Swearing about swearing-ins!

In the movie The Avengers (2012, Marvel Studios) , Tony Stark (Ironman) and Steve Rogers (Captain America) are trying to figure out what the bad guy (Loki) is up to, when Tony Stark says
"He had to conquer his greed, but he knows he has to take us out to win, right? That's what he wants. He wants to beat us, he wants to be seen doing it. He wants an audience. Yeah. That's just previews, this is...this is opening night. And Loki, he's a full-tail diva. He wants flowers, he wants parades, he wants a monument built to the skies with his name plastered!"
Now for all the Indians who have been following the country's politics since May, the Loki character might seem very familiar. Yes, I am referring to our Prime Minister Modi (Its almost scary how the names look similar).

When Modi was to be sworn-in as Prime minister, he made sure he had a lot of audience, he made sure there were parades and flowers! The event was attended by the premiers of all the SAARC countries (including India's "enemy" Pakistan), film stars and a whole bunch of big names from the Indian elite. The lucky 4000 were guarded by an unlucky 10,000 strong security force! No one until Modi had had such a spectacular ceremony. His victory resounded around the world thanks to this megalomaniac venture.

If anyone , like me thought the extravagance would end there, they were wrong. Out came the preposterous idea of building a mammoth structure! (For more on that read my previous post on the statue )

And it did not stop there. The assembly elections were held in Haryana and Maharashtra and the BJP, which happens to be Modi's party won in both the elections. And guess what? The swearing in ceremony was a spectacle again!! The Maharahtra Chief Minister will be accepting his role in Wankhade stadium!! Yes the place where India won cricket matches! I bet with the influence of Modi over the US running high, the next US President will take oath during the half-time of Super Bowl!

Thank to our media friends, the whole country knows how big a spectacle was when Modi went to the US. Madison square Garden had a packed audience and the ceremony was complete with Bollywood numbers. It was such a spectacle that Rupert Murdoch should have asked Modi to come every year, and he could turn this into a pay-per-view event, complete with commercial breaks to show how Modi has "developed" Gujarat! Instead of  "Make in India" he could generate revenues even it the US (Even if the revenues are generated for Murdoch its ok, Modi's development model depends on feeding the rich)

One question has to be asked. Where did all the money come from for these spectacles? Did the party pay? Or did the rich men sponsor it? At least the swearing in ceremony is paid from the people's taxes right? Why isn't anybody protesting? May be that's how things go in a developed country!

At a time when money is being thrown for these lavish stage shows, Arun Jaitely the Finance Minister put the Government on an austerity drive! That is some fine politics, spend the people's money but show them that you are working to cut the spending. Bravo! The opposite decisions of the Government makes me fell Mohammad Bin-tugalaq is back in power!

Coming back to the Loki analogy, what Ironman said about Loki fits perfectly to Modi- "he's a full-tail diva. He wants flowers, he wants parades, he wants a monument built to the skies with his name plastered!"

PS: I have compared Modi to Loki and Mohammad Bin-Tugalaq. Any comments/discussions I shall be in Cell-21, Mysore Jail.

Strange Times

We live in strange times. Dickens might have had the best and the worst, but at this time, we live in strange times. Let me provide some examples to explain why I feel so.

We live in a time where the common man dances and rejoices when a politician is given a conditional bail by the Supreme Court. This politician has been accused of amassing wealth disproportionate to the income received. Doesn't the common man realise that someone became morbidly rich with his money, and now the common man fanatically fights/celebrates for the politicians release from prison. Or are they blinded by the minuscule material gifts offered that he is ready to continue his dream of rags to riches while another bunch grow grotesquely rich at their expense? We live in strange times.

We live in a time where just about an year ago the word 'Nirbhay' would kindle memories of one of the most horrific crimes that happened Delhi. The word became a symbol, a symbol for fighting against Rape and Rapists. It was a fight against violence and one of the most brutal forms of violence! Today the Indian military tested a missile called 'Nirbhay', capable of carrying nuclear warheads and most importantly inducing violence! So is 'Nirbhay' against violence or for violence? We live in strange times.

We live in a time where we have "leader" who pushes  foreign countries to do business in India. If the countries do agree, there is going to be an influx of people along with all the money. But it is strange that xenophobia is so high in the country that we can't seem to accept our own countrymen, countrymen of a "secular" country, because they belong to a different religion, different state, different race ,ethnicity etc! We live in strange times.

We live in a time where the government is ready to spend crores of rupees on the memorial of a film actor. It is so eager that even before you can blink the construction of the memorial would have begun, while the government has to think twice, thrice sometimes for years to waiver a loan taken by a farmer citing reasons as bad as "they don't work hard"! We live in strange times.

We live in a time where soldiers are glorified to an extent where people think the country is surviving because of them, while on the other hand the farmers and the menial labourers get no mention. News channels start initiatives with foreign companies to congratulate and wish soldiers during festivals, and what does the farmer get? No yearly bonus, no bottle of scotch, no subsidies on anything for doing something as selfless and definitely much more important work than the soldier! Yes , protect your motherland, but remember when you have nothing to eat there will neither be a motherland nor a mother! (I had to ignite the emotional rhetoric else it is impossible overcome the prevailing ideology) We live in strange times.

We live in a time where the media reports that a movie amassed crores of rupees over the first weekend ! They forget to report that the people who refused and revolted to pay extra taxes (even after getting benefits) are the same who poured money into gold-class tickets to watch one rich guy dance with one rich girl, who is been directed by one rich director and the movie produced by some guy richer than all of them. Its a time where people are ready to whine about the roads but won't pay for them, but will happily pour money into a movie ticket and then whine about the movie!! We live in strange times.

We live in a time where the "leader" orates with magnificent brilliance and says that the environment is important and he is also the same guy who clears all the environmental restrictions to industries, because Industries "make in India" and then consume and destroy the environment, push unnecessary products into the society, pollute and dirty the whole place, while our "Leader" is running a campaign to Clean India with a broom in his hand!! Who will clean up the industries' mess Mr Prime Minister? We live in strange times.

We live in a time where people say 'Love makes the world go round" and then see all advertisements where love can be expressed only by diamonds, rings, watches and cars, and then go buy all of these to "love" and unfortunately its this buying and not the Love, which is making the world go round! Love, yes we even love in strange times.