Celebrating Life ! celebrating LK Advani’s Life

As power struggle between two fledging and non compromising partners Shivsena and BJP reaches its concluding phase, the Eternal Laxman of Indian Politics and former Deputy Prime Minister it India Shri Lalkrishna Advani quietly turns 92 today.

The patriarch who was once was called the second ‘Loh Purush’ of India, today finds himself isolated and out of current media focus and widely treated as a retired head of the BJP.

The BJP, which was once known as untouchable RSS face of the politics had two soldiers in Vajpayee and Advani who weathered the storm and humiliation of having only 2 MPs in Parliament and the younger of the two even struggling to find a safe Loksabha seat for himself. 

With no third option available, Advani took it on himself to dedicate the party for the cause of Ramlalla and BJP rose a Phoenix flight to land itself as an opposition party with a substance. As the party grew, so did the stature of the party and when the opportunity was there to lead the government, a true Laxman in Advani ensured that the Ram of BJP, Vajpayee was made the Prime Minister.

Sacrificing himself all his life and taking a backseat became the norm for this grand old man of Indian Politics. With his protégée NaMo taking over a center stage, the last sacrifice saw Advani leaving the reins and decisions of the party to a younger generation. Whether the back seat was on his own or party’s call will always remain a close secret with the grand old man and that’s how the real Advani was, is and will remain forever.

The journey which started from Karachi, Pakistan where Advanjee was born, to lead a life as political leader and then finding himself in jail for emergency is a life worth respecting and adoring. He might be targeted for not going to jail during freedom struggle, but there is nothing sadder than going to jail in your own independent country, for the cause of having an opinion which the people in power don’t seem to agree with.

When all the current politicians fight for their legacy, piece of power and push nepotism, here is the man who will always be remembered for his selflessness, integrity and being one of the most disciplined politicians of all times. 

May we all wish him good health and thank him for whatever he has done to make India, a better place to live .

Happy Birthday to Advanjee 🙏🙏🙏 Respect 🙏🙏🙏 🙇‍♀️ 🙇‍♂️

Political puzzle of Maharashtra

Once upon a time King Akbar asked Birbal to find 4 fools in his state.

Birbal found 2 fools soon. The first fool was celebrating a child’s birth born out of his wife’s second marriage. Second fool was riding a Buffalo with a bundle of grass on his head. The reason being, he didn’t want to overload the Buffalo with weight of the grass  and hence carried it on his head. Birbal took both of them to Akbar.

Puzzled Badshaah, told Birbal that he wanted 4 fools. Birbal politely replied,”3rd one is you Jahapanah ! who asked to bring the fools” and the 4th was Birbal himself, who was running behind 3 fools.

Akbar-Birbal story is getting repeated in Maharashtra politics.

The 2019 Vidhansabha elections gave clear verdict to a pre-poll alliance and all of a sudden one partner realised that it wants to rule the state as Baadshah. It needs 4 fools who can play along its whims and fancies so it targeted its own alliance partner and it found another two in Congress and NCP.

Unfortunately the fourth fool is not Shivsena but the people who voted in elections for their respective parties or alliance which turned out to be a vote for grand alliance government.

Maharashtra is known for its stalwarts, political standards and intellectual voters. The current scene is a complete mess and people of Maharashtra feel used by the political parties. The mathematical muscle power(whichever is the party) doesn’t augur well for politically matured Maharashtra. The rules of the democracy unfortunately allows such misuse after the voters have given their verdict.

If the compromise government comes into picture, the ramifications are bound to impact various municipal corporations, recalculations of alliances and formation of unholy governance not agreed by the people.

The verdict is very clear whether it’s BJP and Sena or Congress-NCP. Breaking the voters trust (whichever party they belong to) doesn’t augur well for future of Maharashtra.

Hopefully, the state keeps its image clean and gets its elected government soon and whatsoever promises and whichever party had given to its partners or the people are uphold for the sake of this wonderful state called ‘Maharashtra’.

Disclaimer: The article does not support any political party, however it’s of the opinion that whosoever forms the government should uphold tradition of Maharashtra and respect people’s wishes.

Image courtesy: Wikipedia

Fadnavis and Khattar make it happen again but with caveat

Campaigning over ! Elections over ! Opinion poll and Exit Polls done ! 

And results? 

Decimating the public perception and provoking a thought process for all the political parties and the voters.

One one side, it was an iron grip of Manoharlal Khattar over Haryana and the other had a blue eyed boy of Maharashtra politics Devendra Fadnavis. Both newcomers to the role of Chief Ministers and perception clearly indicating their top notch performance with defeat written on the walls for the opposition.

With punching LokSabha wins, article 370 and depleted opposition, BJP was all set to return with thumping majority.

Where did the two young (Role-wise) CMs go wrong while coming back to power(almost)? that the celebrations remain subdued and their party pretending all to be Hunky-Dory 😊

First of all, it was overestimation of self and under estimation of the rivals. To add to it, Congress was more than willing to loose with their top boss RaGa preferring to stay away instead of fighting a lost cause. It was left to old soldiers to fight their own battles and if they went wrong, punishing the culprits and scapegoats was a foregone reality.

Let’s look at Haryana first. As they say, fear of failures make one perform better and the scapegoats of Haryana realised it soon. Khattar might be an able administrator but it was Hooda who proved to have the pulse of politics. Assimilating caste equations, decimating the goodwill of the Chief Minister, eroding the internal party rivals and emotionally overcoming people sentiments on 370 by virtually going against party line was the key to Hooda’s rise from oblivion. A straightforward politician like Khattar was caught off guard without realising the ground below his feet had moved away from ‘अबकी बार ७५ पार’ to ‘४० पर खुश रहो इस बार’.

In Maharashtra, 2014 saw a young Devendra Fadnavis take over reins of Maharashtra and the leader didn’t disappoint for 5 years working seamlessly during the tenure. Enough issues were posed by his friends in government and rivals didn’t leave any opportunity to make him sweat. Governance is not the key to form the Government and BJP lost the plot somewhere during these high pitch elections. “मी पुन्हा येईन” and Fadnavis came back but with a crumpled mandate.

Headless congress accepted the defeat without fight but what happened in Haryana was repeated in Maharashtra. The grand old Maratha politician in Sharad Pawar gauged the pulse at right time. Urbanisation is the key to BJP and Pawar took the exact opposite route to roar back in contention, but bit late. The defiance in rains proved the master stroke for the heavy weight politician. It brought all his drifted supporters back to him. Had the elections were conducted in phases in Maharashtra, the outcome would have been different than what was declared yesterday.

Next 5 years are bound to be crucial for all the political parties. 

If BJP model of development has to sustain, it has to repenetrate in western Maharashtra, look beyond urban culture and start banking on state level results rather than national achievements.It also needs to handle a tougher coalition than last time without impacting its agenda and ambitions.

NCP is Sharad Pawar but the party looks vulnerable if he takes a back seat. Unless, it works on its broader agenda and brings in inclusive politics, the success of 2019 will be temporary and volatile.

Congress on the other hand, doesn’t seem interested in its own reincarnation and probably it will remain so till its national level calculations are sorted out and those look remotely impossible in current party hierarchy.

MNS, VBA as usual played the musical cards expecting miracles in their favour without a clear vision and alliances. They were systematically used or misused and unless they make themselves come out of the shadow of compulsions, the political obituary is in the offing.

The elections were an absolute eye opener and it’s a beginning of political battle which will have its ramifications for 2024 elections. Hope the younger generation takes a side of those political parties which take them to future rather than moving them backwards.

Image Courtesy: Amar Ujala

Disclaimer: The blog is a mere observation of the elections for state and does not justify or propagate any political ideology.

Remembering Kalia ! The real Viju Khote 🙇‍♂️

Obituaries are always sad but whenever they are written, they talk about all the bigwigs of politics, industries, icons or film stars who have a larger than life image and entertain us.

But there always are some silent contributors who work tirelessly, selflessly and perform to perfection for whatever comes to their platter, irrespective of the quantum and still manage to make a place for themselves.

One such personality, the one and only ‘Kalia’, Viju Khote passed away without letting the world know that he was unwell. The silence is more saddening considering the new trend of popularity hype which all newcomers generate through reality shows and get an instant fame. 

‘Sholay’ by all means is the biggest landmark of Hindi Film Industry and is known for its talented crowd gracing the big canvas to perfection. To make a mark in the shortest of roles possible by delivering an all time memorable dialogue  “सरदार मैंने आपका नमक खाया है”, Viju Khote not only made himself immortal but also proved “ रोल बड़ा होना चाहिए लंबा नहीं”.

It’s a tough rule of life that one gets stuck in his image and to break those shackles is not easy. Viju Khote was liked and seen till almost recently and whichever the roles he had, they were worth remembering whether it was Shambhu Kaka of ‘Golmaal 3’or Shirish Appa of ‘Ventilator’ in Marathi.

I am not a big fan of movies, but some losses hurt and when a humble human being makes an exit, the emotional connect strengthens more.

Maybe Viju Khote deserved more, but whatever he gave us will always be cherished and he will remain in our memories forever.

RIP Kalia ! The real Viju Khote 🙇‍♂️ 🙇‍♀️ 

Disclaimer: The blog doesn’t talk about the film industry and its actors. It’s going back down the memory lane for one of the finest actors of Marathi and Hindi film industry. 

Image Courtesy: Hindustan Times

An enigma called Sharad Pawar!

Once upon a time, there lived a man who was young, dynamic, had a political mind and the political pundits along with aam janta of the state soon realized that it had found a protégé, enough to be called as future of progressive Maharashtra.

Maharashtra till then, was known for its leaders being tied to their ideologies, principles and bound to the election mandate.  It soon found that the young man had big political ambitions and he overturned the political platform to become the youngest Chief Minister of Maharashtra at the age of 39.

The  protégé turned into a Political Wizard. An ideal example of an able administrator, a leader who ensured his followers are taken care off and an institute was born, which became an inspiration to young aspiring leaders across political differences or ideologies.

The young leader went on to rule Maharashtra for at least 3 tenures and was central minister for a long time.

A simple equation was realized, Power is permanent ! And the leader had the key to make it work.

As the leadership grew, so did the followers. The loyalist were staunch and they never deserted. That became an example, how a leader keeps his stalk together. However, intentionally or either, the flock became vulnerable to power and political kingdoms were born.

It took 40 years to convert a simple equation into a complex one for his opposition. Once a young leader and now a grand old patriarch Sharad Pawar has found himself in a situation where he is left only with family members and close confidants and even few among them are deserting his ship leaving the Titan and Titanic in oblivion.

Reality Check ?

The most important lesson is to sustain without power. Those who stay with you in your bad times, make wonders when your time is on the upswing. That situation was never presented to the followers. Even in 2014, BJP-NCP government was almost a reality.

The basic principles for which NCP was formed opposing Sonia Gandhi took a backseat as soon as Congress led government was a reality. Alas ! An opportunity was lost to sit in the opposition on principles and power continued for followers.

If Narendra Modi was Gujarat then Sharad Pawar was Maharashtra. But that was not to be. Changing the sides all too often, proved a big bottleneck for the inspirational leader. The people in Maharashtra could never rally behind him as 'One State' on the lines of Gujarat being with Modi.

Some journeys are inspirational and so is Sharad Pawar's, albeit the road-map went haywire as it was not planned from long term gain. If Modi went by the rule-book of his party, Pawar changed the book whenever an opportunity knocked to keep his followers happy. The intentions might be to provide power to the flock but once they were out of power, they  found a new ship and what they call as 'Mega Bharti' became norm of the day.

Maharashtra, after a long wait of years is presented by another young visionary in the current CM Devendra Fadnavis and may be we might have many Maharashtrian aspirations fulfilled by him in the future.

A key thumb rule, hopefully is not forgotten! Ideologies and parties can not be built by inorganic growth and additions would be subtractions if they are not managed based on ethics and values. One must not forget Ataljee's wait of 35 years which made 2 in 1984 to Modi's 303 in 2019 just through perseverance, commitment and belief in self ideologies and people.

Whatsoever ! Sharad Pawar will always remain an enigma of Maharashtra and National Politics and a thought will always remain, had his political trajectory taken a different path, then what would have changed for Maharashtra? 🙇‍♂️

Disclaimer: The blog is a mere observation on the current political situation of Maharashtra and does not comment and evaluate the policies or functioning of any political party.

Image Courtesy : India Today

Chandrayaan -II Mission so close and yet bit far 🙏

We Indians have always been fascinated by that astronomical body that orbits the planet and even the distance of 384,400 km from earth never made us feel that its an alien to us. It was always so close yet so far.

If mythology tells us Chand as one of the young and most good looking deities worshipped all over, the aura and love for it, has remained throughout ages even today.

चंदा मामा दूर के, पुए पकाए बूर के
आप खाए थाली मे, मुन्ने को दे प्याली मे !

The beautiful words made us connect instantly with that soothing Chandamama and the child in us could stop crying, eat instantly and could just spend many nights staring at him.

If the child in us slept instantly, Chand had an exactly opposite effect when it came to youngsters. It became a reason for them to keep awake the whole night as

रात का समा, झूमे चंद्रमा, तन मोरा नाचे रे, जैसे बिजुरियाँ
रात का समा !

to an extreme of

एक बात मान लो तुम, जो कहूँ मैं वो करो तुम
जो करो तो मेरा वादा, मैं करूँगी जो कहो तुम, तुम
तुम मुझको चाँद लाके दो !

All through the childhood to young romantic minds or religious old age, we never lost our love for that eternal Chand.

But there was one entity called ISRO, which never lost its focus on looking at Chand as an imapctful body which has capabilities to change the way mankind has lived so far. The belief by them made an attempt, what no one had done so far.

If Chandrayaan-I was about designing, developing and launching a mission to conduct scientific experiments. Chandrayaan-II was far more ambitious as it was about to demonstrate the ability to soft-land on the lunar surface and operate a robotic rover on the surface. The robot then would have studied and made us aware about the surface of the moon, minerals or test ice or water.

The moment of success was almost there and for a change 😊 kids, youngsters or oldies had the same goal for looking at that Chand and prayed for the 100% success of the mission. It was not to be ☹️. Nevertheless, being almost there has brought many success stories as well. Only 2.1 km remained out of those humongous 384,400 km.

As ISRO says, mission is 95% success and the Orbiter is already in its place which will keep the scientists continue their studies of the beloved Chand, though the communication is lost as of now. ‘Never Give Up’ mantra will keep ISRO on the job and hope they find a way to bridge that communication gap.

As they say, sometimes bad luck is more important than smooth sailing as it teaches us to be grounded, brings people closer, gives an opportunity to do better and the success what follows is always far larger than one anticipates in the first attempt.

As an Indian, let’s not forget that ISRO is those special ones amongst us who had the same childhood memories, young crush and respecting those age old customs or traditions and they will keep working hard till they achieve that eluded 5% success to be back on track.

Soon, the ISRO will make the those words real for us 🙏🙏

चौदहवीं का चाँद हो, या आफ़ताब हो
जो भी हो तुम खुदा कि क़सम, लाजवाब हो !

Image Courtesy: Geek

Disclaimer: The blog is a personal way of looking at the Chandryaan-II mission from common man’s perspective and salutes those extraordinaries amongst us. It does not comment on the mission, the technology or any individual.

Arun Jaitley: Final adieu to the leader

Two obituaries in two weeks of stalwarts of BJP and even in death, both of them ensuring to choose the same month for their exit as that of Atalji.

Sounds like, true disciples following the master even in death.

Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj, two sides of young brigade of BJP had so many similarities. The media put them as rivals in Delhi. Both were almost same age, contrasting oratory skills complimented each other, both ran equally powerful ministries with iron but seasoned hands, had similar ailments, similar treatment, quit active politics at the same time and bid final adieu within days of each other. True pillars for the  party and losing them is a jolt to BJP as well the nation. No two individuals could have lived lives so parallel to each other.

Arun Jaitley, one of the most suave politicians of all times, connected with intellectuals and downtrodden through his speeches, hard work, policies, governance and always came across as man of all seasons for his party, the BJP.

Though not a mass leader, master strategist in Jaitley ensured the pulse of people is known to the party. As one of the most trusted lieutenant of Modi Government, Jaitley ensured Rafale fly in the sky and one country one tax GST became a reality.

Whenever one heard Jaitely, it had a convincing impact on the audience. His legal skills matched his witty comments blunted the opposition to get his agenda through for the cause of the nation.

Leading a life in opposition for most of the career and when the opportunity came for long stint in the Government, the stalwart is gone.

RIP Jaitley Saab !! 🙇‍♂️

Image courtesy: Gulf News

Disclaimer: The blog is personal homage to a leader who came across as one of the most seasoned politicians of all times. It doesn’t comment on political parties and their policies.