Saki Naka: the land of chaos. So is Ghantaa Ghar of Ghaziabad, Dadar station or Bakaara market of Mogdishu in militant era Somalia – I am pretty sure you all have a list of places you dread all your lives.
I, for
instance would give a limb to escape this silly city and annihilate that hell
on Earth called Saki Naka. I don’t need cigarettes to kill me. For each time I
pass Saki Naka (which is twice every-day), my life reduces by a fraction. The
rowdy crowd, the filth of the planet and eternal chaos on whatever’s left on
the road: leads to a remarkably high blood pressure and mental agony – slowly
rotting my flesh and soul.
This had to be the most dreaded place on the planet, or so I
thought. Until today, when I happened to watch Sushma Swaraj soldiering her
way, to make herself heard in that place they call the Parliament of my nation.
Dear Ms. Swaraj,
Respect. That’s the word for you. For having been a real
worker throughout your life, for maintaining a commendable work ethic and
surviving between maniacs. I salute you for braving those mindless morons
shouting slogans yesterday and managing to get your message across.
I was let down a bit when you pulled up the Gandhi family so
blatantly, for fighting an accusation with an accusation was the forte of those
hollow ones. You - I see as a firebrand
fighter, who ought not to stoop to such levels. Come on! That “Mumma,
Quattrocchi ne kitna paisa diya” was too much for the Gandhi junior. Maybe this is the only way left for you to
work with these rogues; but I still expect you to be above this.
Anyway, I am so glad that you fought within the system,
right in the house, amidst that chaos and came across victorious. Somehow,
maybe even unknowingly, you have set an example for the youth: That this is indeed a country riddled with
scum of people (as proven in the parliament yesterday), and maybe we all need
to fight to make our own way rather than waiting for a fair & conducive
redressal system or a systematic way to proceed.
I have to say, Mr. Jaitley's speech was very impressive as well. How he calmly explained the issue in detail. I am happy to see the support you have within your own
party, which in these days, remains a luxury not many afford. Congratulations!
Dear Prince Pappu,
(#pappu.. While I expect a person of Ms. Swaraj's stature to maintain
dignity and limit her mudslinging, I have the luxury of slinging mud behind the
veil of a common man, who in some limited way is empowered to express
him/herself freely by our constitution :) )
You are certainly not ready for what has fallen in your
hands. Please explore the world and get back once you have proven something. My
recommendation to you is to embrace an environment (preferably in India) which
mandates struggle. Pick your stuff: sports, business, journalism, baba-ism & spirituality (quite in rage these days), services, acting – whatever you like.
Struggle is what characterizes the way of life (and possibly some success) in
our nation. How a commoner manages inflation, feeds his family, how a middle
class wars to get his family a scrap of so called luxury of electricity, food
and a home (otherwise a basic amenity in many countries I am told) and how a
businessman struggles to keep his enterprise afloat in this hostile environment
– You have a lot to learn.
It would be great if your dear bro-in law accompanies you
for these lessons; at least he could come to terms with how different life is
for the common man and the least he could do is be discreet about his loot.
Ah, one more thing. Please stop playing the bhola-bhaala boy.
Please do not ever pretend that you had no control over what your hooligans
were doing in the parliament yesterday. If you are still the leader in your
party, I hold you responsible for all that happened yesterday.
Or should I be
asking for your resignation?
When people say you are the ‘opposition’, that
does not mean you are meant to oppose each and every thing. For the act of your
idiots has cost my nation a lot of money, has stalled many bills critical for
the economy and hit the image of India by your acts of hooliganism. The
Parliament is not a place for such acts and I urge you to get some sense into
your people and uphold the dignity of this country.
Dear Speaker,
I can’t thank you enough. Thank you Ma’am: for managing the
house yesterday; for not allowing the catastrophic parliamentarians to murder democracy.
You reminded me of an old teacher of mine who had a hard time making us
cacophonic brats sit in the class or abate any form of destructive plan
incubated by us. Now a mature person, I always feel ashamed of the trouble we
created for our poor teachers. However, yesterday you stood through and bravely
managed something beyond what I had seen or experienced in the past.
“Show them on TV. I am requesting Lok Sabha TV. This is not
the way. I won't adjourn the House... Let people see what kind of behavior they
are showing. Let the whole of India watch. Forty people are hijacking the
rights of 440 members”- Your move was a masterstroke.
Dear Hooligans,
Shame on you. For your behavior, for creating a ruckus in
the Parliament, for your shallowness and for the lack of sense & brains.
I was left aghast by your lack of intellect – a point proven
when I tried to hear your slogans:
- “Ek. Do. Teen. Chaar.. Band karo ye atyaachaar..”
I had a hard time believing this and had to confirm this again
when you kept on yelling this multiple times. For this slogan served us last when
we graduated from class 3. Is that all you could come up with? Just shows how dead
your brain cells are.
And what good did you achieve, I ask? Asking a minister to
resign does not mean that you can stall the parliament. Do you realize the futility
of your argument? The country does not lose money when Lalit Modi travels to
UK, Sweden or Nalasopara. But we certainly do lose money when you sit in that
house and carry out your antics instead of facilitating something
fruitful. If the papers are to be
believed, each session costs somewhere in the tune of Rs. 2 crores. This is
direct cost; I am yet to factor other costs and as far as we citizens are
concerned, we need to see some concrete returns for our taxes. I do not shell
out that money for your drama.
This brings me to my request for coming to terms with
reality. You primary accountability is to the citizens of this nation, Pappu’s
and Madam’s orders ought to be secondary. Did you see how Pappu and Madam maintained
a silent stance, leaving the dirty work to you people? Do you even comprehend the
kind of fools you have been proven to be? Chanting a rhythm of slogans without
an iota of inkling on the proceedings in the Parliament: you could not have been
dumber. Your antics (under the leadership) have ensured that I will never
consider your party worthy of any meaningful outcome in the near future. In
fact, if you could legalize murder, citizens of the nation will make sure you
are crushed in seconds.
Dear Prime Minister,
Congratulations for completing a year in office. Amongst
many, some of the facts that have helped you earn respect are as follows:
- · You have worked your way up the ladder. I am sure you understand our country well
- · Winning an election in a country as diverse as ours is no easy feat, so you are marked an achiever
- · You have given that much needed push of positivity & hope everywhere, investors included
- · By addressing basic, and even in some cases, embarrassing issues of our country, you have brought hidden discussions in the foreground. Addressing the toilet issue in our country, cleanliness, etc. does provide a starting point
- · Make in India: Brilliant move.. While we are trying hard to directly jump from being an agrarian economy to a services based economy; I am still not convinced if we would get far skipping the production stage. Make in India is my hope of setting the basics of an economic cycle right.
- Hitting the fundamental problem for women safety: Asking mothers to question not their daughters, but their sons on what they were upto, their whereabouts (not eve-teasing, eh?), berate them if they ever considered women anything less- You made sure that I became a fan
- · While we have a long way to go, I feel that accountability has somewhat increased, with questions being asked across the bureaucracy and officials turning up on time
But now, that dreamy image is coming to an end. And one
thing I agree with those ruffians shouting slogans in the Parliament is that:
Please.. Get back to real work.
All those trips around the world are fine with the promises
of investments etc. but that is not exactly what only you are supposed to do.
Some pointers:
- · Gentle reminder: Ms. Swaraj is the external affairs minister, not you.
- BJP is not equal to Narendra Modi and Amit Shah. We would like to see the core team empowered further.
- · There are pressing issues back at home: that call for leading by example
- · Your personal interest in our domestic projects ensured that things went on as per plan and the officials were monitored and questioned periodically, pray get back and continue
- · I, as an Indian am never convinced on promises until they are delivered- The ‘hope’ of foreign investments needs a lot of ground-work before they are realized
- · Don’t get a bad bargain for us just to make news. For eg: the $35 billion investment from Japan sounds great as a headline. But there’s nothing in it for me. The Japanese banks are responsible for managing disbursements with no mention of Indian financial institutions; the asset creation proposed and the emanating revenue is still not clear. Plus, these investments come with riders. The money will never reach here until we assure that our reforms take off and the environment is worthy of a constructive development
I have to say: of late, your behavior is somewhat in the
lines what the country would expect a village idiot to do, once elevated to a
position of power. For instance, if you put me in a position of power, the
first thing I would do is scamper around to get myself invited to snazzy
places, make sure I am pampered by an army of dignitaries, clock as many air
miles as long as I am in power, and create a cocoon to protect myself from the
problems of the system.
Sounds good when I do it for myself, but not what is
expected from the Prime Minister of a nation.
Your current strategy of hard-selling without a robust
underlying product can take us only so far. May I remind you of the number of investments
that have returned thanks to the real environment at home?
Let us talk accountability in terms of numbers in a fair
period: say two years. Discounting problems back at home, delays etc., if there
is even a 35% realization of the commitments emanating from your foreign tours,
I may contemplate lauding the efficacy of your travel and may ask you to continue
with your globe-trotting spree. If that goal seems un-achievable, please get
back and work, before I place you in the same category as above.
