Rahman, Rasool and Gulzar puts India on the Oscar map...

It was a spectacular show at the Oscars on Monday. There is no doubt that the Indian trio deserve the Oscar. Slowly, but surely India is making its presence felt in sports and entertainment. Jai ho..................

Wanted: Fraudsters and criminals!!!

The drum beats are getting louder for the next general elections in India, and so is the search for suitable candidates. As always, one would expect more film stars and cricketers to take the plunge. Still, I am dismayed by the level to which the saviours of Indian masses could plunge to. It seems that being infamous, notorious, corrupt, criminal is a pre-requisite and being a convict is an added qualification.

 We are used to the spectacle of bandits and hardcore criminals going on to become MPs and MLAs, and the vice versa. So may I should not be surprised to see the likes of Sanjay Dutt and Mohammad Azharuddeen preaching samaj seva and gandhigiri. After all, more would follow....

AMMA at Kozhikode on Feb 14th and 15th

We Kozhikodans had the good fortune to have the universal AMMA, Mata Amritanandamayi, among us on the Feb 14^th. I spent the day at the Ashramam at Vellimadukunnu, at the lotus feet of beloved AMMA.

 AMMA urged us to re-kindle the flame of universal love and brotherhood and pass on the values to the youth and the children. One of the many stories and anecdotes that AMMA used in her speech is about the change in our own family and home values. During her childhood, houses in her village used to greet the guests with a message that read, “athithi devo bhava”. Later it gave way to “swagatham”, which is still okay. But, what do we see now? Most of the houses have a message that reads, “beware of dogs”. This is reflective of the change in the social, domestic and mental situation in the society. We have created a system where we can no longer welcome a stranger into our home without being sceptical about him/her. We have shut ourselves behind the closed doors, mentally and physically, making our society more and more insecure and intolerant.

 Likewise, AMMA talked about many aspects of daily life where each and every individual and family can make a change, resulting in the overall benefit of the society. Hope the peace and solace that one gets in AMMA’s embrace will spill over to the society and the world.....

Magical Murali- The record wicket taker

The Indian cricket fans are having an incredibly good time with the men in blue doing exceedingly well in the recent past. The ongoing series in Sri Lanka has been a rather one sided affair with India out playing the hosts in every aspects of the game.

 Still, I have been awed by the performances of two Sri Lankan players, Sanath Jayasurya and Muthiah Muraleedharan. Jayasurya is the best fielder in the Sri Lankan side in this series so far and his batting is as magnificent as always. And the wily off spinner Murali has overcome all the obstacles and achieved what I view as the equivalent of Sachin’s exploits as a batsman. Right through his long career, Murali has had to prove himself to those lesser mortals who kept coming up with all sorts of ridiculous accusations. In doing so Murali has displayed tremendous character and resolve much like the Maharaja of Kolkata, Saurav Ganguly who was also under the scanner throughout his outstanding career. The players like Jayasurya, Scahin, Saurav and Murali took the gentle man’s game to an altogether different class, with lesser players and teams left far behind. 

Cheers to Murali...

26th January 2009

Another occasion to renew the vows, do away with the prejudices, focus on the dreams and the goals at hand. Let the day inspire us. Happy Republic Day

Kerala – playing with fire

The Mallu society has always been a very fascinating and unique collage of social trends and attitudes. The much acclaimed ‘Kerala model’ is well documented, though, I feel not enough follow up studies have been published or acknowledged concerning the same. The social scene has changed radically over the last two decades and I feel that the communist parties and especially the CPI(M) reflects the transition most obviously.

 From being the epitome of the dreams and aspirations of the poorest in this society, the party has come a long way to being a major stake holder in the commercial and business arena of the state. More alarming is the fast decline in the moral and ethical values of the party. The immediate provocation for voicing such a strong opinion is the stand taken by the party regarding the CBI probe of Lavlin case. The state supremo of CPI(M) being accused of corruption is a shock in itself. Even more disappointing is the ambiguity in the party’s official position regarding the issue. The onus is on the CBI to prove the charges, and Pinarayi Vijayan is to be perceived as innocent until unless pronounced guilty by a court. Still, the party has to show the courage and vision to at least keep the accused away from party responsibilities until the case comes to its logical conclusion. The least one can expect is for the party and its leaders to desist from confronting the CBI and pronouncing the verdict by themselves.  

Sadly, the party, until this moment, has chosen to toe a political and public posture which is pretty much identical to the infamous one adopted by the Church in Abhaya case. As an ordinary citizen, I am bewildered at the attempts of the all powerful establishments to discredit the law enforcement agencies of this land. There have been numerous incidents of people arrested by the police being rescued by their political masters using brute force from the lockups and police stations in Kerala.

 In the quest to conquer and possess, these organizations are setting a very bad example. Kerala has to get its act together before the social and moral degradation eats away the legacy of the Kerala Model.

Politics of greed....

Since the time when Indira Gandhi invented various innovative and not-so-pious means to remain the all powerful Godess that she was made out to be, Indian politics has been transformed forever. Over the decades, the politicians have increasingly become more corrupt, more ingenious and more shameless. The politics of aayarams and gayarams have become the order of the day.

 The upcoming general election has once again set the stage for jumping the fence and political poaching, Kalyan Singh being the latest in the list. This is not the first time that the erstwhile UP Chief Minister has left the BJP. What makes the event even more bizarre this time around is the fact that the SP and the UPA is willing to accommodate the veteran politician. The SP has given the ticket to Kalyan Singh’s son for the upcoming elections. The fact that Kalyan Singh is the person who supervised the karseva leading to the Babri Masjid demolition, by virtue of being the UP Chief Minister at the time, does not deter the apostles of secularism from forging political ties with the man.

 Some months ago, during the Karnataka elections, Maragaret Alwa, a senior Congress leader who is now out of the party, had raised the bogey of dissent against the unfair manner of seat distribution. She was provoked by the denial of candidacy to her son.

 On the other hand, we have a the Punjab Chief Minister making history by appointing his son as the deputy Chief Minister of the state. Dynasty politics is nothing new to us. We Indians love to be ruled by the illiterate ‘leaders’ filling in for the actual leader, who is kept out of  power due to legal proceedings in civil and criminal cases that usually drags on for decades. We have bestowed the leadership of our grand old party upon the Nehru dynasty. Still, the politicians are becoming increasingly greedy and shameless in their pursuit of absolute power.