The Bigger Threat, Fanatics Or Vote Bank Politics?

I loved getting up late as a young girl and like  parents of  all good girls my parents never approved of it and conveyed it to me nearly every day. The best excuse I could come up was, the moment I open my eyes in the morning I want my newspaper, without that,  it is difficult for me to open my eyes. The only newspaper we bought was Hindustan Times and before eight o clock it belonged to my dad. He may not like the idea of my waking up late but handing me the newspaper before he read it was too much of a sacrifice and fortunately he never made it. My parents efforts to wake me continued as did my resistance. After I got married the problem of the newspaper continued. My father-in-law tried to adjust by sharing the newspaper but we had to order another newspaper because I like to read the whole thing at the same time.

Now after 24/7 news channels and internet we switch on the TV or the internet  the moment we open our eyes in the morning. We have no appetite for breakfast till we come to know what happened in the world while we were sleeping. Why is it so important to know what others are thinking, saying or doing, no matter how trivial, nonsensical or destructive. Not only that, we are also ever ready to lend our eyes and ears to the ‘experts’ offering their expert comments on the  happenings, the analysis of which takes us nowhere. We want to know what has happened, is about to happen, what can happen or what should have happened. Spending time on daily news, especially current political affairs was a complete waste of time, some of my learned friends would always tell me and I would agree with them most of the time and continue with the addiction. We may curse the media for going berserk about trivial details of our political and other celebrities but the truth is that our newspapers and news channels have opened our eyes many times to the lurking dangers in our cities.

My friends from Mumbai always used to point out that I am living in a dangerous city where people are rowdy, push each other, break the ques  and are not bothered about rules. In defense of  Delhi,  in a typical meri Dilli meri shaan style I would tell them that Delhi is a lively city, people may be loud but that is because they are large hearted (Dilli dil walon ki). Thanks to our news channels I found a lot of fodder to counter my Mumbai friends and relatives. The Thackeray clan came to my rescue. I gloated about how we in Delhi are Indians first and treat people from all over the country in the same way (North Eastern Indians please forgive, you might not agree with me). My expectation was that Mumbaikars will be apologetic about it and explain the merits and demerits of the case, I myself understand a few of these things. They could not be cowed down, Rahul Gandhi’s Mumbai visit  proved that aam Mumbaikar is as civil as they claim to be. Once armed with the greatest media story of the year, Rahul ji’s travel in the Mumbai locals and the famous ATM story,  it was the Mumbaikar’s turn to be on the offensive now.

You Delhiwallahs can never feel safe! as long as you have the likes of Digvijay Singh reside and flourish in your city, I was told. They will defend terrorists and accuse the police for killing them. Somebody tweeted yesterday “I suspect after every terrorist attack, humanrights wallahs check dead list for their own name and if its not there they get after policemen”, read Digvijay Singh instead of human rights wallahs and you will understand what we Dilliwallahs are suffering. I feel like requesting Rahul ji’s political advisor Digvijay Singh ji that vote bank politics is an acceptable fact and we have to live with it  but sometimes listen to this poet- Lazim hai dil ke pas rahe pasban-i-aql; lekin kabhi kabhi issey tanha bhi chhod dain (it is important that brain should guard the heart but sometime the heart should be left alone)  in your case forget sometimes and let the brain, rest in peace! As the elected Chief Minster of Madhya Pradesh for more than a  decade you sure understand that your voters need to survive in order to vote . Rahul Gandhi derailed the divisive and aggressive Sena without resorting to bad language and cheap tactics and you need some good advise from him. By trying to create a doubt about Batla house encounter Digvijay Singh has not only hurt Inspector MC Sharma’s family but also the Hindus, Muslims and other religions of India. When a terrorist strikes he doesn’t differentiate between a Muslim or a non- Muslim.You have embarrassed your party and hurt the law abiding citizens of India.

Mumbai, Delhi or any other city of India, we all desperately need  peace and security and mere lip service from any body across the political spectrum will not work. People need jobs, clean water, houses and other basic amenities and that is what matters most to them. A Shahid Afridi or Shoaib Tanveer is  not a threat to India but the pseudo secularists and fanatics definitely are.

Must read before boiling water in a Microwave

Recieved this  e-mail from a dear friend and decided to share it with my readers. Most of you may know it already but I didn’t know it although I have been using a microwave for a long long time. It might save someone from pain and suffering.

A 26 year old decided to have a cup of coffee. He took a cup of water and put it in the microwave to heat it up( something he had done numerous times before). I am not sure how long he set the timer for, but he told me he wanted to bring the water to boil. When  the timer shut the oven off, he removed the cup from the oven. As he looked into the cup, he noted that the water was not boiling, but instantly the water in the cup ‘blew up’ into his face. The cup remained intact till he threw it out of his hand but all the water had flown out on his face due to the build up of energy. His whole face is blistered and he has 1st and 3rd degree burns to his face, which may leave scarring. He also may have partial sight in his left eye. While at his hospital, the doctor who was attending to him stated that this is fairly common ocuurrence and water(alone) should never be heated in a microwave oven. If water is heated in this manner, something should be placed in the cup to diffuse the energy such as: a wooden stir stick, tea bag, etc. It is however much safer to boil water in a teakettle.

General Electric’s ( GE) response:

Thanks for contacting us. I will be happy to assist you. The email that you received is correct. Microwaved water and other liquids do not always bubble when they reach the boiling point. They can actually get superheated and not bubble at all. The superheated liquid will bubble up out of the cup when it is moved or when something like a spoon or teabag is put into it. To prevent this from happening and causing injury, do not heat any liquid for more than two minutes per cup. After heating, let the cup stand in the microwave for thirty seconds before moving it or adding anything into it.

Meandering Thoughts

Some good things haven’t changed, like Enid Blyton and her tales of adventure. Her Famous Five and Secret Seven series still enriches and enthralls  millions of kids around the world. Like most young girls of my age, I always associated her with fun things, nothing very philosophical. Somewhere in my heart I always thanked God that Enid Blyton was never a part of our English lessons at school, otherwise there was every chance of some English teacher ruining all the fun associated with it. I hated Tulsidas and Surdas as a child because of all the Jeewanis (biographies) that we had to mug up for our exams. Nothing is more pleasant to my  ears now  than Surdas’s description of  Lord Krishna’s childhood. Tulsidas wrote this beautiful verse about  toddler Ram and his doting mother- Kilaki kilaki uthat dhaaya. Girat bhoomi latapataay. Dhaay maat gode lete, Dasharath kee raniya,  but I hated it when it was a part of our curriculum. I haven’t written this post to criticize our education system in 3 idiots style, but I always get carried away when I think of  how much more interesting our Literature classes could have been.

Coming back to Enid Blyton, I came across this quotation attributed to her: “Growing old is compulsory; growing up is optional.” The more I reflect on these words, the more I see how relevant they are even today. Mirza Ghalib also said some thing to the same effect, I don’t remember his words though,  the jist was that there is a difference between becoming elderly and becoming aged (buzurg hona aur budha hona). I wonder if it can be relevant in the case of  the senior Thackeray. Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray says that his party would not allow the Aussies to play cricket in Maharashtra. He said, “Our boys are being stabbed, burnt and shot at in that country and still our cricketers have no qualms in playing with them. Do they have any national pride?”. In the Sena announcement banning Australian cricketers in Maharashtra,  in the party mouthpiece ‘Saamana’, he recalled that his activists had taken a similar step against Pakistani cricketers, who still cannot play in the state. How can we forget that Shiv Sainiks dug up the Wankhede stadium pitch, they surely excel at causing destruction. Is he suggesting that the Australian cricketers  are responsible for the attacks on Indians in Australia? I heard Aussie cricketers coming out against racism and violence against Indians.  Will boycotts help to catch the culprits? Other than soiling Indian reputation and hurting Indian and Maharashtrian economy I don’t think it is going to help much. I wonder if Raj Thackeray is thinking that he missed an opportunity by not speaking out against Aussies first. Thackerays won’t allow Aussies and  Pakistanis to play in Mumbai. Bangladeshis may follow suit because of  HUJI (Harkat-ul-jehad-al-Islami) connection, North Indians won’t be allowed because Raj bhai doesn’t want them in Mumbai. I guess very soon the only teams allowed in Mumbai will be the the two Thackeray groups.

Why Thackeray alone, most of us act like kids and not mature adults. Like kids if any one of consequence or inconsequential criticizes us anywhere in the world, our reactions are very strong. Any criticism against our national leaders in a book or film, even though it might be true is strongly protested. Gandhi ji’s own biography was more of a confessional statement and as a Gandhi fan I am proud of it but anybody talking even the truth about Gandhi in a negative way  commits blasphemy. We have a short attention span and get bored soon and take up one  issue after another, not really bothering to wait and see the impact of the sudden outburst. We live in the present, this week it is price rise we are protesting against, a fortnight ago it was the division of states. All that was forgotten as the media picked up the Ruchika Girohtra case and a few days later it was the ND Tiwari scandal. As a nation we need to reflect on where we have gone wrong, and what needs to be done to set matters right instead of knee jerk reactions. We live from one day to the next, confident in the expectation that somebody will look after us, no matter what we do. Let’s grow up and face the reality.