Change & Suicidal Bengali

I checked with dad, “How many seats do you think Mamata would get this time around?”

“They are saying it would be 50-50 this time. 21 seats each for CPM & Mamata”

Indrajit, a CPM sympathiser, said- Max to max 16 for TMC + Congress. While Drupad, a Mamata & kabir Suman die hard fan did not comment- but kept pleading in Orkut for voting for them…

At the end, the bell for the end of CPM has ringed. They are confined only to 9 seats (15 including CPI, FB & RSP). With assembly elections just two years away, knowing the Bengali Sentiment, End of CPM is all but certain. Only one person can save them and that is Mamata, by doing another self injuring blunder.

But how does it stack up for Bengal as a whole? Not good at all according to me.
Firstly- CMP in order to win back people, would not push Industrialization at all for next two years. Secondly- TMC, if voted to power, would not talk about it since this very anti-industry stance would see them home.
Lastly- With all other states pushing rapid industrialization, we would have no takers after 6-7 years. (I am sure Bihar would get the special status soon and most probably start attracting more industries than any other state in eastern India).

I am convinced that Industrialization is the only answer Bengal has to all the problems of unemployment, development and work culture. I have pointed this out in all my previous posts on similar subject. With Industry shying away, we would miss the tide Buddhadev tried to bring in and mess with the state.

But why committing this hara-kiri? The answer lies in N C Chaudhuri’s comment- Bengalis are suicidal. We love to live in the past, want to relish the glory of yester years while keeping a blind eye to the present realities. For long, we have been romanticizing - how others are envy of us and how they want to pull us down. We want to continue that. Even slightest hint of a temporary hardship for a better future, makes us nervous. We don’t mind turning into group of self destructing souls.

The main slogan for TMC in this election was for Change…

Ironically results show what we have pushed away is exactly that… CHANGE… The inner change.

Form Many to one

When I switched on the TV it was almost 6-30… About 11 am in India. The first words I hear was, “This is a setback for BJP & NDA”… I knew the significance of those words among the speculation of a hung parliament… For the rest of the day, the same message was replayed and retold by several personalities and several different ways… Yes, verdict on the general election 2009 was out. People had (almost) decisively accepted Congress and UPA as the choice for running the country for next five years.

When I look at the result, more than the loss of BJP & CPM, what strikes me is the annihilation or diminishing importance of the fringe players. SP, BSP, RLD, INLD, RJD, LP, TDP, NCP all had suffered embarrassment to the core. Ram Vilas Paswan, who once had a record for the winning margin, was grasping for words while commenting on his loss. Lalu Prasad was never seen during the day to comment on his party’s shameful performance. He is the lone MP and that too after loosing from one constituency.

Now that is a story to follow. Are the days of fragmentation getting over? Are the nuisance makers on their way out? Would this lead to a consolidation among politicians along well defined ideological line? Too early to speculate on that. However, emergence of Congress as a power in UP & Bengal (I consider TMC as a congress only- as all the leaders are old congressmen) & partial polarization of votes across two major axis is a good sign now doubt.

One more observation. Arun Jetly and Prakash Karat, while accepting defeat, were graceful in their speeches. Mayawati & Jayalalitha were not. These ladies had the blame every one but themselves. There were no congratulatory words towards the winning combination, no mention of self introspection. A sigh of relief … these nuisance would be out of business… at least for a while… “Jai Ho” to a stable central government.

PS- News channels in UK (BBC & Sky) treated election in India as low priority news. It came much later news on a local politician being caught for a misappropriation of a few thousand pounds got more importance. BBC’s 96 second coverage made sure that a fat ugly looking congress supporter, making funny moves gets to British households… So predictable from BBC…

A Saturday and A Wednesday

Fanatic phone call from baba “Where are you?” I was surprised. “What happened?”

I was told that there has been a serial Bomb blast in Delhi. Five blasts in three places including Karol Bag, a place where I was about to go that evening but had changed the plan at the last moment. “Sinners (papi) like you would not die that easily” Sandeep da grinned after listening to this.
But what about those, who had been there??? They were less papi, I guess. Life of commoners has no value now a days. A blast or two, here and there, seven days of TV footage, politicians and intellectuals screaming at the top of their voice and go back to normalcy till the next blast is an acceptable cycle. I guess the terrorists enjoy the TV shows a lot. For them, it is like replaying the same old comedy movie. Blasts after a few weeks and the show begins again…

The time has come to put an end to the show NOW…

A movie named “A Wednesday” had hit the theaters a few days back, unnoticed mostly. It had dealt with this problem and one probable solution. Don’t spare even a single miscreant. VAPORIZE them. No need for trial and waste public money. To hell with Human rights for those who do not care for human life. A few of executions here and there would be enough to inject fear to these cowards. Cowards that’s what they are. Or else they would not have attacked helpless, name less, commoners who only wanted to had a peaceful Saturday.

Time has come… to put and end…
India has long be run by spineless creatures… people who scrap laws like TADA, who fight against Supreme Court order of banning SIMI, who equates Sarabjit and Afzal, who spends more time in changing suits rather than standing by the bereaved.

Time has come… to do “A Wednesday”…

Indian Turnaround- Nuclear Deal Approved

Turnarounds are always admirable. It not only sets fire to the imaginations, but also set a benchmark for others to follow. The basic principle for turnaround is relentless efforts, believing in oneself and the ability to make it at the end. We have seen quite a few turnarounds in the recent past. As for example- Amitabh Bachchan’s return with KBC, Saurav Ganguly’s comeback at Lords and again at South Africa, Coming back of Indian Railways into black from red etc…

However, one turn around that is really amazing and much more mammoth is Indians emergence as a Super Power in reckoning from the brink of isolation. Just about 124 months back, with the Pokhran blast, India risked to be isolated from the rest of the world. But with the guts to challenge the world, almost seamless finance and foreign policies across two governments and unmatchable effort from the young resurgent talent pool, India announced arrival at world stage. With NSG announcing and accepting India as a responsible Nuclear state, we have done the unthinkable.

Credit goes to each and every Indian and the way they believed in their own capability. This newfound self confidence and high self esteem would see India surging past all other nations in next 124 months… We are at the mid way now. From Isolation to Acceptance. Next step is from Acceptance to Leading.
We are coming :)

Suicidal Bengali

Nirad C Chaudhuri had once commented “Suicidal Bengali” (Atmaghati Bangali).

As a youngster, I did not like that at all… I had thought that He was unjustifiably too harsh on the community. I had thought, he is one of those who does not care about the heritage, culture and the potential Bengalis had. I hated him. This was in 1988.

However, today, after 20 years, I have started believing his word more than ever. Only Bengalis can snatch disaster from the lap of prosperity and happiness. Consider the Singur fiasco that Mamata Banerjee and her mindless gang is doing as of now. Almost unthinkable is about to happen. After investing more than 15k Cr, TATAs are all set to pull out of the prestigious Nano project. This project was so important for the economy of the state. This could have turned the fortunes around of the state. Not only it would have generated HUGE employment opportunities, but also transformed the landscape in and around Singur.

But NO… Mamata almost single handedly has put a halt to the project. It is called snatching doom from almost a winning position. Only Bengalis can do this… yes… This is called Suicide… Atmahatya…