The Good Ol' Days

Tweet

The Apprentice

Since (or so the newswalas tell us) Advani is about to step down soon, here's a lovely, nostalgia-inducing B&W photograph of Advani and Modi on their way to Surat in 1992, after post-Babri Masjid riots in the city killed 152 people (full-on official figures, them).

Of course, no one was convicted and a commission constituted to probe the riots was wound up before it could submit its findings.

Surat 1992—Already Forgotten.

Image courtesy of the Indian Express and/or Dharmesh Joshi

Eat India Movement Causes Revolution in India

Tweet

Amazing scenes were witnessed today as women power was instrumental in starting a lobby group called WALS – Women Against Lazy Starvation. It aims to unite women of the country against Indians who don’t have enough to eat.

Throughout the country, women have come together in this movement of epic proportions (the biggest since that chap set off on that longish walk to get some salt) to convince Indian men that starvation is something that women just don’t like! As Minisha Lambha puts it: “You guys have to understand that women just don’t like famished, malnourished men”.

Neha dhupia, on the other hand, avers that she “might react badly” if she came across a man who was lazy enough not to eat.

As that dumbass anchor (who’s kinda cute, actually) says,” Women all over India are joining the movement and the message is clear--GET UP AND EAT”

What interesting though is this whole zonal concept where random women with nothing better to do express their views in support of WALS. In fact, let’s hear how the North Zone is supporting the movement

Random Dumbass Chick #1: I totally support the Eat India Movement. Rice is readily available and it’s very affordable, so I urge all the men to go out and eat.

RDC2 #2 (who, I could swear, has a wisp of a moustache): It is really important for Delhi and North Zone men to not be emaciated...because they look better in that way.

Gurgaon rickshawwala: As you can see, I’m bloody starving but that will be gone soon because I’ve got my own gunny bag of rice which is very tasty and affordable.

I’m sure you want your zone to win, so get up now and urge men to eat. Remember the WALS message: GET UP AND EAT!

P.S: If you don't watch Indian TV, go here to understand what this great movement is all about. Jai Hind.

Aati Kya Khandala

Tweet

She: a Superpower’s Secretary of State who's nursing betrayal from her husband as well as Pakistan’s establishment.

He: a dashing Marathi manoos who has seen it all—from stamp paper scams to cricket boards.

Will their love be able to overcome their differences? Will she, an Amreeki mem, be able to live among the sugarcane fields of Maharshtra? Will Hon. Shri Sharad Pawar be able to love a person of Foreign Origin?

To find out, order you ecopy of the Indian Express today (12/12/209) which has published this delicious picture in an advertising supplement called Maratha Icon, the occasion being Pawar's Happy Budday.

KLPD?

Tweet

Ramachandra Guha thinks that Telanangana isn't scary.

Well, try telling that to the Congress, which is shitting bricks over the issue after the coastal Andhra/Rayalseema backlash began.

Well, so much for that. Call the police and tell them to get along some orange juice. It's bhook-hartal time, baby.

Dying to Win

Tweet

Considering that the current round of agitations over Telangana was sparked off by a hunger-strike, you gotta love the simile used in a ToI article on the problem of just what is to be done with Hyderabad if Telangana becomes a reality:

“Yet you cannot deny Hyderabad to Telangana because Telangana will be nothing without Hyderabad. It will be like offering mutton biryani to a hungry man and telling him that you can eat the rice but not the mutton," an analyst pointed out.”

I can just see this “analyst” describing calls to make Mumbai a Union Territory by saying that it would like vada pav without the vada.

***

Of course, what’s really a shit show in all of this is K. Chandrasekhar Rao’s fast-unto-death--the man stops eating and poor Andhra Pradesh loses weight.

Hunger strikes are, of course, a historical legacy of ours and Gandhi has even been criticised for what has been called “political blackmail”. But the point remains that Gandhi did what he did in a system he wanted to overthrow. In effect, he worked outside the system (Non-cooperation, fasts etc) because he didn’t believe in it.

Rao, on the other hand, believes in our political system. Hell, he runs a registered political party which fought in the last parliamentary elections. But, when his agenda was not accepted by the electorate (in Telengana itself, by the way, where the TRS fared badly) he suddenly lost faith in Indian democracy and its institutions and decided to actually blackmail the Central Government by threatening to kill himself. I mean, WTF?

For the Government to give in to this blackmail is unfortunate (even though I feel the idea of Telangana is not too bad, per se). If Rao wants to achieve his political objectives, let him do it through constitutional means. This sort of extra-constitutional political extortion (which invariably lead to violence) makes him little better than a terrorist or an extremist, in my view.


P.S: Oh, and by the way kids, after Telanagana, here's one more state name for you to memorise for that Geography test: Gorkhaland

Why the BJP's Been in a Mess Lately

Tweet

Well, because, the RSS chief is pressed for time. [link]

Image courtesy of the Indian Express