Nil Nisi Bonum

                                                              Nil Nisi Bonum

Knowing that there is very little time during the election season to read lengthy blogs, I will limit myself to just a few points for our remaining voters to assess for themselves our PM’s attack on the late Rajiv Gandhi who was his predecessor nearly thirty five years ago.

1.      Maybe our PM in his 20/24 whirlwind schedule of addressing rally after rally has barely any time to read, leave aside listen to voices, other than his own. Hence he has not heard the mewing and squeaking voices of the opposition that sotto voce say “De mortuis nil nisi bonum dicendum est ("Of the dead nothing but good is to be said"). Given the quality of education in our schools and colleges, our PM has never been taught  in his mother tongue પરંતુ મૃત સારા કંઈ બોલીશ

                                                                    Parantu mr̥ta sārā kaṁī bōlīśa

What an index of our culture and education that has failed toeducate our venerable PM on the basic courtesy to be extended to the dead!

2.      Our revered PM knows and we all know that in election speeches,”sab chalta hai” Means alone ,matter for a desired end. Since the EC quivers at the name of Namo, our PM knows he can get away with anything and everything.  So  he walks in spotless white displaying high morality and purity, thereby highlighting the court verdicts that exonerated him and his faithful lieutenant( I hesitate using the more appropriate name from the Italian classic Don Quixote)of all complicity in Gujarat riots. PM’s memory is under  too much pressure on his memory that he fails to remember that his predecessor and ex Pm had been exonerated by High Court and that his own BJP under his mentors, shri Vajpayeeji and the present margdarshi shri Advanjii did not appeal against the verdict in the Supreme Court.

3.      Our PM has millions of minions, big and small to be His Master’s Voice. So they painstakingly dig out the alleged mistakes committed by the ex PM such as Shah Bono case, allowing pooja in Babri masjid etc( conveniently forgetting the good policies  ushered by him such as the Telecom revolution, Computerization, the Voting age to 18, anti defection law, the Panchayati Raj, the Punjab and Assam accord, the  New Education Policy that led to the establishment of Operation Blackboard, Jawahar NavoVidyayaya, Indira Gandhi National Open University, improved bilateral ties with USA and Europe, Maldives coup d’etat etc ). On hindsight one can make a historical assessment of whether the political decisions were right or wrong, but to justify  calling  the late PM Mr.Unclean or as Corrupt No.1 PM on policy matters  is in keeping with the Bhakts’ polemical strategy harping on ”The evil that men do lives after them/ the good is oft interred with their bones”. Their hatred for our first PM Pt.Nehru and his family is phenomenal.  

4.      Thir e logicis  tit for tat-that if Rahul calls our beloved Chowkidar PM “Chor’ why can’t we call his father a chor?

 Well Rahul’s  father is notalive  to defend himself,  while the muscular  chowkidar PM is all over India and forever in combative mode and can defend himself against all charges. When Rahul calls him for a debate for 20 minutes , our PM known for his oratorical skills can easily pick up the gauntlet. But why does he shy away from debate with Rahul just as he has shied away giving  après conference for the last five years except giving planted  and slanted interviews to select journalists

5.      Last but the most important point.If the Modi sarkar had accomplishments to boast of, PM  does not need  to stoop so low to speak ill of someone who had occupied the chair he is today occupying. A PM is not an individual but represents the thought, culture and dignity of the entire nation. He cannot lower the guard even for a fraction of a second. But our PM refuses t hold up the dignity of the office  which he was swornto. Does this stooping to conquer betray desperation? Time will tell.  

Letter to the Voter

Dear Voter,

The first two phases of our Dance of democracy are over. Five more on the anvil. The third is on today. I should have written this letter prior to the beginning of elections, but it is never too late. I do  not subscribe to the media phrase “ too late and too little”.  In today’s world I prefer the old age saying “many a little makes a mickle”. The reason for my hitherto silence  was I did not anticipate the level to which political discourse will descend as it has done today. Thank God, those who had sought votes in those two phases  are through with their steps and gyrations  on the political stage.  Many others are waiting for their turn to go on the stage. None of our political masters have till now set the stage on fire. On the contrary, the attempt by all the parties in the present  election fray has been to douse the fire lit by acrid political campaigners.

This election has so far witnessed the worst form of wordy duels v erbal gymnasticsminus informed debates and. It has shown the Election Commission (EC) not as a toothless tiger, but a tiger that is scared of using its teeth.  At best its feeble efforts to enforce Model Code of Conduct(MCC) appears  as a lick and  a promise  - a superficial effort made without any punch. I write this to tell the voter not to look at EC to guide him/her as to who has and who has not violated MCC but to come to one’s own conclusion before unleashing his/her  power to press the button.  What is important is elections as they happen today are centred round personalities and not on issues that require urgent attention by the newly elected leaders.. The Voter has to ask himself whether personalities matter or issues or how to match personalities with issues!

Indian democracy runs true to the universal concept of a cyclical order. As per the  Hindu mythology, the world runs through four Yugas- Satya Yuga, Treta Yuga,Dwapara Yuga and Kali Yuga which correspond to the western concept of four Ages-the Age of Divinity, the Age of Aristocracy, the Age of Democracy and the Age of Chaos. It is said that at the end of the fourth Yuga or the fourth Age, the cycle returns to the first order or the beginning.  I am reminded of T.S.Eliot’s description of  the cyclical order of the world:

 “What we call the beginning is often the end.

 And to make an end is to make a beginning.

The end is where we start from.”

India prior to its Independence experienced the Satya Yuga or the Age of Divinity under Mahatma Gandhi who inspired millions of Indians to follow the path of truth and dharma. The first halcyon years after Independence, despite the tragedy of partition, saw the ascent of aristocracy among our political leaders who worked in unity despite their diversity of views and thoughts. Nehru-Patel-Rajaji for example, were all distinct individuals with distinct convictions but they worked in unison to leave for the future generation a united pluralistic  India, strong and stable, tolerant and accommodating diverse faiths and religions. All the political leaders of that era with their firm adherence to the principles of democracy demonstrated the ideal of philosopher king where they regarded themselves as the first among equals. After those euphoric years with the transfer of greater power to the people, the Age of Democracy set in. While the principle of shared governance and shared power is at the root of democracy, it slowly became the rule of the masses where everyone felt he was the King, and had the right to get what he wanted. The right of the individual, the right of different groups formed on the basis of caste and class, the right of everyone to have a slice of the national pie polarized society and obfuscated the truth about democracy where the rights had to be subservient to duties of the citizens. He who promised to bestow rights  without insisting on duties became the leader to be voted in. Today what we see in India and in many parts of the world that claim to have democratically elected leaders is a return to a new form of  plutocracy where the governance is given to a ruling class that derives its power from being wealthy. In modern idiom plutocracy  advances  crony capitalism. In some cases plutocracy is on a reverse gear to oligarchy- government by a small group of powerful people, best described as bureaucratic monarchy, that is in evidence in India today. This is democracy disguised as the rule of a narrow clique where the power structure rests with a small number of people who have been give the license to rule by the voters. The simple strategy of  the new aspirants to leadership is to divide the society, promise crumbs( as there are not adequate number of loaves to be distributed to different sections in the society) and seek votes even if the promise remains a promise from the political pulpit.

India is in a state of ferment where the divisiveness is present in terms of wealth, ideology, education,  

caste, class and religion. But we can overcome the current state of binary conflicts between the haves and the have nots, between the rich and the poor, between the well heeled and those down at heel, between the educated, the semi literates and illiterates, between the right and the left ideologues, between majority and minority community- and abort the divisiveness and bring back united India by realizing the power given to us as citizens of the country. We have the power to press the button and that too judiciously without being hypnotized by those who make the loudest noise, whose promise of a moon seems superficially attractive, whose theatrical performances appeal to the lowest common denominator.  The last but the most significant pointer is to deny our votes  to those who galvanize people merely on hate. It is easy for humans to develop hate than love because the latter is founded upon selfless reciprocity of give and take while the former is an affirmation of selfish  anger over what one receives and not what one gives. Human beings are genetically wired to hate and this is exploited by those who seek power to rule them. The will to power, so strongly advocated by the 19^th C German philosopher Frederick Nietzsche for man to transform into Superman and create new values in place of the old values that  have lost the power to guide him is today (ab)used as the will to choose one’s actions to gain absolute control or power over others. The will to power is laden with narcissism, vanity, self glorification and we have to exercise abundant caution not to press this will to power to rule us.

Let us vote. Let us vote with our mind, intelligence and rationality. Let us vote back philosopher kings to rule us. You may ask “are there any” Well,  if none, press NOTA and wait for time to throw up the right leader at the chosen moment. The wait is not going to be a long wait as the nation is fortunate to have many thinkers and wise men who place duty before right.  The man of the moment like Mahatma Gandhi will appear at the right time.  We need to develop patience backed by faith (Shraddha and Saburi)-that the present moment , however dark it is, is a passing moment. The cyclical order that is in evidence in the clockwise  rotation of the seasons, in the alternation of day and night, of sunshine and moonshine, light and darkness will run its course .The Age of Chaos will have to yield to a new Age of Divinity which will be different from the previous saga. In this new Age, history will begin its course anew from the high point it had  earlier reached in the previous Age and  bring back the most powerful maxims of humanity that have till now sustained human civilization. All we need is patience and undying faith in the universal order.

Vote , vote with reason, vote for the party which promises to reinforce the idea of India that has been given as our heritage by our Constitutional fathers.  If no party stands for that Idea of India that had been gifted to us seven decades ago, vote NOTA and wait with patience and hope that the Age of Chaos will end and we will revert to a new Age of Divinity as a true manifestation of the Eternal Recurrence.

Tryst with Elections; A Celebration or a Requiem

                                                Tryst with Elections; A Celebration or a Requiem

The Countdown has begun .   20hours to go, ,19,18, 17…..before the clock strikes 8 on the 11^th of April for voting to begin. This will be my 13^th election. !3 is not a unlucky number for me as I am thirteenth born and all through my life number 13 has signified an upward change  in my personal and professional status. I don’t intend to be biographical and nostalgic except  to say that it has deepened my skepticism against superstitious beliefs that regards 13 as unlucky.

What does the 13^th election hold for me? For that matter, what does it hold for those for whom it will be voting for the first, second or the third … time? For the first time this year, I experience the eerie feeling that my forefinger cuticle will have the indigo ink stain for the last time. This eerie feeling is not age related cognitive degeneration that afflicts all those at the threshold of becoming octogenarians.  I share this eeriness with many others who have the good fortune to get another 15 plus or minus  opportunities to get their index fingers inked.  My only fear is this may be the last election we will see in a democratic India  if the forecast of the poll pundits run true to their arithmetic.

Psephologists  studying the current election trends are unanimous in predicting a second term to Narendra Modi and his team (which is a two-in-one team). The rest of the cabinet is there and will be there as per the wishes of the two men squad and will continue to function as celestial satellites orbiting around the solar order of Namitshaw.  Like all other celestial bodies, these satellites do not have light or heat of their own and they are lit by the stellar duo. They are only glorified caged parrots who parrot the language of their masters.

For many like me, watching the five years gone by has been a nightmarish experience. Unlike many critics of the Modi government who lament the absence of law and order when it comes to lynching and Hindutva push,  my real fear is the brazen flouting of law by the Master duo giving unfettered license and freedom for their bhakts to follow. Whether it is flouting of  the Sabarimala order or of the moral code of conduct, the hysterical pitch of the election speeches  from the two masters is a sign of no holds barred attempt to do what they intend to do. The MCC-moral code of conduct is applicable only to the opposition where even a weatherman has the power to  deny permission to an opposition rally by  a brother-sister duo- whose flashes of  cherubic smile seems to betray they are still political  novitiates . Their harking back to the age of innocence, love and compassion sounds queer to the modern generation fed on display of macho bravado of our Bollywood stars.  The distance between the screen and the multiple aisle seating in an auditorium lends enchantment to onscreen heroism  and so long as the action is on the distant screen, it fills theaudience  with a sense of euphoric nationalism that evaporates as soon as they walk out of the theatre. It is the same with the huge crowd at election rallies, mesmerized by the hysterical oratory of chest thumping leaders.  It is this exaggerated elation for the moment that gives a thumbs up to the political class who has pitch forked  centre stage the idea of hypernationalism that negates all the values associated with humanism and globalism. The fluent political and social commentator Santosh Desai says what we see today is not democracy, but emocracy where the appeal is to the emotions and feelings that are less positive and more negative in tenor. Hugging is passé on the screen;  hugplomacy is applauded when the macho man hugs the leader of a hostile nation. In this new age, old world values of genuine friendship are dismissed as archaic and Christ’s aphorism “love thy neighbour as thyself” is suited and limited to pulpits and seminaries. Such ideas are dismissed as antediluvian and often termed anti national as we are psyched up to celebrate retaliatory measures and actions against the  enemy-bullet for bullet, missile for missile, drone for drone, prisoner for prisoner. I remember one of the presentsenior ministers shrilly screaming when she wa sin the opposition that for one  Indian beheaded, we will have 100 Pakistanis beheaded, never pausing to wonder what it will be for the families left behind!

Hence my genuine fear that democracy may die, unsung, unwept and unhonoured when the law makers become law breakers.  If the abusive language resorted to by our political actors from all political parties has become the norm of political discourse, democratic civil discourse is dead. If there is no scope of civil discourse, then why have elections at all? They can serve only as a spillway for black money . The money that is being spent during this election is estimated at 50,000 crores that could have been utilized for building toilets, building schools, providing  relief for farmers, modernizing  technology in all sectors including defence, aviation, health, education etc. This is the tragedy of elections as conducted today that has been characterized by divisiveness, hatred, violence,  incivility, and falsehoods.

I will not be surprised if our two men army turns demolition squad and saves the nation from  the clutches of democracy that is founded upon old world value of “One Planet, the Earth/one Family, Mankind” that cuts  through hyper-nationalism and embraces humanity!  They can do sosaying they want to save the whopping  election expenditure.

Will the 13 ^th be my last elections/?Am I to concede that after five years, when I expect still to be mentally sound if not physically strong, I will be denied my right to vote and sit doing nothing ?

No, I want to protect and preserve our democracy, the benign gift of the founding fathers of our Constitution. I want this legacy for my children and for the coming generations. This means bringing some amendments before a  fatal amendment ofdoing away with our Constitution and democracy is brought into force. My writing this is an appeal to fellow Indians to understand and value the right given to us to govern democratically. The six amendments to be introduced shall be;

1.      The Minimum qualification to stand for the elections should be a graduate degree. If a graduate degree is minimum qualification to be an office clerk or assistant, why should it not apply to  MPs`and MLAs

2.      Only those who  are absolutely blemisheless  with no criminal record can seek election

3.      They must have participated in either NSS or NCC or NSO (social service, army or sports) to be eligible

4.      Only state funding of elections to be permitted.

5.      Elected members must be recalled if they indulge in corrupt practices and criminal deeds.

6.      Last but not the least, accountability of each one of the elected members should be done by a  Committee of Supreme Court retired judges and eminent members of society. This should be an annual exercise as is being done to government and private employees by  writing their annual Confidential reports. The Committee’s findings should be made public through newspapers and other media.

Will any of our political party have the courage to press for the above amendments. If they do so  democracy Lip(Live in Peace); if not let us regretfully say,”democracy RIP”. And speaking for myself, can I hope to have my forefinger inked for the 14^th time.?

Should I or shouldn't I...

Should I or shouldn’t I has been gnawing at my heart as emotions and feelings seem to overwhelm the  reality  bytes whirling through my mind. To be honest, I have been strongly advised not to incur the wrath of Modi and his Bhakts by putting down my honest fears and anxieties of Modi retuning to power. Yet I have taken courage to put down my genuine feelings of fear and anxiety if Modi (and Amit Shah) get a second innings. If we use cricket analogy, Modi’s party had aggregated a massive first innings score in 2014 and in the initial years after coming to power it drubbed the opposition inflicting  innings defeats in the state and bye- elections. The scorching pace and the deceptive spin of Modi were too much for the opposition to counter. But in the last year and a half, the underdogs have performed better, at times even registering a victory, though by no means an innings victory. Will this election of 2019 be another whitewash like that of 2014 or will the opposition have enough arsenal to  bowl out Modiparty and register a win at least on a thin margin?

This is election time - time to showcase the true functioning of our democracy.  A large number of people credit our voters with perspicacity and judgement in casting their votes. If anyone has the temerity to make a squeaky remark that they are not that intelligent but are easily swayed by promises and freebies, s/he will be trolled by the social media for uttering blasphemy against our hallowed voters. Finally when the results are announced, the winner chuckles with his/her tongue-in-cheek remark that people have wisely given their verdict while the loser puts on a brave face and says “we accept people’s verdict with humility” even when they know the verdict is not based on genuine assessment, but that it is a manufactured one. The party which is good at manufacturing wins the battle of the ballot. It is truly a dance of democracy where voters dance to the Pied Piper’s fantasied promises even when such promises are pre poll concoction and not for post poll implementation.

There is a perceptible difference between the elections of the last two decades and this election of 2019. In the last few elections, with Tamilnadu taking the lead, elections were decided on freebies and sops after the election dates were announced. The present is a post freebies election as all the sops have already been doled out in a frenzy during the last couple of months prior to the announcement of the  election dates.

Let us be fair and objective. This government has achieved a few commendable things, the best among them has been the swachch Bharat campaign that has brought awareness about clean environment. Electrification of villages, construction of roads, decisive military strikes etc are high on the government’s report card. But it is not a unique or a surprise achievement because every government carries forward what it has inherited from the earlier governments and adds its own punch. Politicians are known for their art of spinning so that they take credit for what had been achieved without crediting the earlier  government whose legacy they had taken farther.

The NDA II government under Modi has been a one man show( and at times a two men show). The last five years have been dutifully  referred to as Modi governance- and many terms were coined such as Modinomics, Modicare, Moditva, Modi doctrine to buttress the argument that Modi is an omniscient avatar who has the highest knowledge of economics, healthcare, religious punditry,  political and foreign diplomacy and what not…. The opposition has fallen into the trap set cleverly by Modi to assault him on all fronts and the more punches it gave, the more martyred Modi emerged. It has given him the whip hand as he thunders “Attack me, but don’t attack the nation”, “Modi hai to…,sab mumkin hai”, and in no time he has changed his chaiwala status to chowkidar status. If Modi is to be reelected, it must be for his cleverness to turn the tables on his accusers. He appealed to the voters during the last election that he was a humble chaiwala and today he appeals to them as a humble chowkidar and how the Lutyens have not accepted him because of his humble origin! He will never answer the opposition’s list of charges, keep maun vrath till such time he can come out with a martyr’s halo around him. I know I will be bullied by his Bhakts for writing the truth and that was where my hesitation… ‘should I’  or ‘shouldn’t I’ dilemma… started..

I do not want to go into the oft repeated criticisms against his policies of the last five years – demonetization and  divisive politics, swinging with the Chinese President who has stabbed India or inviting himself to the birthday celebrations of the ex PM of Pakistan, fudging the GDP and unemployment data and the Rafael deal.  Every party that is elected to govern comes out with its policies-right or wrong is for time to tell, but formulating a policy that is not necessarily right cannot be held against the ruling party. If people experience hardship they may vote the party out, if they experience benefits, they will vote back the party. I am not here to be critical as it is the right of the ruling party to execute  its policies in keeping with its ideology and its poll promises.

 No, the  one thing that causes me distress( and to many others like me) is how PM Modi  has  systematically demeaned the office of the Prime Minister by his abusive and vituperative attacks on earlier Congress Prime ministers-starting from visionary Pt.Nehru through feisty Indira and techno- savvy Rajeev Gandhi to the genial, highly educated scholar Dr. Manmohan Singh. In his single agenda to establish a “Congress Mukht  Bharat”, Modi showed that he would brook no opposition and this single phrase went  counter to the idea of democracy and by extension to the idea of India. How can democracy stay alive without an opposition- a question he never asked himself as he reiterated his sole agenda of destroying the Gandhis whom he referred to as Congress. His innumerable attacks personally on Sonia Gandhi with a hollow claim in 2014, that the government had incurred1880 crores on her treatment abroad-  and his encouragement of his bhakts to give Rahul Gandhi the humiliating soubriquet  ‘pappu’ have lowered the dignity of the Prime Minister’s chair.  Today his aficianodo Smriti Iran, comparing herself  with Priyanka mocks at the Gandhis saying”I do not have a land thief as my husband. …I do not have a bewakoof as my brother” especially when the case against Robert Vadra is still in the courts with no conclusive proof against him and Priyanka’s brother Rahul is the president of the National Congress. This is the level of political discourse that PM.Modi has set in motion.    

His systematic demolition of all institutions has wreaked an incalculable damage to the polity of the nation and this started with questioning the Nehru memorial at Teen Murti Bhavan.  Honouring Sardar Patel (who has been appropriated by him and his party because he hailed from Gujarat) with a 30 billion rupees statue is in order, but not the existing  Teen Murti Memorial for the First Prime Minister of India! The autonomy of all  the pillars of democracy starting with CBI, RBI ,CVC, EC,NSSO, Media, Universities has been compromised and many of them have been involved in one or other crisis.

Though he had mocked at the earlier PM, Dr.Manmohan Singh as Maunmohan Singh, he himself has largely remained silent over many disturbing issues such as lynching in the name of cow, willful repudiation of Supreme Court order and inciting  violence in Sabarimala ,  the travails and tragedy that common people suffered during demonetization, murder of a senior journalist Gouri Lankesh who questioned his policies  etc as though he is above all such trivialities and  petty things and left the answers to his arrogant minions. The single great damage done by PM has been not to restrain- on the contrary to encourage arrogance, haughtiness, contemptuous disdain and mocking sneer of the opposition in the vast army of his minions. There is no room left any more for civilized discourse, courtesy, politeness and cultured language and demeanour in our political debate. Any view that opposes him has been  dubbed as the voice of the anti national and even the patriotism of  Dr.Manmohan Singh, his predecessor in the PM’s chair, a man of great and unimpeachable integrity  was questioned. The dumbing down of media is on similar lines. The media’s spine has been broken to utter subordination.

Last but not the least is the chest thumping to say what has not been done in70 years, I have done it. The truth is all the projects he claims to have been expedited were pilot projects of the earlier governments. It is only they were given new nomenclature with a prefix PMJ(Prime minister Yojana) added to them. PM’s face beams through all the pages of all the dailies. His persona has been carefully built right from 2014 to the extent of citing the clairvoyant Nostrodamus’  prophecy that he was the prophesied star to be born in Asia to lift the nation up like an avatar purush. The Social media is full of Namo chants and abrasive, distasteful comments on the opposition leaders. Money speaks and BJP has a lion’s  share (95%)of the hideous Finance Bill (that  approved anonymous  donations to political parties)  and with that money it hires trollers and uses the  social media to blunt the opposition with mockery, abuse and lies. Violence in words is more lethal and long lasting than physical violence.

2019 results are a foregone conclusion. With aam janata not having either the exposure or the ability to sift the chaff from the grain, it is winning time for one who shouts loud, indulges in demagoguery and resorts to cheap drama on the political stage. People are fed on bombast, political chicanery and false data through various means.   The opposition cannot match the money or the media power at the command of the ruling party and indulges in pale imitation of BJP with an abysmal descent into  uncivilized speeches and behaviour. All one can hope for is that the educated class understands the damage done to the character and culture of the nation. All the talk about making India great (MIGA) and citing specially calibrated data on economic development cannot last when human development has taken a nosedive. Will the 2019 elections give us our national character of acceptance, accommodation, adjustment and adaptation- the key to our traditional concept of religious and cultural pluralism and integrative identity? We have to wait with anxiety till the last week of May to find the answer.