The year 2009 for the Indian Sub-Continent--a year to remember

Its been a year worth remembering for the world. The global economic downturn in the west effecting the whole world. But for the Indian Sub-continent its more than the economic saga. Its been a year of paradigm shift in political nature of the peninsula. While India prepared itself for the great democratic exercise-The General Elections 2009, the counterpart Pakistan's democracy was tumbling. The hostile advent of Taliban into the SWAT valley of Pakistan was spelling doom to the existence of the nation of pakistan. A nation fighting for the survival of democracy since its inception in 1947. Sri Lanka was planning a major offensive on the 26 year old LTTE movement. The same LTTE which assasinated Former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi 17 years ago. As the Congress party emerged victorious like never before since Rajiv's death. The end of LTTE and Prabhakaran was followed by the emergence of a new Congress under Rajiv's son Rahul Gandhi. The death anniversary of Rajiv Gandhi is befitting with the timing of the assasination of his assasin Prabahakaran. And the day after that on the 22nd, the formation of a new government of post Rajiv Congress would take place. In a nut shell, this year would be written in golden letters in the history of the Indian Sub-Continent.

A General Election in Chaos

Its been never like this. It seems everybody wants to become a prime minister. Though people had dreams before also , they were deep beneath. But what is the most striking feature about this general election is that everybody is so open about it. Be it the numerous fronts opening every other day before the country goes to polls. Everybody is busy showing their importance in forming a government. Be it Mayawati , Lalu Yadav or Mulayam Singh Yadav. The ironic fact is that they are indeed important. And nobody knows who becomes the winner. Finally the time has come when India unleashes its Unity in Diversity phenomenon across the world. The largest democracy is indeed the most volatile in the world. The maniestation of which comes in the economic policies of the country.

The worrying picture is the changing colors of the political ideologies of the parties. There is utter confusion in which the voters dont know exactly who will be their messiah. The confusion is further heightened by the cross fire between the leaders. The leaders who are not even sure which side of the government they are. One can see the act of fine balance and fear of the political parties in their speeches and manifestos. The two major political parties of the country Congress and BJP have grown old. They need support from their children which are the numerous regional offshoots of their parent parties Congress and BJP. A joint family system form of a government was proposed to save the country and NDA and UPA emerged.

Again a problem arose in which the GenX had the demands and wanted attention. It seems as if the 21st century society was manifesting into the political scenario. Many children deserted their ailing parents making adoption the only solution for the parents. Children from diverse backgrounds joined and new families arose.

World's largest democracy

Its been 62 years since we became independent and the saga continues. The world's largest democracy is still continuing its "Tryst with desiny". You talk of India and the image of an emerging superpower is what the world talks about it. IT is the force people think will drive India to be an emerging superpower in the twenty first century. But when we get back to basics, things seem different. India is shining but the majority of its population is still reeling under the darkness, the darkness its freedom fighters once dreamt would be gone. " At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom" that is what Nehru said in 1947. But the question remainds to be answered. Have we lived upto it? You ask the historians, you ask the leaders, you ask the middle class they will vouch to say that it is indeed the India we wanted to make. An India where educated people find numerous source of employment and an opportunity to fulfill their hopes. But in the process nobody will beg to differ the majority of the country has been forgotten. Our promise to humanity has long been forgotten as we submerge our souls into the self pleasures of materialistic and western influence.

I might sound to be a preacher who is disillusioned with the democracy and the development of the country. Or may be socialist. Demanding an equality to all human beings and equal distribution of wealth. But the fact is that I am still speaking for the majority. A majority which still decides whether the government will go centrist,leftist or to the right wing. People who still find nothing out of a democracy in which they have been participating for the past half a century.

I do not hate democracy. Infact I believe it is the best form of governnance a nation could have. Then what has really gone wrong? What has made the country which constitutionally has a government " For the people by the people and of the people" go against the majority of the people. The question still loooms large. Multiple parties, all forms of ideologies some left, some right, some centrist, some secular, some nationalist, some socialist ,some capitalist but the people have never gained anything out of it. What has really gone wrong? Lack of leadership ?? From a group of 1 billion people and one of the smartest on the earth( I bet you are too proud of your IT skills). No I do not think so. There have been several great leaders of all sorts. So where the real problem is? Karl Marx once said "Hitherto, every form of society has been based ... on the antagonism of oppressing and oppressed classes. " Majority of the people in India have been never taught what democracy is all about. The very meaning of a government have been presented into loyalties pertaining to religion, caste and creed.

Time has come we stop this process and end this divide. If we do not then there will be a problem We say the educated should vote, the middle class should vote. But then the solution is short term. Because we know the middle class will always be outnumbered by the poor lot. So its high time we build a society which has people who are educated enough to select the right pack of people to run their country. I know its not easy nor is it going to come instantly but we do have a responsibillty. A responsibility to our nation, our democracy and the society. Make a difference, teach atleast two people around you and the country would be better off. Start by atleast casting a vote and making a difference. Its as simple as that.

I chose love over hatred

"What the hell is this?".They can't show this. I mean this is ridiculous. I wont sit to see this god damn movie. After all I am a proud Indian. As I stepped into Amherst cinema to see this movie I had no idea about the movie. Slumdog Millionaire. How could he call us the "slumdog". I made myself sit just for the heck of it because I had no way to go back home. I had to wait for my friends to drop me off. Slowly the "white" perspective of India unravelled before me. Much to the acclaim of the local residents who were awed at the kind of life people in India live. I was biased. I could not see the truth. But inside me there was a creative, an unbiased human who could see his soul soaring high in hope when he saw the excreta covered little boy filled with triumph after getting the autograph of the man who was the hope of his life. Scenes moved and background score gripped me. Extraordinarily genuine performances were making me like the movie but I was in a denial mode. A patriotic denial of which I was so proud of. Grandson of a freedom fighter who in his 23 years of small life had so much of bias inside him. The movie ended. I could definitely say that the first 2/3 of the movie was a pleasure to watch. The child artists made it possible. Still the fact that the movie was a western perspective of India. Especially a British director who was busy dramatising the poor slumdogs. I told my friends I wasn't very happy with the movie. Most of them disagreed with me.

After close to 5 months I seem to be the most happy person amongst my friends after the Slumdog Millionaire won 8 oscars. An award which I never cared about. Infact this was the first time I was seeing it. The same denial mode had kept me away from watching a western movie award. As the awards were being given one after the another on the backdrop off "Jai Ho" I could feel an adrenaline rush. The one which I last felt when India used to beat Pakistan in cricket in the mid 90's. I had lost the feeling since then. As I write this blog with Jai Ho blasting my ears I am filled with a sense of pride and humillity. A sense of immsense respect for Danny Boyle, the British director whose perspective I was so disgusted with.

This is my journey of hope. My reason to open the blog after close to 1.5 years when I thought Shawshank was a fiction and hope never existed. It was for the losers. The exploited class. Those who could neva achieve in life. Barack Obama could instill some hope in me. But his "hope" was American. Something I couldnt relate to. All I could do was to appreciate it. But that was neva mine. Probably that is why his winning the Democratic nomination and then the general elections couldnt make that adrenaline rush through me. But the personal journey I went through from the day I saw Slumdog in Amherst Cinema to the day I could see Danny Boyle take the award changed it all. It changed the face of Oscar and the face of the man inside me. I was no more a "brown". I could suddenly connect with Danny Boyle. With the jury of the Academy who gave the 8 oscars to the slumdog.

Rahman chose love over hate and so did I on that day. I dont know if the movie deserved all the acclaim over its other competitors. But I do know that the people over here and across the world feel the same way as I do. As Danny stood with the child artists and the whole cast and crew of Slumdog on the stage with "Jai Ho" reverbrating and the whole world giving them a standing ovation. I could see hope. A hope on the backdrop of an economic recession, a hope on the fissure of the racial, religous plates the world floats on. The bonding which Danny had with his multi racial crew which made him fly the child artists from one end of the world to the other. Sharing the stage with people probably their "indian idols" would have dreamt of.

The red carpet will hold the history in it. A history of a kind of bond which generations would be grateful to. An ode to a British who saw the spirit of hope in an erstwhile colonial city which his country once proudly owned. He made the other side of the world appreciate the venture with such a large heart which left a question in people's mind. How could it be possible? Probably they love seeing India as a country of slumdog. But can we as Indians ever disagree on a fact that such places and people in India do not exist? Ask yourself.(plz dont "Ask the monkey", I know there is one inside everyone).

Many people still hate the whole undue hype and acclaim given to the movie. Go on with your thoughts. But one day I hope you also make a personal journey to optimism. Now Obama's american dream and hope seem more personal to me. America seems more promising and still a land where genuinity is given preference to everything. It is indeed a land of opportunity.

But as I have always beleived , my heart is in India. I would always prefer to spend the rest of my life there. But I take with me immense optimism and a whole new journey. Lessons I will always remember.

visited 15 states (42.8%)
Create your own visited map of India or determine the next president

visited 20 states (40%)
Create your own visited map of The United States or determine the next president

A drive to heaven

It was 12 in the night , I had nothing to do. I got a call from my colleague working up above at Heaven Inc. His job was a human stock broker. The human stock market was at a surge with the growing number of storms and hurricanes in the United States. He told me to put his street address as 13 Body Street.Heaven.As soon as I entered the address in my Garmin GPS.The lady told me to drive 1000 miles up above. The time for arrival was 13:00 EST. I started on my journey as usual with a drive thru from nearby Dunkin Donuts. A large hot choclate was all I needed to get myself to drive the 1000 miles up above. 

I took the road straight ahead which brought me to a T-junction. The sign on the road had the left to the hell and the right to the heaven. I took the right. The road curved ahead with a steep gradient. After a mile drive, I looked down to see the world beneath me. There were people hustling and bustling as if insects crawling for food. But it was all in a disorder, the uniform roads looked confused and so did the faces of people travelling in the cars beneath. The BMW's , Merc's and Nissan's all looked the same and so did the people. I could see the Boston Skyline as well as the Du Bois tower at Amherst. As I drove up the picture got clearer, I could see the whole United States. The south the north the east and the west. All seemed to look like the American flag.But the flag did not seem as good 

As I continued I saw other countries too. Everything was the same just that I was heading east and could feel the weather changing. I then came across Europe. All the countries were clearly visible with a clear demarcation with their respective flags. It seemed strange with a different view of the world, a view I could never imagine existed ever. But how come those flags? It felt as if I was dreaming. The road was completely deserted. I parked the car on the emergency ramp and put on the hazard lights. I drank some water and noticed a man driving a pickup truck towards me. He asked me if everything was ok. I answered that I was tired and wanted some rest. He introduced himself as Sam. A local sheriff who was on duty. Sam had no police car, he had no uniform and surprisingly , he had no communication system and Colt pistol. He said he did not need them as heaven was pretty safe with occasional human disturbances. He grimly said

"Its not as bad as its down there!!". I did not realize how bad it was down there from where I came until he took me to the corner of the ramp and told me to look down.

"Get up Andy..Get up !!". The guy sprinkled some liquid which had a healing touch to it. I asked him what spray was that. "We don't need those, water works well here". He later told me that the sight beneath was so polluted,dirty and hot that I fainted. He then took me to a water station. Water station , yes you gotcha!! They had water running their cars. I was wondering if I could take those down and get the whole gas debate to a halt.. He said I could not as it would burn as soon as I approached earth. I filled up my tank and headed up. Joe bid me goodbye. I asked for his cell number but he quickly replied "just close your eyes and take my name".I was amazed at his stupid sense of humour. But he was serious, they could talk like that up there. He said its all so clear you dont need RF waves to transmit sound. The air does it for you. I headed up the curve.

After around 400 miles I could see India my country. I thought that was it but it seemed different. The map I saw in my 7th standard geography books wasnt there and neither was the flag visible. I could not see ground beneath all I could see was hazy and small people gradually moving. There were occasional sounds of small explosions as if something had burnt with a more than normal flame. I continued my journey ahead till I saw the northeast. Thas where the picture changed and I recognized it indeed was India. I could see the Himalayas. I could see the Indian flag also. I then crossed Japan and then came back to the west coast and suddenly I realized that the GPS had lost the satellite reception. 

I was lost, I guess. Or had I missed some turn? But I was sure there were no turns. I continued on the downhill road waiting for the satellites to guide me to heaven but alas had I known they would fail to do that.I was on a road to nowhere. Lost and exhausted after seeing such scenes of human disgust on the planet earth.Suddenly I could see the car dropping to a gradient down below to what seemed the Chicago skyline. The satellites suddenly sprung back and I could see the destination in other 0.4 miles. The street had come and it read " 13 Peabody Street. Haven.Illinois"

I was greeted by my friend at the entrance door. He explained me how his company Heaven Inc did the stock brokerage business with the "human touch". Thas where the human stock market came from. "What a way to market " , I grinned inside. 

I was lost in this incredible journey as my friend gave me the presentation for a new market strategy which could change the face of the earth. But deep inside, I asked myself. "Could he?"

Dedicated to all those who love thy Earth