Is India heading towards another emergency?

Is India dangerously running towards a 1975 like internal emergency? If the symptoms of political instability at the centre due to loads of high level corruption charges against UPA ministers and impeding loss of Congress in state elections are any signification, then probably a forced emergency is not far off from today. There is also another important incident that will also add fire to the fuel is the inability of UPA in passing the Lokpal Bill in the monsoon session, which would anyway erupt the ire of middle class citizens who just took part in the trailer orchestrated by Anna Hazare. The nation will be compelled to watch the whole movie “India rises against corruption”, if the UPA government fails to pass the bill or deliberately stages series of conspiracies in diverting the public attention.

Maybe, there is no pertinent sign yet which can trigger the worst political crisis for the UPA government, but the things are not going well either in governance front, as every other day another scam is being unearthed and ministers are entangled into the larger scheme of that scam. Perhaps, few months down the line some more new scams will catch the headlines and the pressures from each block of democratic setup will be mounted on the UPA government beyond a tolerable limit, and that could be a tempting point for the ruling party to do something unusually gross, but not unprecedented.

If we analyze the political and economic situation in 1975, India was living in a complete dark age, no growth, no aspiration, no citizen empowerment, extremely battered by poverty, state-run sick enterprises, no consumer power, and moreover, sycophant media houses who were licking the boots of the then ruling party leader. However, 36 years after India has proved to be an emerging superpower in many dimensions, be it IT/ITES, telecom, biotech, pharma, R&D, retail, finance, or media, each segment has significantly contributed to the growth engine of this nation. The liberalization has completely transformed the image of India among the first worlds.

An interesting case of highly people empowerment can be drawn from this incident. During 26/11, when the government displayed some false empathy to Ratan Tata for supporting the security of Taj in the aftermath of terrorist attack, the legend of Tata Group snubbed and retorted that he can better take care of his property than what the state can afford to. What could be a more befitting response than this to the political masters of this country who think they are still the epicentre of power? There is much power polarized outside the Parliament. A country with 1.21 billion population coupled with boundless consumer power and 24x7 access to information can negotiate the gargantuan power of state with extreme tact and efficacy, and that's the beauty of democracy. I wish that nothing of that emergency-like scenario would happen again in India, but if that still happens it will be the permanent death of political democracy in this country. People are innovative now and they can formulate a new form of governance in this country with accountability, transparency, and certainly free of corruption.

The Swami Cult of India

India has witnessed the hypocrisy of many spiritual figures when it comes to the scrutiny of their real actions and activities. In the name of spirituality, these cult leaders first attract the most powerful persons of society as their devotees so that the latter can serve as the opinion leaders to spread their message effectively. The nexus of spiritual leaders with politicians, bureaucrats, and other elites in our society has harboured many scandalous incidents that have rocked the faith of millions of people in the spirituality itself. The visible good works implemented by spiritual trusts and their masters may seem however beneficial to the larger interest of society, no one ever gets to know the legality of transactions and how these funds pile up exponentially. These spiritual masters have not restricted their operations in India only, the western followers have helped them to spread their spiritual business outside India as well. So why people do easily fall prey to the magic spell of these swamis? Probably, the trust designed by these spiritual masters through a well-organized publicity exercise becomes so powerful that people start believing in the irrational theories. The gullible followers become secondary brand ambassadors to the cult designed by the spiritual masters. When any spiritual organization reaches a critical mass followers, the degree of publicity turns spiral and whatever illegal, irrational, and unacceptable starts receiving acceptance from anybody and everybody. Under the backdrop of this gigantic delusion many bitter truths such as drug peddling, sexual exploitation, physical abuse, child molestation, money laundering, tax evasion, and you name any crime, start confronting the larger-than-life holy figures of our society. Still their followers keep a blind eye to these large details of reality. Can their be any respite from these predators of society in the guise of spiritual masters?

Human Trafficking: The Darkest Side of India Shinning

Every year thousands of children go missing from the street and they end up their life in sexual exploitation, forced labor, slavery, begging, drug smuggling, and organ transplants. Sometimes police takes up cases to a certain level and finally leaves the progression getting frustrated because India doesn't have stringent laws yet to deal with the worst crime against humanity with iron fist. How poor girls and women from even industrially developed states of India transit places, change of hands and pass through harrowing experience of physical tortures before they are finally sold into brothels in metros is an indication of our apathy towards human values in modern India. It's not that the racketeers involved in this crime are only from the lowest strata of society, but the alarming fact that people from economically well-off sections are also aggravating the condition. Crimes against children and women are extremely high in India. There is no single passed day when media haven't reported about human trafficking, but hardly any case has reached a logical conclusion because human trafficking has transformed into an organized crime controlled by mafias and terrorist groups inside and outside the country. Even if a case is handled with due diligence, the kingpin of the racket stays at an arms length from the law enforcement agencies.

After 64 years of independence, India still struggles to combat human trafficking in the most immature manner. Though various laws like Immoral Trafficking Prevention Act, Bonded Labor Abolition Act, and Child Labor Act are available in India, the sluggishness of judicial system and apathy of law enforcement agencies compound to a more deplorable situation. Moreover, the awareness on human trafficking in India is very feeble and except few NGOs those are working towards anti-human trafficking, the participation of society has been dismal. We as a progressive society shouldn't ignore such a devastating crime against humanity.

Corruption Dichotomy

The great Indian middle class is a manifestation of huge paradox. The people who abuzz with protests and slogans against systemic corruption and align with Anna Hazare to show their solidarity for anti-corruption drive never know what's being cooked at their home front for their upbringing. It's a fashion in India that the same people who castigate others for a crime are often involved in the similar crimes. There is no dearth of armchair theorists here for judging others on a scale on which they stand nowhere. Blaming only politicians, bureaucrats, and judiciary won't be justified if we exclude the potential Indian middle class people who are equally a party to the endemic corruption in India.

Many sociologists and economists have written volumes about the epochal evolution of Indian middle class and their participation in accelerating the Hindu rate of growth, but the sad part is that beneath their glorious contribution to the galloping national and global economy lies a disdainful modus operandi that snowballs into a humongous collective greed, which drives them to achieve the unachievable through whatever means, and from there evolves the systemic corruption.

Corruption is a Frankenstein created by this middle class. If they are facing its brunt now, they shouldn't blame the ruling class only. There is an adage: as you sow, so you reap. If the ruling class is finally behaving unruly, it's you people who have endeavored relentlessly to transform them to this intolerable stage. Your charm for instant success and quick fame has eventually paved an eternal path towards systemic corruption.

Here are few pertinent questions to these middle class people who only know how to complain about others when their interests are challenged and regulated: Why didn't these people control their passion for collective greed? And why are they only blaming a selective few in this dirty game when they are also an indispensable part of it? When these people were enjoying the cake and eating it too, did they ask their parents as how was it possible? Did they ever inquire about the means of all the luxury they have had that didn't commensurate to the honest income of their parents?

And now that Anna Hazare has started fighting for a cause, which is of course genuine in nature, they are now showing their solidarity. Remember, Anna Hazare is truly an honest person. He has no intention for instant success or quick fame. What he desires is to bring in a solid mechanism to deal with corruption in every place and cadre. I have a serious advice to the people who want to be aligned with Anna Hazare: They should go back home and ask themselves and their parents first whether they are corrupt or not, if they get a satisfactory response, then they should come forward to fight against corruption. Till then they should correct their home.

Are we prepared for the worst case scenario?

As Japan escalates the threat level at Fukushima nuclear plant to 7, it clearly indicates that a Chernobyl like disaster is not far from here. Anytime, Japan can face the worst ever nuclear catastrophe after what it had brushed with at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, during World War II. The world nuclear scientific community is helplessly looking for a way out like Mahabharat's Abhimanyu who though knew how to penetrate a seven-layer of armors ring, but had hardly an iota of knowledge as how to escape from such dangerous plot. Beyond the sarcasm of irony, I would like to ask those scientists who are basking under the glory of a complex scientific discovery of nuclear fission, have they ever considered the grave concerns of an imminent nuclear catastrophe which could be a serious cause of complete annihilation of mankind from the surface of earth? What have they learned till date from the sequence of nuclear disasters emerged from Kyshtyn, Windscale, Three Mile, and Chernobyl? Even after 25 years of the Chernobyl incident, the nuclear scientists are still not in a position to design alternative processes to absolutely reverse the nuclear reaction, other than the moderation, and still claim they have achieved sky high in nuclear technology. I would like to remind these scientific jingoists that they are still at half way in their journey towards excellence. What's the need of the hour for them is to first come forward and find out as many alternatives to counter an extremely acute situation haunting Fukushima. Fukushima is not a regional case, it's become the gravest global concern given the visible repercussions the entire mankind is waiting for. This is the high time that the political leadership of Japan should shun the cocoon of introversion and act proactively to ask for immediate help from the western countries to evade a potentially dangerous nuclear holocaust, which Japan wont be the only country to witness, but the entire Asia, Europe and surrounding regions would face the brunt. If the international scientific community still doesn't have a fitting solution to counter Fukushima's gravest problem, then it's better to stop marketing a half-baked scientific discovery, which has more dangerous implications than any amount of contribution to economic progress.

Irresponsible Media

This week, a small-time magazine, published from New Delhi, which of course has been infamously known for investigative journalism, carried a scoop on Hasan Ali, the alleged money-launderer, exactly opposing the evidences collected by ED, IT, and other government agencies, and delivered its verdict that Ali is either a conman or a bluff-master and various high-valued transactions carried out from his Swiss bank accounts, as claimed by government agencies, have no corroborative evidences, while yesterday the same convicted revealed that what the black money issue looks from the surface is even much deeper and dangerous. By claiming that Ali also disclosed five other accomplices among which four are politicians and the other one is an oil magnate from Russia. Now the moot question is why that magazine ventured into a falsified media trial and clouded readers' mind with misinformation and plotted a counter-investigative story seemingly motivated by political interests of allegedly involved parties? Doesn't it tantamount to a contempt of judiciary for dissecting a case that is subjudice and overriding the facts, and a breach of trust with readers for publishing an undeniably pulp fiction and suppressing the truth? There are many such fictional stories concocted by media everyday at the behest of political leadership, administration, and even for personal motives. However, the gullible readers hardly delve deeper into the intent of the story because they blindly believe that media act as a watchdog in a democracy and whatever they publish, air, or broadcast are the ultimate truth. Remember my fellow readers, here is a severe caution for you. Next time you see a magazine cover with tantalizing punchline or a television news program tagged “breaking news” or “exclusive report”, don't fail to utilize your own intelligence before being swayed away by the false propaganda.

So why do some media tread this dangerous path and act contrary to their fundamental responsibilities?To understand this, you need to understand the business model of media. Worldwide media entities, be it print, web, or broadcast, bank majorly on the volume of advertisements and partially on selling the content. When ad revenue becomes insignificant then they try to adopt the patronage of political parties, government agencies, and business houses to sustain the running of their business. Then a dangerous nexus gets planted and what comes out from that ally is a deliberate co-creation of consent manufacturing syndrome that contagiously infects the susceptible mind of millions of readers, for the larger vested interest of the patron. And the previously cited Hasan Ali scoop is an illegitimate offspring of the marriage between media and politics.

Let's delve into another exciting scoop of this week. Lancet, a famous medical journal published from UK, carried a revealing story on “superbug in Delhi's tap water”, which has finally attracted the attention of Indian medical and scientific communities and Delhi government as well. The fact of the matter is that Lancet team could able to trace out some water samples being allegedly originated from Delhi and tested the quality in some lab and concluded that the sample contains traces of a superbug. And all this study and experiment was funded by an international pharmaceutical company that has already discovered some drugs to treat this kind of superbugs. By now it must be clear to you as to why that journal conducted such experiments and published that story. This is a classic case of media's illicit coupling with business group. The intent of this story was to create furor among people of the second largest populous country in the world so that an artificial necessity for the remedy can be manufactured via a trusted medical journal. What could be a smart marketing gimmick than this? But all these marketing tricks don't work always unfailingly.

Now the essence of this debate is that those media entities which are constantly hinged on the belief that they can manufacture consent and can work as opinion leaders in society should understand the ground realities of readership acceptance to a plotted story. People are not living in information silos. Every moment they are exposed to various other media to verify information, they are well-informed readers. Bullying the readers or audiences could be a dangerous proposition for their sustenance in media business.

Why corruption is rampant in India?

If politicians and bureaucrats of India think corruption is their legitimate right and they can stash up black money in Swiss Bank to a mind-boggling scale of $1456 billion, higher than the combined black money of other nations, and still expect the citizens of this country will sit back and praise their act of grafting, then they are in a serious delusion. People will rise, protest, and upsurge to fight back corruption in whatever form. The recent country-wide movement against corruption spearheaded by Anna Hazare and supported by public is a result of incessant complacency of law makers of this country in curbing corruption. The citizens of this country are not subjects of a feudal monarchy who would blindly support any wrong act and could not dare to show their spiraling frustrations oozing out from the suppressed informed cognizance. If some pseudo intellectuals in media circus and some politicians brand this act of movement as blackmailing the democracy, probably they need to go back to school to complete their understanding about functioning democracy. A biased version of argument doesn't tantamount the merit of the premise. No protesters who did participate in the crusade against corruption would like to hijack the soul of democracy. Every citizen of this country knows well the benefits of democracy and pursue his or her aspiration to help functioning of it in the most effective manner. If one could minutely analyze the essence of this recent movement, from any angle, it would look like a conspicuous collective consciousness of like minded citizens to voice against the systemic corruption, which has affected their daily life seriously. We shouldn't paint this act of genuine revolution as anti-democratic or blackmailing the government.

After 64 years of independence, India doesn't even have a comprehensive law to tackle the systemic corruption. A Lokpal Bill that was placed before the Parliament 42 years ago has been stalled by successive governments in all these years. It seems no political party in this country is genuinely uncorrupted. Had it been the contrary, our country could have an anti-corruption bill well in place, and the recent movement could hardly been experienced or observed. The most ironic incident is that VP Singh who won the elections by exposing Rajiv Gandhi's involvement in the Bofors scam even couldn't able to pass that bill in the Parliament. The visible fear psychosis of politicians is an indication of the fact that corruption in our country is not bottom-up, rather top-down. A couple of uncorrupted parliamentarians cant check the elephantine corruptions in this country. It requires inclusive and cohesive efforts of law makers and citizens at large to ensure a corruption-free country. If some politicians think that a powerful Lokpal Bill could be a significant degeneration of their sovereign power in looting public money, it's better they should leave politics and do whatever they want to do, India doesn't needs them. What's essential now is a progressive, transparent, accountable, and corruption-free political leadership at the helm of affairs delivering the results as desired by the citizens of this country.

Victory of people

There are times when citizens of a nation rise above the individual conviction, it becomes a collective consciousness, a mass sentiment, a universal perception in driving the human solidarity for a mission towards creating the history. This time it's the crusade against corruption. And the people of India from all sections of society have proved that the state supremacy defined by a wagon of selective elites of this country can't downplay the sovereign power of people in a democratic setup. Finally, the people of the largest democratic country have won a war against corruption by initiating a starting point by shaking the government to bow down to the public pressure that the so called Lok Pal bill which was first initiated during 1966 and put in the Parliament in 1968 for approval, but for some reasons it was not passed then and even by successive governments in last 42 years, has finally taking a historic move with an unprecedented decision in democratic governance. A history is created. And the entire credit goes to those people across the country who overwhelmingly supported Anna Hazare in this incredible journey to support the crusade against corruption. It's the single biggest victory of people after Independence. Undoubtedly, India has witnessed the power of revolution, a revolution that can even bend the toughest power block, as we have seen here, specifically in this fight against corruption, which erupted from a decision by Anna Hazare's fasting unto death, and eventually the people of India joined the movement to take it forward. If it's a historic call by Anna Hazare, the people of India have responded to it overwhelming. This is a triumph of Anna Hazare, and this is a victory of people. Long live the spirit of citizens.

An Open Letter to Prime Minister

Dear Prime Minister,

The entire nation is leading to a mega transformation that will metamorphose an extremely corrupt and defunct system you are heading for over seven years. Under your leadership, many ministers have hustled public money so ruthlessly that I have no bad words to narrate their darkest intensity. Be it Raja's involvement in 2G scam or Kalmadi's in CWG, you have been a silent observer to the lowest point in democracy, when a serious horse trading banged the floor of the Parliament during UPA I. In all your heart and soul though you realise what's happening around you, I am not only surprised but equally disturbed and pained to notice your callous behaviour towards the demand of civil society for eradicating corruption, in whatever form, from this country. In all these years, post your entry into politics, you have certainly forgotten your values and ethics that you once carried along till you catapulted from a civil servant to a politician. Probably your greed for the highest position in a democracy has shadowed your conscience and you are in a state of megalomania.

But remember Sir, the luxury of being the prime minister of the largest democracy of world is not eternal. Even the most powerful political dynasty in Independent India has failed to maintain the continuum. The time is not so far from now when the same political party, for which you have ditched your consciousness, will ditch you when their candidate for the top job is ready to take over. You will be then a member of the same pedestrian that a common Indian citizen is treading. You will not be a part of the same power circle that you are enjoying now because primarily you are not a politician and in all these years you have never been elected to the Parliament even once by the mandate of people, secondly, you don't have clout in the system, which will support you even if you are not in power. Remember, you are just a puppet of an empress and this impression is loud and clear in public domain. Your careless attitude towards the grave concerns of civil society during this anti-corruption crusade has made it much clear that you will never be disloyal to a political party despite what may come, but at the same time you can ignore your responsibility to billions of citizens of this country. That's the reason why people don't consider you either an honest politician or a charismatic statesman.

Sir, this is the high time you must come out from the cocoon of power and luxury and just experience an unprecedented movement that's spreading like a wild fire, not only in India, but outside the country as well. Citizens of this country have provided extraordinary solidarity to a cause that your administration should have looked into well before. People of this country don't expect much from you other than a holistic Lokpal bill that will be powerful enough to curb the rampant corruption autonomously.

Sir, fasting over 75 hours the 72-year old Gandhian activist, Anna Hazare, is fighting for demolishing corruption and thousands of people from all walks of life are joining his crusade with the same indomitable spirit, you have given a deaf ear to the rational protests of civil society. And if the echoes are not reaching you yet, this could be a dangerous proposition for the existence of this government and your position as prime minister as well. Wake up Mr Prime Minister, lest the citizens of this country boycott the political democratic system sine die.

Yours sincerely,

An honest citizen

Revolution 2.0: War against corruption

The nation is united again, not to celebrate a national triumph such as world cup 2011, but to fight back the endemic corruption that has affected every citizen in this country. The solidarity against corruption has finally evolved into an unprecedented anti-corruption movement in the post-Independent India. This is a war between two sections of India, a section of India looted and ditched by the other one. So, which section do you belong to? Remember, this war against corruption will not subside until the revolution takes a logical conclusion. A conclusion that will be absolutely disastrous and unimaginably dangerous for the corrupt people in this country, be they politicians, bureaucrats, or the elite entrepreneurs who are bending the law of this land for profiteering and becoming a conduit for larger scams. No one will be spared this time. If any corrupt person is sitting in a cozy cocoon and enjoying his or her life with the taxpayers' money and keeping a blind eye what's happening around today, it's a moment of great caution – your living delights will be destroyed by those oppressed ones that you have ruled them, harassed them in every occasion of intersection, robbed them openly in broad daylight, for decades together uninterruptedly wherever and whenever your power allowed to do so, so brazenly that even today you bloody corrupt ruling class don't have an iota of empathy for them. Your good time is over now. The India has risen. The youth brigades of India have again shown their power of conviction. A conviction that once freed this nation from the British rule, and now from the chain of endemic corruption that has impacted everybody's life.

If Anna Hazare has sparked the war against corruption, the growing solidarity for the crusade will transform this into a gigantic inferno, which will engulf the living monsters of this nation, the corrupt people of any genre. The way the anti-corruption crusade is gaining momentum across the country has eventually impacted every section of society and, irrespective age and class, gender and education, people are supporting this cause overwhelmingly. People's anger is rising like the eruptions of a live volcano. Incredible support, outpouring reactions, and anti-corruption slogans have charged up the ambiance. I wish this emotional solidarity should withstand the test of time, what may come, we must unite to fight back with a strong resolution. A resolution for a corruption-free India, a resolution for transparent governance, a resolution for accountability of the rulers of this nation.

The citadel is crumbling

Enough is enough now. Perhaps this is what everybody in civil society has started feeling off late. The surging corruption in politics and bureaucracy has crossed the limit of human tolerance. If the recent scams in 2G, CWG, Adarsh Housing Society, land acquisition, and mine leasing are any indicator of the degree of collective corruption in a democratic setup, then it's time now to overhaul the entire democratic process that fuels the endemic corruption.

Now that the young India is joining Anna Hazare's anti-corruption movement, the government is not only stirred or shaken, it's started crumbling. The tsunami of revolution is so powerful that one of the panel members, Sharad Pawar, has been forced to quit from GoM that is looking into Lokpal Bill. This is just the beginning of the uprising. The way the netizens are united over the corruption row, it seems the fire will wipe out the existence of this government.

Let's understand why Anna Hazare is opposing the content of this bill. Primarily, the proposed Lokpal bill, much touted as anti-corruption bill, is just another bullshit. The bill that proposes a panel to look into the corrupt practices of politicians including the prime minister contains a number of inherent flaws. The panel doesn't even have the capability to initiate an action suo motu. It's merely an advisory body and can give only recommendations, not execute any action. Moreover, it doesn't include the real bad guys of democracy, the bureaucrats, who are the epicenter of all corruptions. The nexus is always designed by the bureaucrats, they are the pimps who make all the deals between politicians and businessmen. And this bill has waived them off. Sounds ridiculous? True. When trillions of rupees are embezzled in various corruptions, the government is making a mockery of the democracy by initiating another bill, which can't even sting, forget about biting.

If the government thinks the erupting nation-wide anti-corruption movement will die down eventually, like any other movement, then it's gambling on the wrong block. This movement seems will shape into the vigour of another Jasmine revolution that has engulfed the entire Arab world. Long live the movement.

Radia Gate: The Kaleidoscopic Spectrum

The mother of all corporate lobbies, Niira Radia now cries foul, evading the hard evidences against her in the 2G spectrum scam. The most interesting fact is that she even doesn't care to call her a “small fry” while she was the queen bee in webbing the most complex nexus in the biggest ever scam in India. Everyone from politicians to bureaucrats, businessmen to journalists were the sober listener of her music, and the miles of tapes capturing her conversation with various big shots at different points are a reminder of her lobby power in the power circle, which she claims now a concoction. But the contrast here is that when her big boss Ratan Tata starts becoming candid about his relations with Raja and implicitly explains the “chemistry problem”, she still thinks to bamboozle the Public Account Committee (PAC), not a bad try at all. She is again spelling the abracadabra and thinks she could start playing her generic PR tricks.

Well, there is something beyond the Radia's lobbying magic. Radia as a PR strategist has played her perfect bit everywhere, whenever she sensed the corruption quotient in an official is at threshold to her lobby trap. She used her PR skills with extreme dexterity, like any other advocate protects a criminal client in the court of law, by swearing his or her professional ethics. Sounds irony, but the democracy has a room for everyone, that's the alluring angle of this system. But the contrast here is that Radia just now tries to disown her profession and even she doesn't bother to claim her a bumpkin who is too small an influential person in this world of networking.

Now I have a piece of advice for Radia: Why doesn't she close all her PR shops and start venturing into politics? I am sure she can be a better contender in this ball game, and certainly she can easily get a ticket from the Congress too. She has done a lot for the party and every citizen of this country knows it well. Never mind, she can even take the role of Pranav Da for managing the numbers for UPA. After all, it's all lobby. Huh!

Public Figure: Private Life

Why has sexuality been the worst emotional vulnerability of the toughest mind? The history has its fair share of garrulous exposition of sexual escapades of many famous leaders of this world. Furores, disbelief, and sensational macabres strike the susceptible chord of a civil society when there is a breakthrough in the deadlocked personal calibration of public figures. Now the moot question is why the sexual habits of historic figures still matter to the collective consciousness of a progressive society? Is it the primordial instinct of a human being that triggers an erotic sensation in the mind or a Freudian tipover that raptures the grey zone of cerebral hemisphere in a response to the sexual misadventure of an influential personality in our society? No psychologist or sociologist in this world has a justified, veritable answer to that, but the facts remain, after millions of evolutions of human being, the basic desires, irrespective of class, position, power, and degree of success, have never been transformed. Perhaps, this is the secret that many famous authors and media persons have understood DNA by DNA and maneuver this technique repetitively while writing a piece on the private life of a public figure.

Let's understand the hypocrisy of these great authors who dissect the sexuality and morality of renowned public figures are equally vulnerable to these basic facets of life, and no one can deny that being famous is not a design of the womb. It's an amalgam of great conviction, indomitable courage, and enterprising nature that can metamorphose a common man to a famous personality.

Whether it's Joseph Lelyveld, a Pulitzer Prize winner, who recently wrote a book “Great Soul: Mahatma Gandhi and his Struggle with India; or Lothan Machtan, a famous German historian, who wrote “Hitler's Secret: The Double Life of a Ditator”; or Helen Rappaport, the author of “Conspirator: Lenin in Excite”, each one has a distinct perspective of private surreality of the lead character. But each narrative is exclusive in itself. How many readers really look into the brighter side of famous figures? In their mind still lies a spark of dormant inquisitiveness to delve into the secret satire through a predefined conduit, and this deepens the suppressed curiosity and ruptures the firewall of civility towards a voyeuristic journey.

Remember, these famous public figures are first a commoner and then by dint of their enterprising pursuits become renowned. There is no offense in being a human being and behave like that only. However, there is a bit confusion in the public perception that great personalities are less human and more godly, and this deformed view creates all confusion. Let's think beyond the private life of public figures, their vision, their endeavours, their leadership charisma, and their immense contribution towards the greater good of society at large. Then probably we can ignore such trivia and smaller details of human side.

New legend is born

The long wait is over. India has conquered the world of cricket after a spell of 28 years, a period that was filled with despair and discontent, at least for the cricketers and their diehard fans across the country. Though India had won many international cups and trophies in all theses years, winning the world cup is equivalent to winning a world war, and with yesterday's triumph over Sri Lanka, India has lived that glorious moment, which once was the most sought-after aspiration. On this remarkable feat of human achievement, India has again united, united in contagious spirit and emotion, united during the highest national glory.

The frenzied fans across the country have risen above all social isms, all man-made limitations, and they are creating a new social order, in a sense that, nothing can surpass the true desire of human being, even the universe will come down to its knee when billions of hopes and wishes amalgam to emerge the most powerful active force in ensuring that any human desire however grand can be achievable.

There is a great learning from the boundless emotions displayed by billions of cricket fans across the country, a learning that confronts all politically correct prerogatives, a learning that dismisses all pseudo-intellectual theories established by the old order, a learning that only Indian youth power can throw upon the aging mentality.

Look, the spirit of youth is so huge that the power of state can be insignificant under its rage, and this fact has been written on the rock. Remember, this infinite glory of India in the Cricket World Cup 2011 is the mass power of Indian youth at large. We have observed mass revolutions across the world at different points of history. These revolutions symbolize the ferocity of youth power. And now we can undoubtedly claim that India's youth have surpassed all hurdles and showcased this world their influential power. This is a special moment for youth orchestrated only by the youth of India. Many cheers to the youth of india. Long live the youth spirit.

India Wins World Cup 2011

This is the brightest moment that no Indian can ever forget in his or her life time, the moment of dazzling glory, the moment of magnificent triumph, the moment of amazing feat, the moment for each Indian to feel proud for the greatest achievement endeavoured by the Indian cricket team, the the moment of winning the Cricket World Cup 2011, despite the gigantic challenges that seemingly haunted Indian team on many fronts in the grand finale. This is the highest achievement ever conquered by Indian cricket team after a span of 28 years. We have made it finally. We are on the top of the world. It's a collective consciousness of the Indian team. A consciousness that has touched every Indian to believe in the mission of Indian team to live up to the expectations of billion plus citizens. And it's official now, nothing can stop the spirit of undiluted team work of Indians.

The unbridled euphoria has now touched the sky. The firecrackers are impeccably electrifying the vast night sky of India, the way we celebrate during national triumphs. The emotions have evaded all rationality, all physical norms. Because if there is one invisible potential force that connects the psyche of every human being, it's the emotion, and that emotion is subtly running high in to witness the greatest achievement by Indians. This is an unprecedented moment to witness and cherish with great spirit, the spirit of human achievement. Tonight is the most unforgettable moment for India to showcase this world that we can achieve even the most challenging and the harshest task because we believe in ourselves, we trust in our team work. Congratulations India. May this spirit of India bring us many such glories.

Mission World Cup: The Grand Finale

The judgment day has finally arrived. Billions of viewers are holding their breath for the grand finale that would certainly repeat the triumphs of 1983. After few hours from now the entire nation will witness the blitzkrieg of Indian cricket team against Sri Lanka, which in all probability, an equal partner in the World Cup 2011, but I am sure now every Indian is earnestly looking for that sky-clasping glory that once we had at the Lord's, with all our legitimate might. The formats of cricket have evolved drastically in all these years and the Indian cricket team has been transformed as well.

The entire nation is on an extreme emotional high because this is the moment when every Indian is chasing just one dream – winning this world cup what may come. That's the patriotic spirit of every Indian, we often notice especially during international cricket matches. At least in a country where political forces are constantly after the mission of divide and rule, the cricket has helped bind them in a patriotic spirit. Cricket is beyond politics, above any religion, and the only unified force that touches billions of hearts. When any event touches the mass consciousness, the entire universe works towards that singular objective.

Though we cant ignore the finest batting and fielding skills of Sri Lankan players, there is still a caution, the Indian players are on their peak performance. This world cup too has witnessed the potential capability of Indian cricket team when they took over two powerful contenders Australia and Pakistan, If anyone thinks, Sri Lanks might repeat its luck of World Cup 1996, there is not much merit in that argument because the parameters of winning today are quite different from what were 15 years ago. Remember, this is the moment for burying the despair of 1996, what could be the better opportunity for Indian cricket team than this. India is all set to embrace the triumphs of the grand finale. All the best India.

Census 2011: Beyond Statistics

Even after India's much touted economic growth in the last decade, Indian mindset is still feudalistic, and this is evident from the provisional census data for 2011. According to the census report, the 1.21 billion strong country has displayed the worst child sex ratio post independence, a reference point to support the argument that the ugliest side of humanity doesn't connote to how filthily rich a person is, rather how he does prefer to enjoy his fatherhood of a male child by discarding the female one by exploring the medical technologies widely available in a consumer world.

This is, of course, not a freedom of social or family choice, but a collective criminal mentality that has been haunting us for many decades. We must admit now that India still struggles to escape from the dark age of gender bias despite increased literacy and emerging economic freedom. Though many startling reports on female foeticide have been highlighted in media, the government hasn't done any significant reformation in policy level to check this social disgrace.

The report reveals that the sex ratio (number of females per 1000 males) for 0-6 age group has dramatically plunged to 914 in 2011, from 927 in 2001. A fact that looks not only dismal, but terrifyingly disgusting. And the contributors to this hall of shame are none other than Haryana (830), Punjab (846), and J&K (859) those score the bottom three. The alarming news is that the female foeticide is unbelievably high among the economically affluent society, a trend needs to be corrected soon, lest it becomes a dangerous proposition for social balance.

However, there is something to cheer about: the population growth rate has been decelerated (a trend essential for the development of this 2nd most populous nation in the world) compared to 2001 trend and the literacy rate been increased, especially the female literacy. The national literacy rate has increased from 64.83 in 2001, to 74.04 in 2011.

Mission Mumbai: India's tryst with triumph

The unbridled euphoria and ecstasy of yesterday's semifinal triumph has not subdued, rather an eclectic mix of alpine hopes and contagious aspirations around the winning spirit has triggered an all-time high adrenalin rush to the collective hysteria of billions of Indians before the final, which I wish, would be substantiated when India will rip apart Sri Lanka's dream and embrace the final victory, again after a long spell of 28 years, and this time at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. A moment that every Indian is earnestly waiting for. And equally important is that the Indian team shouldn't be swept away by the semifinal victory, lest this sky-clasping success finds its way into their mind, the team spirit and strong conviction should be alive and the hunger for success shouldn't be waned in their heart, then nothing can stop India to beat Sri Lanka in the final.

As the sequence of events unfolding around this World Cup, and India's relentless efforts to tame down even the most wild ones is just a reminder of facts that the 2011 World Cup is only written for India. Here is another silver edge for India, the final will be played on home ground, in which most of the players are versed with the nuances of the pitch. Irrespective of Sri Lanka's high performance in this World Cup, India has a better chance of winning for select reasons – first, the team spirit displayed in recent matches reveals an exceptional bonding, which was missing earlier; second, the on-field tactical decisions taken by the the captain Dhoni has paid huge dividends; and third, there's no individualistic megalomaniac tantrums, perhaps, a significant benefactor to the overall winning strategy.

The entire nation is eagerly waiting for that overwhelming moment when our men-in-blue will jump in air with the tenth Cricket World Cup in their hands, a moment that no high-decibel word can explain the height of joy, a moment that no one can forget in their lifetime that India is a power to reckon with.

Clash of Titans

The war pitch is ready. The whole world is poised to take the minute-by-minute pulse of the most exciting match of World Cup 2011 that's set on the hottest pitch of Mohali. Often touted as the mother of all cricket blockbusters, today's semifinal between India and Pakistan will be the decider of this World Cup's real winner. If India wins today, the cricket history will be rewritten, in a sense that whatever conspiracy theories around punters' paradise have been brewed in over past few days, the most predictive proposition however may sound unbelievable, the business behind the winning strategy will be another obfuscating story for cricket fans.

This semifinal will be unique in many ways than one. Hopes billions of sportive cricket lovers are surging ahead with great conviction, may the best team win without any bias to the support, but will that happen? That's the most exciting question which will haunt the cricket lovers till the judgment moment, the split second that will keep the emotions hinged to the core of an uncontrolled chain reaction. And what next? An awe-inspiring stance, a moment for many to bang their head, and for some to jump from their seat and start a dance of macabre. Today is the day all those hyper reactions are set on fire.

If history is repeated, Pakistan will certainly has a large probability for winning, but at this point of time we cant ignore the animal spirit of Indian cricket team, which has already established the fact that winning this semifinal is stored for India on many counts, some are conspicuous and some are hush-hush. Though there are many attributes to the winning strategy of this semifinal, a lot depends on the greed quotient of players. Maybe, it's quite difficult to ascertain the veracity of reports that punters have started their business strategy, but the Pakistan government's declaration of huge reward system such as offering 25 acres of land to each player is equally a counter attack on the dangerous plan of punters.

But nothing will go opaque as far as the performance monitoring is concerned. No player can escape from the hawk-eyed spectators who in all probability can judge what's going underneath. This semifinal is ridden on a bunch of complex uncertainties. What may be the visible constraints for the players on the field, the cricket lovers will not believe that because only one paranoia that has already intoxicated them is winning at any cost, for their own team. May the best team win!

A dangerous cocktail

If a Fox News's report on the clandestine test-firing of a nuclear-capable missile by Pakistan from an undisclosed region, is to be believed, then India shouldn't sit complacent and listen to the lullaby composed by Pakistan. There is something more here, a potentially imminent danger braced up in this part of the world. Pakistan's deliberate distancing from the US and close ties with China for defence partnership is certainly an alarming sign that India shouldn't ignore. Moreover, the tilting of Pakistan towards China is more malignant than that towards the US because for all strategic reasons, the US will support India's interests in international forums. As China is evolving as the most powerful economy in Asia, there are significant threat perceptions for India in the light of geo-strategic locations. China's furthering beyond LAC in all these years is not a good sign either. Moreover, India's moral support to Tibet is considered as an anti-China stance by many Chinese officials. The major fear that China carries stems from the growing Indo-US relations, as both are politically democratic nations and also believe in the similar economic reforms. That said, China perceives a fundamentally potential threat if the neighbor Pakistan hobnobs with either India or the US. And from there evolves the China's strategic game plan, in which Pakistan becomes a natural ally. Though there is no immediate vulnerability from these developments, but India shouldn't bury her head in sand now because the future will anyway be defined from the India's relationship with the US and Pakistan.

Cricket diplomacy

When long diplomatic dialogues don't work, a high-profile invitation does wonders, and this is clearly evident from the sobering gestures shown by Yousuf Raza Gilani, the prime minister of Pakistan, after receiving a special invitation from his Indian counterpart, Dr. Manmohan Singh, for watching the World Cup semifinal match between India and Pakistan, being held at Mohali on Wednesday. So what exactly prompted Mr. Gilani to remit the jail term of Gopal Das, an Indian imprisoned in Pakistan for last 27 years, which was even unthinkable despite coherent diplomatic dialogues between two countries, for releasing this prisoner? What lies behind Pakistan's motive in this friendly gesture towards India, after two longs years of strained relationships post 26/11? Though India was sure about Pakistan's hand in the Mumbai terror attack, and even with repeated requests from the Home Ministry at different points time, Pakistan was quite adamant to support India in deciphering the terror links, the recent move on releasing a prisoner poses some unanswered questions. Will Pakistan extend its genuine support to resolve the impending bilateral issues? Can Pakistan, in all its boiling political heterogeneity, trust India's true efforts in reducing geo-political tensions haunting the region for decades? This is too early to comment on the larger dimension of political outcomes, but the sporting spirit shown by Mr. Gilani is highly commendable. At least cricket, as a popular sport, has proved to be an active conduit for a bilateral peace process.

The Judgment Day: Another Hoax

Come May 21, 2011. The entire world will be transformed into a bundle of mega devastation by the nature's fury and the real apocalypse is here this time, claims 89-year-old Harold Camping, the president of Family Stations, Inc., a California-based religious broadcasting network. Without criticizing his belief in any particular religion, let's be bit critical to all his previous predictions, which in all probability, he predicted, the world could have met the doomsday in 1994. And 17 years after, this world is still living its life like king-size with greater degree of progress, innovation, and overall social and economic development. His radio stations are continuously engaged in spreading the message that this time, the world will certainly meet the doomsday on May 21, with a massive earthquake with rip apart this earth and majority of world population will die within 153 days of “death and horror.” For that matter, he uses his deep understanding of Bible and numerology skill to arrive at this date, which he thinks is absolutely correct.

Well, I have never read Bible and I believe there is any need to read any religious scriptures to understand the complexities of nature. For that one should be scientifically knowledgeable to understand how this universe was created and how various evolutions and natural events have shaped this world over billions of years, what we certainly do enjoy living in with great conviction. Irrespective of all clairvoyance, prediction, and religious references, this world will not finish that way what these pseudo prophecies claim. There is a long way to go. And all these hoaxes become extremely nagging, as we are living in a connected world. A small, trifling piece of misinformation, which has no scientific evidence, often haunts us because every time we come across such tantalizing news, we forget to apply our intellect to see through it, and what eventually creates a complete chaos in the society. Perhaps, this helplessness nature of human being can be attributed to the irrational side of mind.

What Camping is doing in spreading such misinformation is an indication of his naivety in understanding the evolution of this world. Neither he has scientific capability to conclude the veracity of his analysis nor he has that immense rational strength to join the sequence of past events to extrapolate a probable incident, but again that could be entirely misleading too. So a prediction like the next doomsday is another hoax peddled through Internet.

What the hell WikiLeaks is doing?

WikiLeaks has recently garnered a lion share of public attention, all for wrong reasons, by disclosing selectively US diplomatic cables in public domain. This is, though evoked much public emotions, certainly not a responsive journalism that otherwise what Julian Assange believes in and has started pursuading the netizens. Getting access to confidential or secret government documents through a network of moles in various embassies doesn't necessarily a legitimate method of facts gathering or unfolding the larger truth that is bone deep, which often lies beneath the drafts of diplomatic cables. Many government documents published worldwide don't even achieve 50% of veracity in truth litmus. Now is the time for world citizens to understand what exactly Assange along with his WikiLeaks teams (read dubious informers) are doing. Before delving into the complexities of journalistic investigations, let's understand what these diplomatic cables actually are. Like the functioning of any other government establishments, the embassies also report on daily basis to their bosses based out in their native countries. Their primary mission is to keep a tab on the contemporary political developments and possible impact on the larger strategic interest of their nation, by engaging themselves with various senior government officials and political representatives of the country. What these embassy officials do can be compared with some highly placed PR guys, but there is a fundamental difference in their public status, the formers are kept wives and the latter ones are whores who can be with anybody and everybody to provide their service for a price.

So why these cables have made huge furore in world politics and media as well? And why the public including politicians and journalists, especially in India, have blindly fallen in love with the music composed by Assange? There is a serious a flaw in the modus operandi of Assange as far as journalistic rules are concerned. What Assange is doing is much like a postman opening a sealed romantic letter sent to a lover by his beloved and making multiple copies and distributing it to public who in all probability are much interested in peeping into the secret life of people and taking voyeuristic pleasure. That's what fundamentally WikiLeaks is doing and connoting it a serious act of journalism. Absolutely ridiculous. And the saddest part here is that people have started believing in those pieces of information, which are not completely free from errors. As I have said earlier, the information exchange between embassies and their countries' government establishments are a formal way of informing the political and diplomatic pulse, which also involves a great deal of futuristic and inspirational content that would excite the bosses who in all probability think they are the beneficiaries, otherwise the information delivered carries a load of factual incredibility to make this exciting. The WikiLeaks maybe trying to find a place for all its meaningless mission, of course, through dubious means, but that's not going to help resolve the larger issues this world is facing today. People still who believe in the authenticity of information leaked through diplomatic cables, they have a second chance to correct their understanding about the functioning of nations. There is much beyond these cables that governs the working of government establishments. This may be too miniscule a potential segment to impact the relations established among nations. I am sure the politicians, journalists, and public at large who still are wasting their energy on debating these dubious information leaked by WikiLeaks should correct their fundamentals on how secret information is exchanged between two entities.

An introspective period for the Congress

Everything is not hunkydory in the current hot political space of India. The ruling party is literally battered by a series of corruption scandals, many have been unfolded internally and many are peeping out of the holes of WikiLeaks, and the most astounding fact aligned to these trails of corruption is the support of Congress in the UPA alliance in betraying the trusts of a billion plus people and forcing this great nation to a state of despair. The shimmering political instability due to the furore over wide-ranging corruptions, coupled with idiosyncratic disillusioned coalition partners, has tightened the noose around this government. There are many reasons to the evolving political turmoil that has bugged the UPA in general, and the Congress party in specific. If we can remember the history of Congress, as the frequented ruling party at the Centre, it's quite conspicuous that the last three coalition governments led by Congress including the current one have been involved in large-scale corruptions. That said it also doesn't suffice the sanctity or integrity of the Congress as a political party either led by Indira or Rajiv. India has been a silent observer of highhandedness of this party at different points of history including the internal emergency during 1975.

The coalition government, as initiated by the then VP Singh, the crusader of political corruption in India, has lost its true sense. Now it's more dangerous a political option to govern the largest democracy of the world with whims and fancies of regional parties which in every now and then gamble the political decisions in difficult times, whether it's civil nuclear bill or any other bill. The recent government, despite being headed by an honest, intellectual, wise statesman like Dr. Manmohan Singh, has revealed the wildest dark zones of coalition politics. Instead the cognizance of many political offenses happening under his nose, he stands helpless and stoic, for the simple reason that he has to follow his coalition dharma. And the irony is that despite all corruption charges against various UPA coalition partners, he still manages to share a mysterious smile that reveals much of his expression than what he intends to hide from public. That's his eternal magnanimous character to stay cool and keep a blind eye to the political rampage stirred by the coalition partners, and perhaps that's his most preserved strength, which has impressed Sonia Gandhi for last two elections and compelled her to choose him the right candidate as the prime minister. At least, he understands the reality, and has also experienced it many times, that he, being the prime minister of the largest democratic country, is still not an elected representative of people. What could be more exciting than this? But the Congress party will never accrue any long term benefit as Sonia Gandhi aspires a smooth dynastic power transition to Rahul Gandhi in the next election. It seems, as the current political equations are brewing up, Rahul will be the most unfortunate scion of Congress losing a golden chance to rule this nation.

The evidences are clear now. Rahul Gandhi's down-to-earth personality and hardwork haven't even charmed the states across India. Over these years the Congress has lost contacts with the states, and if the regional political upsurges are any denominator of current power matrix, it's quite evident that the next Parliament elections will be disastrous for the Congress. The major states including UP, Bihar, Gujrat, West Bengal, Odisha, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu are either ruled by a regional party or BJP. UP most of the times was ruled by Congress; however, in last two decades, the regional parties took control of the state politics. So, if we seriously analyze the political dynamics of India, the mushrooming regional parties in reality have understood the pains of state citizens, and hence their continued success is an indicative of drastic failure of central parties like Congress and BJP. If anybody in the Congress could seriously understand the importance of state political leadership was none other that Rajiv Gandhi. His unfortunate demise was a turning point in the political aggressiveness of the Congress. And the post-Rajiv Congress party has been absolutely directionless, nonstrategic, and tactless. Both Sonia and Rahul have failed to understand the gravity of reorganization of the party at the state level. Sonia's selection of Manmohan Singh as the Prime Minister for consecutive terms was a grave mistake, especially in the lights political standpoints. Though Sonia's fear of losing her leadership control over the party could have been imminent given an alternative to Manmohan Singh, but her worst fear has yet to come, when Rahul will be betrayed by Indian voters in the next election. Though I don't vouch for any senior leadership in Congress for the post of Prime Minister, Rahul Gandhi could have been the best bet at least for the 2009 elections, despite his naive and immature stint in politics. Moving away from this option was the grandest mistake executed by Sonia Gandhi, maybe due to fear for some unknown reasons, but those were necessarily irrational. In India, and exclusively in political race, the charisma of any dynasty has been highly effective. If Rahul could have been the Prime Minister, he would have immense power not only in drawing policies effective for state levels, but also could have helped reorganizing the state leadership for the Congress party. The so called grassroots development and especially state concerns have been sidelined by the Centre in last two elections. Being just a remote control of power, Sonia Gandhi has under-weighed the serious reasons in political game, which could bring in devastating results in the next Parliament elections. Still she has time for course correction to evade the imminent danger, if at all she wishes to do. Are you listening, Sonia Ji?

Conviction is more powerful than statistical extrapolations

Yesterday, India smashed Australia in the quarterfinal at the Sardar Patel Stadium at Motera. And that's now an established fact, rather than a million dollar speculation. India made it with exceptional fete. Though I am not a cricket frenzy, as an informed citizen, I just keep a tab on the events happening around and sometimes I speculate conclusion based on the various predictive parameters attributed to past events, this, you may connote, a statistical extrapolation. But remember, this statistical analysis based on the previous hard facts maybe misleading, and the chances are that the prerogative of winning gets blurred when the analysts believe only in hard facts, not on the many symbiotic parameters those have some potential impact on the results. That's what proved excitingly unthinkable when the predictability of winning took a different turn right since the Indian cricket players started believing in their conviction and inner strength, which eventually catapulted them to the winning platform. I was terribly wrong in applying my unchallenged math skills, but in all those objectivity I missed a quite critical subjective side of winning - the people, their spirit and the teamwork - which no scientific methodology can explain now, even in future as well. That said I would like to remind those people who believe purely in the mathematical formulas or scientific methods that, in contrary, prediction is much more subjective that objective analysis of historical data. A great conviction can even make a sea change in the progress of mankind, and what could be more glaring example than India's winning in yesterday's quarterfinal.