Whispering Shadow

I finally found the right reason to show the wrong finger. On the 30th of April, I voted, as did many other Indians. Since it was my first time, I was all gung ho and reached the polling booth well before time. My name was not in the electoral roll on the polling booth so I had to do a bit of running around to find my polling booth. But I did not give up. I had the mark on my finger (which is unintentionally creative in shape, reminding me of a top view of the head of a flying eagle). Standing in front of the voting machine, I saw 16 names, all losers in their own right. It was a tough call between choosing a candidate keeping the central government policies as well as progress of the constituency in mind. I could have chosen an independent who brought with him/her only a promise and no political lineage or capacity to bring about change. I could have chosen a seasoned MP who would have a higher probability to be a part of the ruling coalition at the center and a contribute to decision...

The impact of 26/11 was such that I began to believe it would be the foundation of change in our country.   I saw early signs of it. Both the politicians and the citizens showed promised. But barely a month down the line, while the latter are still trying to find new ways to contribute to the state of the nation, the former are back what they do best, politicize the issue.  Mr. Antulay, the cabinet minister for minorities found a new found profession, that of a conspiracy theorist. The accusations that ATS Chief Hemant Karkare’s death was a plot by Hindu extremists took centre stage, over shadowing the voice of many Indians who were asking much more potent questions at that stage. The 542 remaining members of parliament got so involved in pressurizing him for his resignation that they passed 8 important bills in 17 minutes.  While the chaos was on in Delhi , I found one Mr. Bal   Thackrey’s comments extremely inflammatory and misplaced, though highly amusing. I think you will too b...

Author: Niki D (my sister who attended the peace rally on 3rd December 2008) Twenty Sixth day of November. I shall never forget this day. It was the day my city was attacked left right and centre. The third day of December. This was the day my city stood up to justice, raised a voice against the terror campaign and seeked to root out political misdemeanors. “Bharat Mata ki JAI”, “Pakistan ki Hai Hai”, “Galli Galli mein shor hai, Politicians Chor hai!!” were just some of the endless slogans being screamed out by the livid Mumbaiites. People tore down banners of political parties and put up some witty ones of their own like “The government lied, the innocent died”, “Call the bargirls back, we need protection for our country”, “Shivraj Patil, suck ass”, “No taxes this time, only accountability” etc etc Missing: Mr. Raj Thackrey? Marathi Manoos or Marathi Mouse Jai Hind!!  Yes, there was a sense of anger, but there was also a stream of hope that flowed through the heart of every single per...

I thought of calling it chicken soup but then I didn’t want to offend the vegetarians in any group. I didn’t even use a name of a Chinese variant of the soup because there might be members from the Jain community whose sentiments I might hurt unintentionally. So here I am labeling my next post “Green Soup for Mobster’s Inc” Do I need to tell you why? I do not want to be the next person beaten to death with iron rods by a mob of 60 men in broad day light in a buzzing corporate complex for doing what is required of my job. Lastly, as an added precaution, I will write the title of this post in Devnagri script to prevent the MNS hackers from tearing my blog down. Since all measures are in place, I guess I can start with the recipe now. Ingredients: Angry Men – 10-12 Leader – 1 to 2 Victim(s) – Depends on how memorably bloody you want the recipe to be. Sensationalist News Channels – Even one is enough. Steps: Place the leader in a spot that threatens his hold over his domain of work or area...

As a Mumbaikar, I take great pride in associating with it the tag of being the one of the most, if not the most cosmopolitan cities in India. It is a city whose identity lies in the fact that it has allowed people from across the country to make it their home, at the same time, allowing them to contribute to the growth of the city as an economic and trade hub of the nation. The entire fracas created by MNS leader Raj Thackery and his workers seems to be such an outrageously despicable attempt at publicity. He doesn’t have the right to say his party represents public opinion because his was the most underperforming party in the recent BMC elections. Saying the ‘North Indians’ are taking up the jobs which belong to the locals and killing the employment opportunities for the Marathi Manoos is a gross misinterpretation of an average Mumbaikar’s opinion. He has resorted to violent measures to rectify a problem which most of us know doesn’t exist in the first place. If he was so worried abo...

I am generally not interested in what our dear politicians do, but the desperate campaigns both the chief parties, that is, the BJP and the Congress have had these elections have caught the attention of a lot of people across the country including me. On one hand, is the saffron politics of Mr. Modi. He has achieved iconic status in the state. Sometimes, you wonder whether he has become bigger than the party itself. Moditvas- the new term coined by the media for his remarks while addressing rallies- have taken the state by storm. When his campaign started, I was initially glad that he has kept his speeches free from the communal tones. But I guess the joy was short-lived because the true colour of the person resurfaced in his sermon in Godhra. Isn’t it disgraceful that you have the Chief Minister defending extra-judicial killings in front of 10000 people? Moreover, his whole defence was on the basis of him wiping out terrorists of the state. His use of the phrase ‘desh-drohi’ was such ...

Ban Orkut. Ban Valentine's day. Ban this. Ban that. After all, freedom of expression is only theoretical. It's the fundamentalists who control the actual nature of our democracy. I don't think any of are unfamiliar with these agitations? Shiv Sena. Rings a bell? Even more hilarious was the recent movement to rename Bombay Blues to Mumbai Blues. Like poet's have a poetic license, entrepreneur's surely do have the right to name their ventures at least! Besides, Bombay Blues is quite a name in dining. It's like asking the Indian National Congress to change their name to Bharatiya Rashtriya Parishad. Knowing how jobless Shiv Sainiks are at present, and how much I love giving advice when it is not asked for, here are a few more suggestions to keep them busy, keeping in mind their calibre. 1>Rename Indian Idol to Bharatiya Idol. Sinful showing videsi names on national television. 2>Make sure all names are written in Marathi too on hoardings and magazine covers. ...

No, I am not talking about the resistance and tolerance that we, wannabe engineers talk about as a part of our curriculum. Nor is this one inspired by the just concluded viva session. It is truly not something to write home about. I am talking about resistance to religious intolerance. I will take a walk down memory lane, back to my school days. I did my schooling at an Asian school in the Gulf. I am glad I was a part of the institution I was in. It wasn’t because of the teachers, nor was it the infrastructure and facilities, nor was it the amazing co-curricular and extra-curricular set-up. It was plainly because of the cosmopolitan nature of the crowd. We had people from at least 6 different nationalities, the majority being Indians, followed in numbers by Pakistanis. There were also people from possibly all the religions which are known to me today. We had friends amongst all. When we were friends, never did the question of nationalities or religion come in. We celebrated Eid, Christ...