Mouthpiece

Get well soon…. i know you’re ill…

So the Chargers win the IPL2 in a great final. The closing ceremony was a treat to the eyes. I’m amazed – Lalit Modi got Akon to perform in the function, although i’m not quite sure if Akon even knows what a ‘wide ball’ is.

Now there’s a vacuum. A big question mark will loom large on my evening schedule from now on. I’ll have to choose from exceedingly distraught options like : 1. Watching political debates on ndtv(which nowadays all seem like repeat telecasts(although they’re NOT!!)) 2. Studying(when you consume wholesome dinners with desserts afterwards, studying thereafter is like performing magic) 3. Orkutting and chatting(guess what, orkut is boring these days!) 4. Okay… i’ll have to watch some movies on star movies or HBO(guess what again, they have subtitles these days!!! :-D ) 

I’ve written this with a risk of facing Ashish’s wrath….he told me to do something which i haven’t done yet…

KKR are defying the rules of T20 cricket. On normal days, it’s a rule and not an exception that anyone can beat anyone. Except, now we know, KKR cannot beat anybody. The Chargers pulled off a stunner last night against KKR. I support KKR. SRK should look forward to IPL-2010 now.

By the way, UPA registered a thumping victory in general elections. Congress won from Ambala as well as Aurangabad. Good. There was a joke that no matter which election it is, Paswan will be the Union Minister. This time, the joke got aborted. Another joke that no matter who comes to power in 2009, Ramadoss will be the Health Minister. Well. Joke Aborted 2.

I’ve seen a lot of TV in the past twenty-four hours, mostly NDTV 24×7. One can’t help but notice how much telly-time is dedicated to the election campaign. The TV people are constantly talking about how everyone wants to woo Nitish Kumar, except Lalu Yadav maybe. How Nitish Kumar and Modi have done great work in their states  and how the Indian urban-middle class is growing afraid of both HINI virus and Mayawati, though there’s hardly any chance that any of these will get hold of them any sooner. 

And then there’s Varun Gandhi. I am flabbergasted by the way he’s rising in his stature, no matter how blemished and negative it is. There’s a case in point that BJP is inept at handling the humongous Republic of India because its bosses try to sell hatred. It’s Maha ally Shiv Sena is a professional in ousting outsiders, hating anything not Maratha. It’s Gujarat wing commander sculpted a dead albatross around our history’s neck. And no missing the RSS and VHP which have failed to impress even Hindus for which they (allegedly) stand. All this because they sell hatred.

While Congress, on the other hand, is an ideological khichdi. Although i don’t mind its dynastic commissioning, but that doesn’t take away the brickbats it deserves for opportunism and inaction. This is an era of coalition politics, no problem, but let this not take the load off the politicians’ shoulders.

Intelligentsia across the media repeatedly underline the fact that these politicians are chosen by the people, implying don’t blame them, blame yourself. The whole system is a failure. Indian democracy is a tandav, participated in by criminals and millionaires. Once in a while someone like Manmohan Singh shines on the horizon, only to be eclipsed by Left-over clouds or raging Hindutva tornadoes.

Governance in India inspires no hope. Everything in India that we’re proud of is either natural, ingenuous or else, private! The governance and bureaucracy is like an ailing elephant, which eats a lot and delivers only shit. And, as The Economist puts it – let’s just let the elephant lumber on!

India needs a leader. But because people get the leader they deserve, India needs its people. India needs to stand erect, until then we’ll have to make do with its electile dysfunction(coined by Bachi Karkaria).

This will be my last blog entry from Aurangabad for a while, for i’m going home tomorrow! Yay! It’s good that i’m going hoime because ‘gangrene was starting to set in’.

It was getting hopeless here. The other things that have deprived themselves of any shred of hope that they will get better with time are :

KKR

Varun Gandhi and Raj Thakre

Subhash Ghai

Our librarian

Erm… Mayawati and Amma too

National Treasure movies

Taarak Mehta ka Ooltah Chasma

Govinda

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Anyway. Last night i was sorting out the mess that my room is, and discovered great pix :

27th December, 2007

 

Ashish and me. Bhangraoing at various places.

Okay…there may not be greying hair and decaying teeth.

But fuller faces and bulging shirts are for all to see.

Dearest are the ones with whom you grow old,

with smiles that broaden with every year year that passes by

together.