have another flight to catch mid air. The captain never spoke to the passengers except for the mandatory stuff.

Indian skies have changed manifold today. Despite too many flights criss crossing the country, we have had fewer accidents. But all these said and done, I still carry what I call ‘touchdown fear.’ The fear as the aircraft starts its landing process and the seat belts are tight, the cabin crew is seated and lo behold, the plane has landed. Smoothly again.

Imagine IPL as a government organisation

Indian Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh had two full hours at his disposal to discuss ‘IPL Mess’ with Shashi Tharoor.

Sonia Gandhi has been seriously thinking of Tharoor, Sunanda and IPL. Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Defence Minister, A K Antony along with Home minister P Chidambaram is taking stock of the situation and is meeting each other every day.

L K Advani, Narendra Modi, Vasundhara Raje, Arun Jaitely are all involved in serious meeting about the IPL, Tharoor and Kochi consortium.

The biggest joke is the demand from Laloo Prasad Yadav to nationalise IPL. What a waste of energy to have even asked for it.

What is going on? For god’s sake is this what one billion Indians have voted this government for? Is IPL the biggest priority of this country?

Shame on Indian media to have created a big mountain out of a mole. A second or third grade party celebrity is the talking point of one billion Indians. Tonnes and tonnes of paper are wasted on this issue already.

The entire issues of heat, price rise, women’s bill, Finance Bill and Right to Education have gone to dogs. Instead a useless, worthless and good for nothing betting exercise called IPL – where foreign and Indian souls die to get in – is in the limelight.

The Indian PM should not have spent two minutes in this. The Indian media should have got this on their page five stories. The only department that is useful here is the Income Tax, Enforcement.

Imagine if the government concedes to the Left to nationalize IPL. The senior most IAS officer will be the Chief Commissioner of IPL. There will be a large-scale officers ranging from Additional Commissioners to Joint Commissioners sitting across the country with files that will never see the light of the day.

These files will be put up by an Upper Division Clerk and then orders neatly typed in by a Lower Division Clerk. There will be a huge Class IV employee pool whose hands will have to be greased to get their bosses.

Cricketers will have to file a form called Saral to get enrolled into IPL. The last date of filing the IPL returns will be March 31st. There will also be a trade union affiliated to CITU.

Instead of the pen down strike, the employees (read cricketers) will have a bat and ball down strike. The salaries of cricketers will read like Basic 10 lakhs, Dearness Allowance 2 lakhs, House Rent Allowance : 25 lakhs, Travelling Allowance : 4 lakhs. TDS will be deducted at the rate of 10 per cent. Deductions will include PF and CGHS. There will be a separate pay commission for IPL players to be headed by none other than Lalit Modi. Their ACRs will be written by BCCI and they will retire at the age of 58 unless government decides to increase it to 65. All cricketers who will retire from IPL will be eligible for a pension.

Te orders to increase bid prices of players will be in this format. In suppression of this Department's O.M. of even number dated 12th April , 2010, the undersigned is directed to say that it has been further clarified by Establishement (D) section of this Department that DR Assistant /DR Grade 'C' Cricketers who have got Non- Functional grade (NFG) in the grade pay of Rs. 40000000/ - would only be entitled for 3rd financial upgradation in the immediate higher grade pay of Rs. 50000000/- on completion of 10 years of continuous service(to be in the playing eleven) or on completion of 5 years stagnation(to be on the bench helping in providing drink or towels) in a single grade pay, whichever is earlier. No further financial upgradation would be admissible to such cricketers.

Crazy but this is India, the oldest and the most pragmatic civilization in this world

A lazy bunch called Journalists

Journalists are like sitting ducks. Not because they are prone to attacks and have no defense but this is connoted in a different way. They sit like ducks in their offices and look for gossips of film personalities or Page Three crowds. I have seldom seen journalists getting back to their basics – reporting. In an era where news comes in capsules and bytes, journalists say they give news that people want. But that is wrong. People get what journalists offers. If they don’t have anything to offer, readers are not going to complain. They have no mechanism to file a complaint against a newspaper for not reporting the news they want.
We are in a period where RTI to right to recall is getting implemented. But media is a sector that has been aloof from all these regulations. How can a viewer or a reader file a complaint against a newspaper or a TV channel for reporting stories that they are least interested in? For example, what will a Hindi migrant of Chennai has to do with live telecast of a minor rainfall in Gurgaon – which could be breaking news in Aaj Tak? How on earth can he communicate to the channel authorities that he wants to see national news and not regional news.
Newspaper barons have stopped asking journalists to travel for hard news. Television channels have put local video camera owners (mostly covering marriages and other social functions) to act as their local henchmen in moffusil places. This has turned to be a boon for journalists who need not take their bumps from their revolving chair to anywhere except perhaps their dwelling place. This saves a lot of money for newspaper owners. But in bargain what they get is amateur news and unprofessional journalism.
The focus today is to see what film stars are indulging while totally ignoring whether a family starves in a far flung place because of government apathy or negligence on part of local officials. They reach only those places where Rahul Gandhi dines with a poor family and them make those families a national heritage. There are millions of other starving families with whom Gandhis have not dined with and is suffering just because there are no checks and balances in the system, a role media is duty bound to investigate and report.
It doesn’t matter to millions of Indians if N D Tiwari, at the fag end of his life, is sexually active or if Amar Singh fires his salvo from Dubai to his mentor at Etawah. The poor in India have no regrets if they are offered Bt. Brinjals. What they need is a morsel whether it is genetically modified or not is irrelevant.
For one Ruchika, hundreds gathered with candles just because media highlighted how the perpetrator, DGP Rathore got away with a mild sentence. There are hundreds and thousands of Ruchikas all over the country where their Rathores are roaming free and preying on the future Ruchikas.
In my 16 years of journalism, I have spent 13 years traveling all across the country for news. I had to record my bytes for radio, have photographs of the subjects and then write stories describing minute details of the subject. So I had no option but to travel since I was reporting to print, radio and photo journalism mediums. Since the last three years, my travel is limited to some towns where I reach the nearest place by air, take a taxi or have a friend with me and travel comfortably by car. But the charm of reporting on rickety buses, staying in badly maintained hotels, using Sulabh toilets, sleeping on railway platform benches and trekking for stories is not there in the fast reporting that I do now. But I save money and so I have become lazy. One among the lazy bunch of journalist tribes that we have in India.

Instead, if, but and irony of Gujarat

Ishrat, Pranesh, Sohrabuddin, Javed, Vanzara, Amin, Kaushik, Pandey, Pratap Save, Kausar Bi, Tulsiram Prajapati, Latif are some of the few names that the state of Gujarat is dazzling now a days.

Instead, it should have actually dealt with groundnut, cotton, soybean, power, castor seed, Kesar, Chilli, Cumin Seeds, Isabgol and a host of globally traded commodities.

It is an irony that the entire state machinery is in a fire fighting exercise, the largest ever by a state, to save its face from an imminent backlash in the electoral fray by the people.

Instead it should have concentrated on farmers who are struggling to find ways to tackle drought and floods and help them sow the seeds of progress. Farmers, being good entrepreneurs, are smart enough to understand their future without the help of government, a big relief for the government.

It is very unfortunate that a major part of the expenses spent today are on Public Prosecutors and court fee. Most of the time that the ministers spend out of their official places is to make sure that the government does not get another slap in its face, to ensure that the assembly elections do not prove to be a dampener for the ruling party.

Instead they should have been in their respective constituencies. Since the last parliamentary elections, no political leaders have cared to visit their constituency. With by-elections due, they are bound to visit.

It is sad that the investment Bull Run in the state has also come down. Once upon a time an industrialist named Ratan Tata said “You are stupid if you are not (investing) here (in Gujarat)”. But that was for procuring one of the most agriculturally fertile land for his Nano project. The state needs no vibrant meetings to get people investing here. This is a natural place to invest with or without Ratan Tata saying this.

Instead, the government should not have given up so much for a car project. There are much larger projects in the state and ignoring them was a big mistake.

It is sad that the state economy is still in its production hibernation. It has not been able to convert itself or progress towards service economy. That is the reason why Sam Pitroda said “When it comes to Gujarat, one only thinks it to be an ideal place for business to flourish and it is this perception that needs to be changed. The state lacks in a talent pool that is required to bring about a change in the way people look at the state."

Instead, the state should have encouraged more companies to invest not by holding Vibrant Gujarat extravaganzas but building infrastructure for the service economy to grow.

It is unfortunate that the police officers sold their conscience to get out of turn promotions and some of them landed in jail. They forgot the entire vulnerable population of the state and went all out to protect one person.

Instead, they should have shown courage to tackle law and order problems and getting the state out of the current mess. They should have saved the people of Gujarat from being branded as fundamentalists whereas they are the most peace loving community in the country. They should have shown that policing is not about numbers but psychology.

It is also sad that at the fag end of the political career of the state’s CM, one cottage industry that is going to die down is that of NGOs. With no one to protest, no human rights violations, no fake encounters, what are they going to do?

Instead, they should have concentrated on building a modern, humane, progressive, highly skilled Gujarat, not to make it ‘some other place’ as Veerappa Moily pointed out. Now since this has not happened so far, we cannot expect any miracle now.

BJP's reverse journey of a thousand miles began with a defeat

Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. This phrase, according to The Phrase Finder, originated as a quotation by John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton, first Baron Acton (1834–1902). The historian and moralist expressed this opinion in a letter to Bishop Mandell Creighton in 1887: "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men."
The Phrase Finder goes on to quote another English politician - William Pitt, the Elder, The Earl of Chatham and British Prime Minister from 1766 to 1778, who is wrongly attributed as the source. He did say something similar, in a speech to the UK House of Lords in 1770: "Unlimited power is apt to corrupt the minds of those who possess it"
Now, I have coined a new phrase which you may not find anywhere else other than this blog. “When in power BJP’s bear markets had no support and when out of power, its bull markets have no resistance.”
Those who are in the investing markets will fathom this faster than those who are not or in other words BJP will understand this faster than Congress. BJP, as a party, has no choice now but to split. A vertical split will destroy the party forever. A horizontal split will put the party into a greater dilemma. But it has to split and the beginning of this split has already begun.
The split will be between those who believe in a rabid politics and those who believe in progressive method but without diluting the party ideology. Many may say people like Narendra Modi will go to the rabid political arena if given a chance to choose. I would rather say they will support the progressive section, may be out of compulsion or out of necessity. The only way that the current BJP or a split BJP can survive in Indian politics is to shed its image as a rabid party, not as a right wing fundamentalist party. The party is already brimming with two sections of people. One with a bucketful of oil and the other with a bucket of water. Oil and water cannot mix together and so the party has to bear the painful partition sooner or later.
For BJP, the real struggle is to find a leader with national acceptance. Rajnath Singh, the current president, has little knowledge outside UP, where he belongs to. Any other leaders like Arun Jaitely or Bal Apte(the person who could be the dark horse for BJP Presidentship) or for that matter Murli Manohar Joshi or Sushma Swaraj cannot even gather a crowd of a thousand by their aura. They stand no chance in front of a huge personality that Congress is cultivating in the form of Rahul Gandhi.
No, I did not forget to mention Narendra Modi here. Rather, he has no chance of getting into national politics and therefore his mention is not warranted. His golden touch is over even in Gujarat. His panic reaction to Jaswant Singh’s book by banning it without even reading it is a classic example of how unsecured he has become. He judged the book by its cover. All his legislators and district party chiefs are just waiting for the right moment to catapult a rebellion against him. And this rebellion could be the father of all rebellions. The real architect of rebellion, Shankarsinh Waghela, will be put to shame by this revolt. September 2009, therefore, is crucial for him as the results of the by-elections in Gujarat will seal his fate.
As Jaswant Singh said, Sardar Patel, was not a Sangh guy. He was in fact against the RSS. But see the irony of BJP that it has to put Sardar in the same category as their ideologues because Patels in Gujarat is a huge force and you just cannot antagonize them. But the damage is already done and it is not by Jaswant Singh but by Modi himself.
Recent violence between Rabaris and Patels in Ahmedabad is an indicator to the social unrest Gujarat is facing. These two are not the oppressed communities but influential ones. Two major sections, Dalits and Tribals, are waiting to implode. It is just a matter of time that they recoup and reenergize themselves because they are oppressed class and cannot react the way Rabaris or Patels did.
A chain is only as strong as its weakest link, so goes the saying. Gujarat’s strong link for the party was the promises and development plank that Modi promised to his ‘subjects’. But this has become its weakest link and is thoroughly exposed now. Modi was trying to teach the Gujarati entrepreneurs how to do business as if they had no idea about it. It fell flat. Familiarity breeds contempt and Modi’s foot soldiers, district chiefs and local leader and others responsible for reach out to masses, are thoroughly disappointed on being “treated like a dirt.” But Modi will take the solace from the saying that great men are almost always bad men
For Modi’s detractors, more inside his regime than those who revolted, this is a golden chance for revenge. And in politics, revenge is a dish best served cold. With SIT sitting right in front of CM residence and Supreme Court on the backyard of it, there are many who says the political days of the Hindu Hriday Samrat are numbered. Having said this, you cannot rule out the possibility of people like Modi boomeranging from nowhere to the centre of gravity. Remember the proverb, he who laughs last laughs longest.

Why the hell Mughals built Taj Mahals?

Mughals are the pioneers of architecture in India but they don’t have a roof over their head now. What a pity for the former emperors of India? As I read this morning about how the descendants of India's last Mughal emperor, Bahadur Shah Zafar, were rescued from a life of penury in Kolkata, I recollected my trip to five generations above this lady who was rescued and given a job at a government run PSU.

Bahadur Shah Zafar is the son of Aurungzeb who chose to live and die in penury. But it is a pity that the Mughal dynasty ensure their descendants live in poverty unknown and unnoticed. All the monuments they built are government properties. The only mistake they did was they built monuments that defied wisdom. They were great wonders that made the governments take it over and open it to public for a fee. Taj Mahal is just one among them.

Read Maharashtra Diary on Aurungzeb here

I have not seen the lady in question, Madhu, the illiterate great-great-granddaughter of emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar. But I have seen the place where her great-great-grandfather spent his last days. I reached Ahmednagar to visit the place where Aurungzeb lived his last two years virtually in self-imposed penury. Aurungzeb is not my hero or the role model that I follow on Twitter, Facebook or Orkut. But my interest to learn about him was because he is the first person recorded in history who abolished taxes on commodities and inland transport duties. In today’s language, you can put this as abolition of Octroi and Commodity Transaction Tax.

Born as Mohyuddin Muhammad Aurangzeb on October 24, 1618, as the third son of Shah Jahan and Mumtaz, his aura and status is robbed by today’s generation. In Maharashtra and elsewhere he is displayed as a butcher who tried to destabilise India. Today’s political thugs know that there was no concept of India during those times and what Aurungzeb did was to unite the country ruled by innumerable kings, Rajputs and Peshwas. But if they reveal this truth, their political game of religious animosity and regional chauvinism will end.

Very few also have interest to know about his descendants. Why should they? When his own community fellows have not respected him, why should the people from ‘other side’ give him any due? In Ahmednagar the first thing I noticed was a bill board. ‘Alamgir Chicken, Mutton, Fish and Biriyani’, read the board of a small restaurant bang opposite the darghah which is a Madrassa now. For your information Alamgir is none other than Aurungzeb himself.

As far as I know, Aurangzeb was not selling chicken. Though he was a humble man, he deserves much more than the shabby place and unplanned concrete structure that the local Muslim organisations are building all around the dargah.