MJ...Rest in Peace

On a cold, rainy Friday morning, the television stunned me with the shocking news about Michael Jackson’s demise. The super star who touched the lives of millions around the world with his music and charisma left the stage for hopefully a better one.

While I was a student, my trips from my home at Ernakulam to the college at Malappuram often had a detour at the cultural capital of Kerala, Thrissur. I used to go to Ragam theatre at Thrissur with my friends and watch such hit films like Jurassic Park and World is Not Enough. Ragam had a great DTS sound system and as DTS was still fairly new in Kerala, we enjoyed the films even more. It is in the darkened cinema hall that I fell in love with MJ’s music. In those days Ragam used to play MJ’s tracks before the start of every show and this was enough of an attraction for me. Most memorable among them was the Earth Song which took me to another world just like millions across the globe who listened to it. What a divine experience it was....

Thank you MJ for the everlasting music. I can only wish that he finally finds peace and happiness in his new stage, wherever it is.

Saina makes India proud

While a billion hearts were broken when Dhoni’s men crashed out of the ICC T20 world cup, Saina Nehwal has made a pioneering achievement by winning the Indonesian Open Badminton Championship. Even as the nation continues to eat, drink and sleep cricket, our sportsmen do excel in other games like Chess, Shooting, Boxing, Badminton,  Snooker etc. These brave hearts manage to do so on their own without any significant support from the government, authorities or even from the general public. Sadly, it is only after they win such prestigious events that we take notice of them.

 Well done Sina.

T20 World Cup

Congratulations are on order for the ICC T20 champions Pakistan. This win has come at a crucial time for Pakistani nation as such and I hope the happiness and joy that comes along with this success will last for a long time for them. Sri Lanka has also been a war torn nation for so long. Their cricketers too deserve special praise for the strength and resiliency that they have shown in the most trying times. Perhaps it is poetic justice that the two teams which came in the firing line of the terrorists came together in the finals of the World Championship and entertained the whole world.

 Well done neighbours...

Hope the UPA government will get it right.

With the new government in place at New Delhi, the business of running an administration in the country has again gotten underway in full swing. The union and railway budgets slated to be presented in the parliament next month would give us clear signals of what this government’s programmes and plans are.

 I would like to see the government take effective and sustainable measures to bring down the prices of daily items. While the inflation has come down to near zero levels, the prices of food, vegetables and other daily use materials are still very much on the higher side. The prices of some of the materials like the sugar are still rising at an alarming rate. In spite of having high stocks available with the FCI, the common man is not getting the benefit. The Murli Manohar Joshi Committee’s report, cautioning against the FDI and Indian corporate investments in retail sector should be given due consideration.

 Unfortunately, the petroleum minister is again harping on increasing the fuel prices. Every time he makes an announcement about impending changes in the price regime, the retailers start hoarding or cutting down on stock intake depending upon the direction in which the changes are expected. And another hike in the fuel prices will trigger fresh round of price rise.

 Also, the government must be seen as serious about getting the banks to lower the interest rates. It is unfortunate that even after the Finance Minister and the RBI sending out clear signals, the banks have failed to reduce the interest rates. More worrying is the fact that the banks are still very much reluctant to allocate fresh loans to the customers. Ensuring the availability of funds is vital to get the economy back on track.

 The UPA must remember that the fresh mandate is more in favour of a stable polity than an endorsement of its track record. Unlike in the previous government, this time around the Congress cannot blame its allies for all that goes wrong. The UPA must get it right in the upcoming budget.

The BJP’s dilemma..

The setback that the party and the NDA got in the elections has challenged the BJP to come up with a credible plan of action for the future. Of course, this requires the party to introspect and correct all factors that may have contributed to this humiliating defeat.

The party has to think about the future. In the next five years, it will be facing a resurgent Congress led by a charming Rahul Gandhi. The BJP has to make up its mind on the leadership issue and the ideological issue. While the debate on Hindutva is desirable and even necessary for the Indian polity, the party has to wrest back the initiative from the belligerent media and the political adversaries. More often than not, the BJP is forced on the defensive on the issue. It is about time the party came up with a clear cut definition of Hindutva and set an agenda on the same.

 For millions like me, Hindutva is not only about building a Ram temple at Ayodhya or countering the real or perceived attacks made on the Hindu brethren. These are only symbolic gestures at best. What we yearn for is a nation which is proud of its history, which makes use of the rich heritage and knowledge that this history has bestowed upon it and a nation that epitomises the all inclusive Hindu culture. Many of us support the BJP because we believe a rightist party has got a crucial role to play in the Indian political scene. One cannot just wish away the significance of a rightist political party in an essentially conservative society like India. So, the BJP has to get its act right and gear up to play its part effectively. The election results indicate that the voter wants to see a stable government in which the regional parties and the Left would have only a minimal role. The nation wants the Congress and the BJP to be the two stabilising and constructive pillars of Indian politics.

 It is natural that a defeat will cause some disharmony in any party. One has to keep in mind that the Congress is under a dynastic rule. As long as there is a member of Nehru dynasty actively involved in the party, they won’t have any leadership struggle. It is another matter whether this feudalistic system is fitting for the largest party in the world’s largest democracy.

 In BJP and the Left, there will always be scope for leadership struggle as virtually anyone in these parties could aim for the top post.

 I would like a stronger and wiser BJP to emerge from healthy, constructive debate and competition taking place within the party forums. For, the country needs a strong and responsible opposition as much as it needs a stable and sensible government.

Mind your language..the child can read..

Over the years, public life has seen a drastic decline in terms of standards and practices. The atmosphere has often been contaminated by vicious and repulsive language and sound bites. In today’s era of 24 hour news channels and readership touting news paper, this has become all the more louder and vicious.

In the last two decades Kerala has seen more than its fair share of verbal contamination. The Congress factional feud with ‘the Leader’ on one side and the rest on the other contributed a lot to this. The ascendancy of K.Muraleedharan in the party raised the decibel levels by a few notches. The expulsion of some senior leaders like Gowriamma and M.V.Raghavan made sure that the Communists too contributed, though in a much lesser quantity. Back then, the red brigade was more inclined to action than rhetoric. The 1990s also saw an escalation in exchanges among the literary icons and the socio-cultural elite in the state. The squabbles among noted writers and thinkers often grabbed the limelight from the polity.

 In the new millennium, the scene got elevated to a new level. We have become a society that likes to argue, argue and keep arguing. The state has not seen even a single meaningful debate that has contributed to any improvement in the lives of the common man. Almost all spheres of life in mallu land, right from the film field, literature, culture, arts, caste and religion, media, beurocracy, judiciary, administration, law and order, education and of course politics, are immersed in fierce and vicious arguments and struggles. The discourse has increasingly incorporated physical violence and attacks on the homes and family of the involved personalities.

 

The current LDF leadership has contributed quite a few gems to the art of swearing. We have ministers who specialise in making at least one uncivilised comment a week. Other leaders have also been enthusiastic in conferring even the revered religious leaders and respected personalities with derogatory adjectives. The view that many of the literary and socio-cultural luminaries in the state have become pawns in the hands of the CPI(M) has gained credence over the last five years.

 Now, we have the ill-fate to witness the veteran orator and respected teacher Sukumar Azhikode stooping to the level of the rogue-next-street in his public discourses.

 I still remember the excitement and awe that I had when I watched the gifted orator in the early 90s at a function in my brother’s school. Though I was too young to grasp the bulk of his discourse, I was struck by the logic and force fullness of his soft, unoffending language.

 I am deeply saddened by the change in his tone and vocabulary. In a democracy, meaningful and constructive debate is an absolute necessity and everyone has the right to express their opinion. But, these need to be done in a mutually respectful manner. The lack of respect for everyone while seeking respect for oneself is the bane of Malayali psyche.

 As a small child I was impatient when I watched my brother read the newspapers. I often asked him to read the articles loudly so that I could at least listen to it. Often we used to have a good fight when he put on a show by refusing to read aloud.As a result, I became impatient to learn how to read and as soon as I had mastered the art from my kind teachers, a new routine started. This time the fight was about who got the news paper first.

 These are common happenings in almost all the Malayali families since we are a society addicted to news papers. I can only feel sorry about the children who would have started reading the news paper in recent times.For all the child would come across is poisonous vocabulary, foul language and non-constructive, self serving and never ending  argument.