Think of Yudhishtir and B+

As a child whenever I complained about somebody from school, neighbourhood or the family, my mother would remind me of a story from Mahabharata.  Duryodhan asks Krishna, why is Yudhishthir called  Dharamaraj (I completely disagree personally, for me he was a bigger villain than Duryodhan)?  Like Bigg Boss, Krishna gave Yudhishthir and Duryodhan a task to perform. Duryodhan had to make a list of all the good people in Hastinapur while Yudhishthir had to list all the bad people. In the evening both of them had nothing written on their papers. When asked, Duryodhan couldn’t find anybody good and Yudhishthir couldn’t  find anything wrong with any one. Those days I would tell mum that the reason behind the empty lists was that both of them were too lazy to find out just to get her out of her preachy mode. After watching all the breaking news and reports in the last week, I was in a Duryodhan mode. Last night Maharaj Yudhishthir visited me in my dreams and that changed me and my outlook both.

I couldn’t see the halo behind Abu Azmi’s head till he was attacked by Raj Thackeray’s angels in the Vidhan Sabha(Police commissioner Ronald Mendonca in an affidavit submitted to Mumbai high court in 1997 had said that Abu Asim Azmi is “in close association with Dawood Ibrahim, as per police records). As Azmi continued reading his oath in Hindi despite being  pushed and slapped by the Marathi saviours,  I could picture Bhagat Singh shouting slogans against the Britishers in my head (Rang de basanti style). What a sacrifice for our national language and the North Indians! All Indians will be eternally debted to Amar Singh for gifting  a jewel like Abu Azmi to India. After appreciating the goodness of Azmi, my  problem was – how would  Yudhisthir see goodness in Raj Thackeray and his supporters (goons is unparliamentary). A bright light filled the room and my eyes opened. In a typical mythological serial style, Maharaj Yudhisthir’s soul came to my rescue. Raj Thackeray was forcing Azmi to speak in Marathi  for the farmers committing suicide in Vidharbha and the power scarcity and traffic problems of amchi Mumbai.  Raj is basically a non violent person like his illustrious uncle. Remember 26/11/08, he, his MNS or people from his clan didn’t raise a voice, what to say of a lathi or a fist against even the dreaded terrorists.  I am sure some Sadhu maharaj freshly descended from the hills of Himalayas has given him this solution- If all the North Indians in Maharashtra converse in Hindi, Maharashtra would be free of all natural and man made calamities (I am not sure which category Raj Thackeray falls in). It is the duty of everybody living in Maharashtra to speak in Marathi so that Mumbai becomes Shanghai after overcoming all it’s problems. Please forgive me if I have used the word Bombay instead of the sacred Mumbai anywhere in the post.

It is only the point of view that makes a person, a villain or a hero. We criticize Manu Sharma for killing Jessica Lal but we close our eyes to the son who is out on parole to serve his ailing mother. There must be a reason for his visit to the pub. It is possible that he went there because his mother’s doctor was a regular visitor to that particular pub and Manu went there to see him as a dutiful son. Think positive and you will see the goodness in him.  While I am trying to find out the goodness in the villainous  Ravan like laughter of the Reddy brothers of Karnataka, please share with us  any such story where people and the media are maligning our fellow brothers and sisters and ignoring their positives. It would be a great service to the great Indian gambler, Dharamaraj alias Yudhishthir.

Madhu Koda Knows, Not Easy To Make Money..

We,  the people of India seem to have forgotten the gospel truth that  if you owe $100 to a bank, they will sue you, but if you owe $100 million, they will make you a director of the bank. Former Jharkhand chief minister Madhu Koda’s residence in Ranchi was sealed amid allegations that he amassed illegal assets worth crores. The IT department (most honest govt department according to some), which was probing a disproportionate assets charge against Madhu Koda, conducted raids in eight Indian cities at 70 places of the former chief minister and his associates. Documents relating to illegal transaction of Rs.2,000 crore were recovered from his house.The electronic and print media is demonizing him day and night.

When I heard that Income tax  officials allegedly seized four rupee counting machines in his house I was touched. Imagine all the hard work he had put in to earn these crores. How can we  expect politicians to work for the people after forcing them to spend so much time collecting, counting, converting and investing cash. He could have been saved all the effort of counting notes if all the cash would have been deposited in his mines, hotels and other assets directly. Koda had to make trips to foreign countries while he was the mines and geology department minister. He had visited Liberia, Bangkok and Dubai. Munda, the then CM instead of feeling sorry that he didn’t provide opportunities to invest black money in India complained that he went without informing him as per the protocol.  If it wasn’t a state visit Koda must have spend his own money. Where in India will you find such honest politicians where not only the ministers but their families also travel on govt expense. How many people is he suppose to inform, his father , mother, wife and  Munda also expected to be a part of the list as a bos! Madhu koda  is an adult and should be treated like one. On top of that he suffered  jet lags, ate hotel food, missed mum and dad during that period and his opponents accuse him of money laundering. I am sure the gall bladder stones for which he was operated upon were the result of all that bahar ka khana. Poor man, he is still in the hospital due to that. I trust  Rasika Koda (Madhu Koda’s father)  when he says that “Madhu is a simple human being like me. His character is clean, My son is paying the price for being one of the most popular chief ministers and tribal leaders the state has ever produced.” A son who had invited  his father to stay with him in his plush official bungalow after becoming the Chief Minister cannot do anything wrong. As  the politician who wears khadi  cannot waste public money, same way  a person who loves his parents cannot do anything  wrong (Kabir Das would certainly have written a doha on the topic if someone like Koda existed in his time).

There is a specific qualification required for different professions. In most countries people with excellent extortion and corruption skills are fit to join the underworld,  in India they are drawn to politics. It is not that an engineer is being asked to perform a brain surgery! Madhu Koda’s  assets grew from Rs 35 lakh in 2004 to over Rs 30 crore in 2009 as per his own declaration to the Election Commission. What better example do you need of India Shining ? The costliest advertisements by the govt couldn’t have proved the progress made by India and Indians in a more convincing way. We are proud to say that we are the largest democracy of the world but forget that democracy  is  expensive.  It takes huge sums of money to get elected to public office. How do we expect the poor Kodas of India to get elected if they don’t earn? A politician  is  “honest” if he takes money and delivers the promised goods. A “dishonest” one is he who takes the money but does not come through! This should be the basis of judging Madhu Koda, any other way would be unfair.

Kindly open your heart, I just saw Mr Koda’s picture with his wife in the Hindustan times, with a white and red cap adorning his head, he seems to be such a family man. The picture is able to make the women of India emotional. It is not that the poor man has taken his oath in Maharashtra assembly in Hindi or refused to sing Vande Matram, all he did was made some money which is his right as a politician. Imagine the number of people who will motivated to become politicians after hearing his rags to riches story. There are role models required, the Mayawatis, Jayalalithas and Lalus of the country are not enough to inspire the poor of the country. Let us all pray that conditions outside the hospital are soon conducive enough for him to recover from his illness and his counting machines are again put to use.

The Airtel Delhi Half Marathon

Both my daughters ran the Great Delhi Run today. I was quite surprised when they had registered for it, and the day came quicker than I had anticipated. It was a 7 km route in the Chanakya Puri area, and they both finished well within the 2 hour time limit. It was special for me as a mother because I love it when my daughters go out and do things together. Coincidentally, they were both running with injuries – so they actually walked most of the way. I am happy that they completed it.

The weather was perfect, in fact if the event had taken place even a week ago it wouldn’t have been so much fun for the participants. I followed the event on TV and at least on the TV it seemed well organized and the participants and the on lookers seemed pretty well behaved. The aerial view of the marathon made me really proud of Delhi, the city looked lush green. Chidambaram should be a happy man now, his request to the citizens of Delhi to behave during the Common Wealth Games seems to have worked. I didn’t see much of pushing and shoving that Delhi is so famous for.  Delhi ’s chances of  putting up a good show during Commonwealth Games next October seem to be improving now. Only a month ago the pessimists had declared that Delhi is not capable of hosting an event like that.

I was greatly motivated to be a part of it myself. Unfortunately my fitness would not have allowed it at all this year but I have resolved to train and be ready for it next year. I think it is a wonderful thing for our city to have an event such as this, and a great opportunity for NGOs, charities and individuals to run for a cause. I hope all the incoming resources are channelized well and that this event proves to have been a success in every way.