The best way to know the self is feeling oneself at the moments of reckoning. The feeling of being alone, just with your senses, may lead you to think more consciously. More and more of such moments may sensitize ‘you towards you’, towards others. We become regular with introspection and retrospection. We get ‘the’ gradual connect to the higher self we may name Spirituality or God or just a Humane Conscious. We tend to get a rhythm again in life. We need to learn the art of being lonely in crowd while being part of the crowd. A multitude of loneliness in mosaic of relations! One needs to feel it severally, with conscience, before making it a way of life. One needs to live several such lonely moments. One needs to live severallyalone.

Tuesday 30 June 2015

NOW WHO WILL BUY IT? NO ONE. EXCEPT AAP.

Well, today was another step in the 'unravelling' saga of the uncommon common man Arvind Kejriwal and his uncommon 'common men' party, the Aam Aadmi Party.

After presenting a budget that was not innovative enough to the promises he had made while he was asking for votes (apart from hiking budgetary allocation on education), his government today hiked the upper limit on the Value Added Tax (VAT) in Delhi by 10%.

That gives the Delhi government, led by Arvind Kejriwal of the Aam Aadmi Party, flexibility to 'manoeuvre". Now, what will they 'manoeuvre', only they know. On its part, the government is saying the move is not about 'price increase'.

Now who will buy it?

No one.

Except the AAP.

And there are reasons behind it.

In the run-up to the elections, the AAP announced many populist sops including free Wi-Fi, schools, hospitals, free water and low electricity tariff. The overall list is long and beyond scalable limits. Even Arvind Kejriwal admitted, after winning the absolute majority, that he was not looking at fulfilling 'all the promises' he had made.

Now, all that requires money and Kejriwal has already started the process, by subsidizing electricity and water. There are no innovative proposals to raise more money to fund these 'populist measures' but empty rhetoric like the one Manish Sisodia, the deputy chief minister, proposed today. His 'common sense' wisdom told us today that a common Delhiite was able to save some money (in thousands) thanks to his government's anti-corruption efforts.

So, the 'common' Delhiites have more monetary resources to meet the ends now - with the AAP's grace. That eases some of the burden of the populist promises. For others, some that the government wants to meet in light of the upcoming polls, with continuation of the most populist measures like subsidies of water and electricity, there are flexible 'manoeuvrability' measures like the one proposed today.

No one is buying the government's arguments and reports have already started saying that prices are to set to increase after the AAP government hiked the upper limit of the VAT from 20% to 30%.

On the contrary, the first policy move of the government post 'Swaraj' budget is set to increase prices of cooking fuels and fuel oils. That will have a cascading effect on other items for sure - as another 'common sense' wisdom says. 

©/IPR: Santosh Chaubey - http://severallyalone.blogspot.com/  

Monday 29 June 2015

NDA GOVERNMENT MISSED THIS OPPORTUNITY

Sushma Swaraj says she won't resign. Vasundhara Raje Scindia says she won't resign. Pankaja Munde says he won't resign. Smriti Irani says she won't resign.

They all say they haven't done anything wrong. They all say they did, whatever they did, was in good faith. They say opposition is gunning with empty cartridges.

Their party is defending them.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has maintained a stoic silence on related developments. Expecting that he would word his opinion on these matters during his monthly radio talk programme, Mann Ki Baat, was just an expectation. As expected, he did not speak anything even remotely related.

Rajnath Singh, Arun Jaitely and other leaders and spokespersons are busy proving innocence of the leaders in question. Yes, they know they have a tough job to do but they also know that they will get through in the prevailing political situation.

Yes, the kind of response Narendra Modi got on his electoral promises did qualify for a changed course to look the norms of political probity, something that is the normal course as the humanity defines, but the first test-case is now a missed opportunity.

The ministers in question should have resigned much earlier, taking the exit route on their own, till they came clean. Contrary to the perceptions that it would have emboldened Congress and the political opposition to charge the government even more, the move would ensured more points of political credibility for Narendra Modi.

Public's trust in the new political entrant Aam Aadmi Party is an example of that. Yes, the AAP has come in a self-destruct mode within three years, but it won because it promised to change the course of politics to what we have forgotten - targeting corruption and following a life of probity.

Like Rahul Gandhi has missed it - like his delayed visits to farmers in Maval - like his 'reaction' on the Lokpal Bill - Narendra Modi, too, missed it this time. He and his government would have out stronger in both cases - if the ministers would be guilty - or they would have proven their detractors wrong - deriving strength from following what 'is morally correct'. 

©/IPR: Santosh Chaubey - http://severallyalone.blogspot.com/  

Sunday 28 June 2015

NO PLACE FOR ETHICS IN TODAY'S POLITICS

It is true there is no place for ethics in the politics of the day.

Had it been so, Sushma Swara, Vasundhara Raje Schindia, Smriti Irani, Vinod Tawde and some more BJP members would have resigned or would have apologised for their roles in the alleged controversies related to them.

Had it been so, Congress would have come clean on Robert Vadra and other scams and controversies related to the party leaders.

Had it been so, some politicians would not go so berserk in different Indian states including Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha, West Bengal among others.

Had it not been so, we would not be talking about the 'practical norms' of the politics of the day where ethics have no space left, where every political outfit is seen on the same platform when it comes to follow the value-system.

Had it not been so, the elector would not have gone with a new political entity, the Aam Aadmi Party, with no history and credentials. Unfortunately, that experiment has started losing its steam within few months only and the deterioration looks 'planned' and irreversible. Before the assembly polls this February, the BJP had eight months to deliver but couldn't gauge the mood.

Had it not been so, the dynasty politics would not be a debatable issue in Indian politics.

Had it not been so, family-bias, nepotism and political corruption would not have become so routine, like it has become now.

Had it not been so, politicians would not consider themselves in a different, higher class than us. Had it not been so, we would not have such a common VIP culture.

So, unless and until it becomes too impossible to ignore, unless and until it becomes too corrosive to hurt electoral prospects, the leaders named in the Lalit Modi controversy would not step down. Yes, the BJP is at the receiving end this time, but it knows it is in the government and even the opposition has many weak spots and it knows next parliamentary elections are four years away. The BJP strategists know the political opposition is trying to squeeze in the maximum political mileage from the ongoing episode and they are 'focused' at minimizing it.

So, Arvind Kejriwal didn't ask Jitendra Singh Tomar to step down when questions were first raised about 'fake degrees' of the law minister. Ideally, Arvind should not have made him minister because the row around his degrees precedes his electoral victory. Probably, he feels he is safely home for at least five years.

So, Indian politics is dominated  by personality cults around political parties and political parties evolving and revolving around a person or a family.  

So, a norm sans 'ethics' - in the name of being practical - has become the political pragmatism of the day. 

©/IPR: Santosh Chaubey - http://severallyalone.blogspot.com/  

Saturday 27 June 2015

MASALA FILMS: SOME RANDOM THOUGHTS WHILE WATCHING KARMA

(While watching Karma  – a Hindi blockbuster movie by Subhash Ghai, starring Dilip Kumar, Nutan, Anil Kapoor, Naseeruddin Shah, Jackie Shroff, Anupam Kher, Sridevi and Poonam Dhillon)

Some of the Hindi blockbuster movies made by some of the biggest names in the industry – the A-league directors – and starring some of the biggest actors – contradict the ‘fact’ that cinema is a serious communication tool – though indeed it is.

It is, in fact, the most serious communication tool for ‘soft power’ projections, exploited exceedingly well by the United States of America.

We may not know what is Scotland Yard or RAW but we certainly know what is FBI or what is CIA. Even Israel has done well on that front. People the world over know what is Mossad. We may not know ISRO or ESA but we certainly know what is NASA.

Anyway, ‘masala’ is a tried and tasted genre of filmmaking in India – a melodrama of action, comedy and romance. Here, with this genre, that is an unspoken norm in films across India, filmmakers aim for an entertainment product that can give them handsome return. In doing so, they try to stuff every ‘hit’ formula in products (films), irrespective of the elements of logic, to pull the cinema-goers.

A big production house, a famed director, the ivy-league actors, a good music and now a days, an efficient marketing – any of these elements or a combination of these elements can ensure handsome return for a ‘masala’ movie – even if the elements of logic are largely or completely ignored.

A holistic treatment for a ‘masala’ movie, something that we see in the cult Hindi hit Sholay, is not found in most of the films. And that is the case with this movie also.

©/IPR: Santosh Chaubey - http://severallyalone.blogspot.com/  

Friday 26 June 2015

FRIDAY'S TERROR ATTACK IN FRANCE..

A suspected Islamic terrorist beheaded one person in an attack that didn’t happen in some Middle-East or in some crisis-torn African nation. It happened in France. And within six months of the deadly attack on French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo on January 9 in Paris. In an Islamic State orchestrated attack, terrorists had killed almost entire editorial staff of the magazine behind the controversial cartoons of the Prophet. No one has taken responsibility of today’s attack yet but the signs are clear.

Reports say attacker targeted an American gas and chemicals company, Air Products, which has an Iranian-born Shiite CEO, in Saint-Quentin-Fallavier in South-Eastern France. The target says much – an American company with a Shia CEO in an  European country that is also an important ally of the US in ‘coordinated’ aerial attacks on the IS. Yes, the attacker didn’t get the ‘scale of destruction’ right, but if he was trying to send a terror message, he was obviously on the spot.

The perpetrators of the deadly attack on Charlie Hebdo are dead but the world doesn’t know about their allies. Also, wife of one of the terrorists, who attacked a Jewish store, reportedly fled France successfully to join the IS.

Also, the French Police say they, so far – had thwarted five terror strikes since the Charlie Hebdo attack.

But they could not thwart this one. The sixth happened today. And it is not about the dead-count, it is about the message.

The Arabic inscriptions on severed head, on beheaded body and on flags tell all and the IS, sooner or later, will take responsibility or will come with a statement glorifying the attack. After all, it’s a propaganda savvy terror outfit with a ‘larger than country Caliphate’ ambition.

With this attack in France (with a beheading) on a day that also saw two big terror attacks by the IS (or its affiliates) in two different continents, Kuwait in Asia and Tunisia in Africa, terrrorsts have tried to send their message once again – through killings and destruction – like the IS does so everyday in its area of control – like it’s propaganda videos of brutal executions show. The attacks were coordinated across three continents on a Friday, around the prayer time, in the holy month of Ramadan.

The war, if we say so, has proved a show of reluctance so far, with limited achievements that have failed to deter the IS. The ‘so-called’ coordinated attacks have been dragging on for months but the IS remains a major force in North and West Iraq and in large parts of Syria. And as long as it remains so, even a status-quo will keep threatening the world with more terror designs.

Today’s were, in three countries, across three continents, certainly one (or some) of them.

©/IPR: Santosh Chaubey - http://severallyalone.blogspot.com/  

Thursday 25 June 2015

IT IS TRUE 25 JUNE 1975 IS DARKEST DAY OF INDIAN DEMOCRACY BUT..

Yes, it is true June 25, 1975 is the darkest day in the world's largest democracy, a blot on the free spirit a democracy is meant for.

40 years ago, India was pushed to a dictatorship. Civil liberties were suspended and every dissent in any form was crushed.

A widespread mass movement was organized against it and people protested wherever they could - explicitly or while they were underground. More than a lakh were imprisoned including all political opponents of Indira Gandhi.

Today is the 40th anniversary of that black day - a milestone event on the timeline of The Emergency in India.

But while remembering the day and the 'excesses' that it brought, we also need to think that it didn't reflect comprehensively in the electoral outcomes of 1977 and was totally overturned in 1980.

Why I say the reaction was not comprehensive in 1977 is based on the fact that Congress still got 154 of the 542 Lok Sabha seats and 34.52% votes. The Janata Party alliance, which fought 1977 polls on the Bhartiya Lok Dal (BLD) symbol, got 295 seats and 41.32% votes.

Five national parties, CPI, CPM, NCO, BLD and INC, in 1977 polls got 84.67% of votes together while state parties could get just 8.80% votes. Of this 84.67%, Congress and the BLD together got 75.84% votes.

So, in spite of all the protests and negative words against Indira Gandhi, Congress (or her Congress) remained the major political force in India. In fact, Congress did well in South Indian states. It won 41 seats of 42 in Andhra Pradesh, 26 of 28 in Karnataka, 11 of 20 in Kerala (its alliance partner CPI won another four in the state) and 14 of 39 in Tamil Nadu while its alliance partner Anna Dramuk won 17 seats taking the state tally to 31. Congress also did well in Assam and was a major opposition force in Gujarat and Maharashtra.

On the other side, the BLD's good show was due to the alliance sweeping Uttar Pradesh and Bihar and its further good show in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Haryana and Gujarat. In states like West Bengal, Punjab and Maharashtra, its alliance partners did well taking the overall Janata Party alliance numbers higher.

So, political (and social) opposition of Congress in the first election after The Emergency, that was called by Indira Gandhi, was not uniform across India. And it was led by a loosely connected political alliance that became its undoing in the next three years giving Congress a chance to make electoral comeback.

And Indira Gandhi made a grand comeback in 1980, winning 353 of 529 seats with 42.69% vote share. Janata Party was reduced to a stature of a distant runner-up with 18/97% votes.

Why it happened so?

©/IPR: Santosh Chaubey - http://severallyalone.blogspot.com/  

HOPE THE EMERGENCY BE NEVER EMERGENT AGAIN

My reflections on life – in quotes (XCIX)


"40 years:
Hope 'The Emergency' never gets the occasion to become emergent again.
We cherish our democracy and will work out its loopholes."


HOPE THE EMERGENCY BE NEVER EMERGENT AGAIN


©/IPR: Santosh Chaubey - http://severallyalone.blogspot.com/ 

Wednesday 24 June 2015

DEAR POLITICIANS AND BUREAUCRATS: CAN’T YOU VOLUNTARILY GIVE UP SUBSIDY IN PARLIAMENT CANTEENS?

Well, if Narendra Modi can request his countrymen to do so for LPG cylinders (liquefied petroleum gas cylinders, main cooking fuel in houses where PNG or ‘piped natural gas’ has not reached - or families that can and can somehow afford it), his government can certainly push the fellow members and their officials and officials of the Parliament and the Government to give up the ‘huge subsidy’ – ranging from 60% to over 100% (in some cases, a dish with raw material cost of Rs. 99 is served for Rs. 33) – on food in the Parliament canteens.

Congress has supported the move. Parliamentarians can give it up voluntarily. Or, they can come with a yardstick. Also, it is a popular issue politically – like Arvind Kejriwal successfully cashed the electoral popularity of ‘VIP culture’ in Delhi polls – most members (of Parliament) would be forced to look positive to such measures. Some may oppose the move but their count would not be enough to obstruct a decision to this effect. And if the politicians there support it, we can count the bureaucrats in.

Now, for the point – as told reportedly – that politicians alone cannot be blamed for the practice – well, politicians and well-to-do bureaucrats are to be blamed for it.

On March 27, Narendra Modi had appealed – as the Times of India writes – “People who can afford buying LPG at market rates should give up subsidy on cooking gas. Money we save from giving up LPG subsidy is the money we will use for the poor, so that they have access to clean energy too.”

It is now almost three months to that statement. MPs and bureaucrats could have set a precedent for masses by refusing subsidized food items in the Parliament. Alternatively, they could have come up with a mechanism to fix market price of each item to pay accordingly.

They did not do it. They have not done it. Would they do it now?

It is not for the Rs. 60.7 crore subsidy given to the Parliament canteens in the last five years, as Subhash Chandra Agrawal’s RTI reply reveals. It is a very small amount when we count the overall government expenditure on politicians. It is about the message that such gesture would send to the masses – in times, when we are moving towards a ‘subsidy free’ governance – in times, when economists urge for the ‘pressing need’ to do so – in times, when the government looks convinced to do so.

The prices that have not been revised since December 2010 look ridiculously low. After all, where do we get a ‘masala dosa’ for Rs. 6 or ‘boiled vegetables’ at Rs. 5? And the long ‘ridiculously funny’ list is replete with such examples. And it is not in the canteens of the Parliament. We have other such spots on the ‘subsidy freeway’ where wrong people are enjoying such perks.

Parliament canteens can set a precedent for all such folks. Would our Parliamentarians, bureaucrats and other ‘financially capable’ people relishing such ‘subsidized delicacies’ do so?

Would they voluntarily give up the subsidy on food items in the Parliament canteens beginning with the Monsoon Session that is from July 21?

Would they pay the ‘market prices’ with ‘service tax’ as every Indian is expected to pay (and has to pay) till the issue is fixed?

And since any such move will be ‘self-driven’, ‘altruistic’ and ‘voluntary, it will take care of those ‘who really need subsidized food items’ from the Indian Parliament canteens.

©/IPR: Santosh Chaubey - http://severallyalone.blogspot.com/ 

Monday 22 June 2015

IS A LIFE I SEEK..

Sometimes, I feel suffocated
And want to run away
But I don’t know the end
Even if I ask
Horizon is a mirage
That calls me in such moments
I want to be there
Even if I know it is not there
Time plays with me, sometime
Aggravating with questions
I had left seeking answers for
Sometimes, I feel so numb
To response to the excesses
That I let them pass
Going deeper inside
Not seeking many ‘whys’
Sometimes, I feel lost
By the maze life comes with
And I desperately look for
The way out
To a path, to any path
Hoping it will take me
To the horizon
Yes, it’s been a mirage so far
But the journey to it
Has been the way ahead
Because I know
Going beyond the end
Is a life I seek..
Beyond this numbness
Beyond the questions behind it

©/IPR: Santosh Chaubey - http://severallyalone.blogspot.com/ 

Sunday 21 June 2015

INTERNATIONAL YOGA DAY: CLAIMING THE LEGACY

It’s a new beginning for India – in its new pursuit of promoting a confident identity - using its age-old culture that has assimilated different incoming shades and has survived for centuries and is still going strong.

Yoga is a gift from India to the world. It is an art, a science, and a transcendental philosophy to realize our spiritual quotient. And in India, if we leave politics aside, its acceptability goes beyond religions.

And the annual International Day of Yoga (IDY), beginning this year today, on June 21, the Summer Solstice day that brings to us the longest day of the year (Summer Solstice day can fall on any day between June 20 to 22 but June 21 is common), should be seen in this context. There will be debates on why ‘Narendra Modi’ proposed June 21. Reasons range from scientific like the Summer Solstice to sociological like celebrations associated with the day to mythological like Lord Shiva taking note of the seven people in meditation for 84 years to seek him as their ‘Yoga Guru’ (as Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev writes) to political like June 21 being the birth anniversary of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) founder Keshav Baliram Hedgewar but let’s not go into that.

Yes, Yoga is a healing and wellness gift to the world from India - from ancient times. And it has continued to be so, spreading throughout the world, through travelers coming to India, through Indian texts and religions in other civilizations, like Buddhism spreading in many parts of the world, through cultural exports like art, sculpture and tradition and through linguistic influences, like influence of Sanskrit can be found in languages and scriptures of countries which shared historical trade routes with India, like Swami Vivekananda found during his voyage to the United States of America in the last decade of the 19th Century. It was Swami Vivekananda who introduced Yoga to the Western world in an organized way. He gave shape to an un-thought process that had started with European colonization of India.

Yoga has been there since ages. And its spread throughout the world has taken place gradually, in every age, based on its merits, more so in 19th and 20th Centuries. And it is continued even today with India being the leading light for gurus and teachers of Yoga worldwide.

Sages and ascetics developed the art in India and so naturally, the spiritual elements of Yoga have religious texts of Hinduism of the day or whatever we want to call (the religion). It was natural when the ascetics meditated enchanting names of deities (we follow them; we find in our religious texts) and taught their followers to do so. Doing so was practical and not religious. If religion had anything to do with it, it was about the God, the common link between ascetics, sages and other people. God was the central and common point of concentration of all. And it has remained so.

And that pragmatism is applicable across religions – in India, and outside India.

Yoga is an art that scientifically improves the mind-body balance of a person and, if willing, takes him to the higher realms of spirituality. Practicing it is not a must but a lifestyle with Yoga as its inseparable element brings qualitative changes in practitioners. And a large-scale adoption has potential to create healthier societies. Obviously, thinking that Yoga alone can do it will be daydreaming and more so in a society like India where multiple problems like poverty, quality illiteracy and poor civic amenities still beset societies across the country. To address the issue here, we need a political willpower to work on all these issues holistically.

But it doesn’t belittle on the factual benefits of Yoga – physical, meditational and spiritual – something that has taken it to beyond India – in every part of the world.

What Narendra Modi did should have been done by the political dispensation of India much earlier. It had to claim to be the origin-place of a legacy that was already global in appeal and outreach. But every political dispensation in India had failed to do so, so far. We cannot say if they even thought about it.

And Narendra Modi did it. He realized the potential of projecting soft power globally by claiming this legacy.

We may debate the quality and outcome of the governance so far by the government of Narendra Modi but we need to give him the credit for IDY.

India is the world’s largest democracy. It is the fastest growing economy of the world. It is the third biggest economy of the world in terms ‘purchasing power parity (PPP)’. Harvard University study report says India’s middle class will be the largest one in the world by 2030. The country is among the top military powers of the world with many firsts to its space programme.

If politically handled well, the country is slated to go up in the world order on human parameters as well. That requires efficient governance not just on core issue but on other important issues as well – like projecting cultural strength of India and using soft power as a policy tool to further the nation’s interests.

An international day for Yoga established by the United Nations and endorsed by its member countries including the Muslim ones on a proposal moved by Narendra Modi is a positive step towards that. Narendra Modi proposed IDY in September 2014. The United National General Assembly declared it in December 2014. And we are celebrating the first IDY today – all in a span of nine months.

The US has been using ‘soft power’ projections for decades and is quite successful there. If America is seen the world over as the right place for democratic values in a free and just society, we need to give due credit to its soft power projections as well. We all see that theme in Hollywood films – an industry with global export scale – even to the countries where dictators run amok. Russia was a natural villain in many big productions during the Cold-War years. In recent times, North Korea and China (though to a lesser extent) have also taken that place.

And China is trying its hands on projecting its soft power too though it has not much to talk about as the country is one of most repressive societies where one is free as long as one toes the government line there. That leaves China to promote its culture as the selling point, sans any political element. Projections of Chinese martial art, Chinese culture in ancient, medieval and modern times and China’s resilience during its occupation by Japan have been the main elements of this soft power projection.

India fares much better than China in having acceptable elements of soft power and the country should use such elements as a policy tools to enhance its global image like it has done with IDY. Yes, there will be controversies and criticisms and some loopholes in the execution of the developments associated with the projections, but sending the larger message will subside all that. 

The world celebrated this global day today – from India to America – from many European countries to Latin American countries – from Asia to Africa – from predominantly Muslim countries to the democracies having predominantly Christian population.

And India led the show, led the way. The day was celebrated on a wide scale in India and abroad. Government wings including its forces and foreign missions were preparing for the day. Ministers and teachers were sent in many countries to organize events there. Spiritual and religious guru Sri Sri Ravishankar and Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj led the event at the United Nations in Washington. And in India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi culminated his ‘daily Yoga tutorial through videos’ with a grand event at Rajpath in Delhi where more that 35000 people participated. Guinness says two world records were made today – 35,985 people made the world’s largest Yoga class in Delhi – and they were of record 84 nationalities.

And the right images from India met with the right images from the world over. Many in the global media covered IDY naming India as the country behind the move.

June 21 is also the birth anniversary of Jean-Paul Sartre, the French philosopher Existentialism is synonymous with. Individual existence is central to Existentialism and social developments are seen from the perspectives of human subjects. Hope policymakers in India also work on the core issues related to the human subjects – alleviating poverty, improving education and healthcare, ensuring Constitutional rights and removing corruption – in addition to the successful public relations exercises like the International Yoga Day.

©/IPR: Santosh Chaubey - http://severallyalone.blogspot.com/ 

Saturday 20 June 2015

AND IT HAPPENS BEFORE ANY BEGINNING..

My reflections on life – in quotes (XCVIII)

"Hesitations and obstacles
play more in mind
than what they can do in reality
and
it happens before any beginning.
Begin and march ahead
honestly and persistently
and you will gradually see

the way ahead opening up."


AND IT HAPPENS BEFORE ANY BEGINNING..

©/IPR: Santosh Chaubey - http://severallyalone.blogspot.com/ 

Friday 19 June 2015

FTII IS SIMPLY NOT A PLACE TO BE HEADED BY SOMEONE LIKE GAJENDRA CHAUHAN

It is natural that there will be moves to appoint right-wing faces in institutions of esteem that are considered important socio-culturally. Educational outfits and outfits related to history, culture and society are the prime names under scanner whenever a different political ideology takes the ruling centre-stage in the country.

Congress did it so when it came to the power in 2004 and ruled the country for 10 years. It appointed people from its ranks or people of the ideology it followed. Before Congress, the BJP did so. Now the BJP is doing it again, after storming back to power with complete majority in 2014.

That is the price the society needs to pay to remain and grow democratically - in a democracy with multiple parties and multiple ideologies. And the price may be affordable, may be just right - or may be bad when people are rewarded with headship of institutions based on their political affiliation and not on their professional merit.

Now, Gajendra Chauhan's appointment as the chairman of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune, the most premier institute of country on the art of filmmaking is a bad price that the society will be forced to pay if the government has its way.

Mr. Chauhan's logic of other FTII chairmen belonging to the ideologies of the ruling dispensations of their times may hold some ground but it doesn't justify his appointment. He is nowhere near to the likes of Adoor Gopalakrishnan or Girish Karnad, some of the names who headed the institution in the past.

To his claim, he has just one role - Mahabharat's Yudhisthir - that we can talk about. But that was also in 1990. To his claim are some forgettable films. To his claim are some television roles that require a bit of googling to know about. And to his claim is his over two decades long BJP membership.

A membership that has given him this chairmanship. And he accepts it. But while he may be a self-made man as he says, he has lobbied for something wrong. FTII is simply not a place to be headed by someone like Gajendra Chauhan. He will kill its free spirit. He will compromise its creative freedom. He lacks the credential to head it. He doesn't have even one when we expect multiple of them from a person heading FTII or any other similar institution. Also, it is not that there are no notable names on filmmaking with a rightwing affiliation. They are bound to be there. People with finesse of art and professional expertise may have any political ideology. It was the responsibility of the government to choose the right one to head FTII.   

FTII students are protesting against Chauhan's appointment. They are not ready to accept him and they are right in doing so. They are writing open letters, organizing protest demonstrations and are running social media campaigns. Yesterdays, they extended their protest by launching a video that is spoof on Gajendra Chauhan. Like Gajendra Chauhan's name, this video is also self-explanatory on 'why Gajendra Chauhan must not be made FTII chairman'.

©/IPR: Santosh Chaubey - http://severallyalone.blogspot.com/ 


Thursday 18 June 2015

MOHALLA ASSI: HOPE FILM DELIVERS WHERE ITS 'LEAKED' TRAILER FAILS

Well, it claims to a satirical take on 'bad side' of Kashi (or Varanasi or Banaras). Reports say it is loosely based on Kashi Nath Singh's 'Kashi Ka Assi' though the novelist, as some versions say, is not happy with the treatment. 

I watched this trailer last night and again this morning after I came to know about this movie. Looks an interesting movie by the trailer though it is certainly about stereotyping something peripheral as the main. What Chandraprakash Dwivedi, the Central Board of Film Certification member, wants to show through this film, he only knows. 

The culture of Assi, the social milieu of ghats and the overall culture of Banaras is much deeper and mystical. Hope the movie captures this essence which is certainly not in the trailer. What is bad in Banaras, its Pandas and other bad people (Kashi ke 'thug' or cons or fakers), is known from ages. I still find more books on Kashi written by foreigners than by Indians. Yes, the drug menace shown in the trailer is a reality but again it cannot be attributed to everyone. And also, the world knows how dirty has become Varanasi in recent days and needs an infrastructural makeover. 

I am from Varanasi, born and brought-up there. I have never used any expletive so far in my life. Also, I don't know anyone in my circle using expletives as habitually as is shown in the trailer. I still go back to this city to learn from it, to experiment with my thoughts. 

Not everyone uses abuses or invectives or cuss words or "gaalis' there, in day to day life, in routine, while talking. It is not there for everyone, as the trailer makes us to believe so. Mostly, it is between friends. High tempers and rage also see such words flowing. But then, it is not unique to Varanasi. Don't we find such things in Delhi and in other parts, obviously with localized elements? Such societal elements and habits are always on its periphery and we should not see them as mainstream social elements -  as this trailer tells us. 

Reports say this one is a leaked trailer of the movie, that is a work in progress since 2011 and has seen many issue derailing its completion. Finally, it may release later this year. 

As the movie is being claimed as a work of satire and as the trailer is said to be the 'leaked' version, let's see if the movie has that punch to deliver the honest message here. 

©/IPR: Santosh Chaubey - http://severallyalone.blogspot.com/ 

BHAGWAN IS ADVERTISEMENT KO SALAMAT RAKHE!

Saw the Aam Aadmi Party's (Arvind Kejriwal's) advertisements on a 'news channel' today.

And felt so confident after watching it that 'the AAP and Arvind Kejriwal are on highway of success'.

And it is for the betterment of the masses and the classes that they want to take it further to them, to tell them - to communicate to them the good work Mr. Kejriwal is doing - so that it reaches far and wide - so that it reaches to 'every possible family'.

After all, unlike the family in this advertisement, there are many families who don't feel Kejriwal has done anything significant so far to affect their lives, even if there is a sea-change - at least to do while expressing themselves publicly.

They are so adamant that they are not believing even Kejriwal and it is hurting the good samaritans of the 'good samaritan sort of party'. After all, they are not doing it for name, fame and money. They are doing for social well-being. They are doing it for the 'politics of change' to change 'themselves'.

Therefore, it is a commendable act. I thought to do an analytical appreciation of the advertisement frame by frame but could not locate it on online platforms including YouTube and the AAP website. Hope, it will be here today, allowing me to do, what was left midway last night. 

©/IPR: Santosh Chaubey - http://severallyalone.blogspot.com/ 

Wednesday 17 June 2015

DID BJP JUST GOT ITS OWN ROBERT VADRA ISSUE TO HANDLE?

In Vasundhara Raje Scindia's son Dushyant Singh?

Dushyant Singh is a Bhartiya Janata Party MP from Jhalawar-Baran in Rajasthan. Obviously, he is a self-made politician even if he belongs to a royal family and her mother is the chief-minister of the state he is elected from!

A report says Enforcement Directorate has found anomaly in a financial transaction between Dushyant Singh's company and Lalit Modi's firm.

And the details are potent enough to create a 'Robert Vadra' sort of controversy. In fact, it has started.

Allegations say Lalit Modi's firm, Anand Heritage Hotels Private Ltd, infused over 11.60 crore in Dushyant Singh's Niyant Heritage Hotels Private Limited. Vasundhara Raje Scindia was Rajasthan's CM then (in her first term).

The break-up includes an unsecured loan of 3.80 crore in 2008 and purchase of 815 shares of Rs. 10 each, at over 96,000 for another 7.8 crore, in subsequent years.

Now, as there are allegations, so there are political justifications, like we have been witnessing in Robert Vadra's case.

Every justification has proved shady in Robert Vadra's issue after the persistent row over his meteoric rise post 2007 and his controversial land deals in Haryana and Rajasthan. Congress and Rahul Gandhi must find answers to the 'unanswered questions' related to him if they have to talk of the politics of probity.

Obvious parallels are being drawn in Dushyant Singh's case. Any logic cannot justify why Lalit Modi invested that much money in a firm that was established in 2005 with capitals of Rs. 50,000 each from Dushyant Singh and his wife. Even family friends (Lalit Modi claims he knows Vasundhara's family for years) don't do such acts of 'misplaced largesse'. That makes us go back to the only one reason, the most plausible one - that his mother was then the chief-minister of Rajasthan.

Yes, Robert Vadra controversy has been widely played out by the political opponents and handling it requires a difficult approach as he belongs to a family that is Congress' pivot. Congress of the day, even if humiliated and electorally out, is nothing without the Nehru-Gandhi family.

On the other hand, as the sources say right now, the BJP may ask Vasundhara to come clean on both issues - on her support to Lalit Modi for his immigration papers to the UK and on Lalit Modi's money in his son's firm.

Yes, the BJP would do all to thwart any efforts to shape this as 'Robert Vadra's parallel of the BJP' and the party is in better position to take action as the BJP can survive without Vasundhara Raje Scindia as Rajasthan's chief-minster and without her son.

Let's wait and watch to see what happens next. 

©/IPR: Santosh Chaubey - http://severallyalone.blogspot.com/ 

JUNE 21: INTERNATIONAL YOGA DAY AND EXISTENTIALISM

International Yoga Day is on June 21, the day when Jean-Paul Sartre was born in Paris.

It may be a coincident but a day to celebrate the ancient Indian tradition that has become a global 'good health element' with time, is also a day when the world remembers the most influential mind behind 'Existentialism'.

Yoga in India goes beyond its 'routine physical exercise' nature - the practice that took it to the western countries, starting with Swami Vivekananda in 1890s.

Yoga in India, and in some countries where beliefs born in India spread, especially Buddhism, is seen as complete discipline and is primarily associated with spirituality and meditation. It emphasizes on the holistic balance in every walk of life and is aimed at ensuring a sound mind in a healthy body.

Yoga is a discipline with a philosophy that builds individuals who are self-aware and at the same time are in harmony with their surroundings, maintaining spontaneously balanced relations with nature and living beings.

Existentialism, though with different definitions, concurs that man is free and 'is responsible' to determine what becomes of him -  in the sense that he sees and interprets his life and events in his life - based on circumstances - for the quest to lead a life that is as per his 'understanding' - that corresponds to his definitions of morality and different circumstances of life - the definitions that are within the norms for a healthy mind and body - the definitions that take different hues with time.

Yoga can help an individual develop a healthy 'existentialist' perspective based on his 'philosophy of necessity'. Yoga can help find that 'missing element' in every life.

And June 21 is around the corner.

©/IPR: Santosh Chaubey - http://severallyalone.blogspot.com/