Maharashtra Politics : a bollywood love triangle

Last evening I had a few friends come over to my place. Instead of chatting about fashion, relationships and the usual topics, we often discuss literature, Politics and current affairs. (Yes, we are geeks and we are boring!) Since it was the day of Vidhansabha election results in Maharashtra and Haryana, obviously the same was our topic of discussion (read bakchodi). Almost all results were out and BJP had emerged as the largest party with 123 seats, yet not enough to form government on its own. Shiv Sena with 63 seats emerged as second largest party. The rest fared as follows :

With all the high voltage pre-poll political drama in Maharashtra, that witnessed split in not one but two alliances, the scene was nothing less than a political equivalent of an Ekta Kapur Sas-Bahu melodrama. NCP soon offered its support for a BJP government from outside unconditionally. With this new kahani mein twist, we all could see a perfect Bollywood love-triangle. "What if this Love-triangle was from the movie Devdas?" - with that thought in mind, we continued our Bakaiti session and equating parties with characters from the movie. Here is the outcome.

Right from the tug-of-war between Sena and BJP for seats to their breakup and then all the vituperative epithets used by Sena for Modi, Sena's behavior was more like an insolent girlfriend who had put her foot down on a demand, which lead to a breakup and then she dumps the blame on the other. Not just Paro, but Angry Paro!

A few members were expelled from Congress for opposing Sonia Gandhi's claim over the post of Prime Minister, back in 1999. These members came together and formed NCP. withing next 6 months the same party joined hands with Congress in Maharashtra to form government and then Joined UPA in the center as well. Hence, right from its 'accidental' conception, NCP has always enjoyed chair. Ever ready to partner with other parties for the pleasure of power, today after its split with Congress, its eyeing BJP; any guesses why? If Chair and Beds are furnitures and Politics, a brothel, we've found our Chandramukhi - Beautiful, shrewd and Fatal!

No points for guessing, which role resembles BJP; but since the whole scenario revolved around not the party but Modi, we had to nominate Modi for the role of Devdas, but a different Devdas. You see, as per the story, Devdas gets drunk and screws up his own health. Modi on the other hand is a teetotaller. So, what would he drink? MILK! And instead screwing up the whole situation even more like the original Devdas, Modi rolls up his sleeves and gets down to business. Hence, Modi isnt Devdas, but a Sanghi Devdas!

So, if Modi is Sanghi Devdas, who fits the bill for Chunni Babu? Ofcourse, the one and only Amit Shah! but again this Chunni Babu does not help his friend screw his life even more, but does everything he can to ensure his friend's victory. Thats Amit shah - a Sanghi Chunni Babu!

One party that has been trying to mediate a deal between Shiv Sena and BJP right when the tussle about the seats began has been the Republican Party of India (RPI). Even post polls, RPI chief Ramdas Athavle has remained hopeful of a Sena-BJP reconciliation. Yes, thats our Dharam da!

Born in an affluent family but low on morals, Congress has not only lost its ally, but now also helplessly watches it make advances towards its rival. Congress is a Cocky villain and hence Kali Babu... a Secular Kaali Babu.

An aggressive character with negative shades that has a presence on the scene as good as a cameo, provides a bit of comic relief and as the story advances which is soon rendered irrelevant is Kumud Bhabhi. Enough said!

Just when everyone thought we had discussed all the characters and parties and were busy making jokes on the last character, and predicting about new alliances, Ashraf Ali entered the scene.

Wait, what! isn't that a character from ... errm, from Gadar, ek prem katha?
yes, you guessed it right.
So isn't this kinda an intrusion?
Exactly!

Now chew on this : All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul-Muslimeen, AIMIM - a Communal party based in Hyderabad known for its floor leader Akbaruddin Owaisi's venomous hate speech against Hindus, won 2 seats in Maharashtra.

Dusting off the dirt from the tradition of Rakhi

A Book that sits in shelf, inevitably gathers dust. When people stop making efforts to learn the real sense hidden in the Book and start interpreting the title on its cover by hear-say, inevitably a huge chunk of information never comes into picture. Also, you should expect a considerable amount of information to be false. Would you go by a review of any book by someone who hasn't read the book but writes the review on hearsay? Moreover, would you trust someone to tell you about the book, when that someone doesn't really want you to read the book? Whatever your answers are, I'd request you to relate this whole introduction to Hindu Traditions. Most of our traditions have changed with time, for various reasons, and now are under attack - Rakshabandhan is one of them.

Attack, you say? Yes. When a tradition with so many colourful interpretations and forms has been chopped down into a stub and then even criticised, I would say, it is under attack.

I try to recall what I learnt through my education in school about the festival and traditions of Rakshabandhan? All I remember is the story of Rajpoot Queen Karnavati who sent Rakhi to Humayun to protect Chittor from Bahadur Shah, the Sultan of Gujrat. Humayun though set off immediately to her rescue with his troops, arrived too late. Bahadur Shah had managed to sack Queen's fortress and Rajpoot Queen along with other 13,000 women had performed Jauhar. Though a lot of historians remain skeptical about the legend, I don't dare to doubt what the school text books dictate me to believe. Yet, this is a historical account; where is the religious origin of this festival?

Going by popular belief, Rakshabandhan is a festival that (exclusively) celebrates the bond between a brother and sister; but if so, why a similar festival called 'Bhai-dooj' is also celebrated? I was also taught about Queen Draupadi tying a piece of cloth torn from her attire on Krishna's finger to stop it from bleeding. But then Draupadi was Krishna's Sakhi/Friend...isnt this another shade of this festival? Trying to find the origin of this festival, I also read about stories about Yam and Yamuna, King Bali and Lakshmi and the story about Santoshi Maa, daughter of Ganapati. All these stories strengthen the belief that it is a festival that celebrates the love between a brother and sister... and I would be happy with that too; but Wait! Why would then Pundit jee on the same day tie Raksha-sutr on the wrist of their Yajman? Why do women tie Rakhi amongst themselves?

courtesy :
Religious Basis of Hindu Beliefs By Dr. Bhojraj Dwivedi

This time I tried to concentrate on the term 'Rakshabandhan' - literally, a thread tied that would protect; and that is when I came across Devi Shachi and Indra's story. Long story short, Devi Shachi (Indra's consort), tied raksha sootra on Indra's wrist before going for war, which made him fearless and due to the effect of the Raksha-sutra, he won the war. The interesting thing to note here is that Devi Shachi is Indra's consort - this adds a new dimension to the festival of Rakshabandhan.

Bhavishya Puran mentions :
सर्व रोगापशमनं सर्वाशुभविनाशनम् ।
सत्कृत्कृते नाब्दमेकं येनरक्षा कृता भवेत्॥
Raksha-sutr worn on Shravani Poornima is the destroyer of all diseases and inauspicious activities. By wearing it in a proper manner once a year a man remains protected for the whole year.

With all these different stories, What I could conclude is that the festival is basically about Rakshasutra tied by a wife to her husband, a Pundit to Yajman, a sister to her brother and even amongst women to bless the other with courage and invisibility so that She/He could in turn protect others. With the arrival of Mughal hordes, Rakshabandhan inspired men to fearlessly fight to defend their women. Though the other vibrant hues of this festival are still practiced, Bollywood with is obvious lack of knowledge of cultural values picked up and romanticised only the bond between Brother and sister. 

I have only attempted in this article to brush away the dust from a small volume of a mammoth set of books called Sanatan Dharma and I am sure I'm still missing a few aspects here. The best way to conclude is with a few words from a respected elder, who first pointed out the hidden truths - 

"The Indian mythology is an endless ocean. You will draw only as much water from it as the size of your bucket (mental and spiritual pre-requisites) and if your bucket is placed bottoms up, even if the whole ocean is poured over it, you won't get a single drop out of it."

a girl tying Rakshasutra to her Mother

An open letter on Aamir Khan's 'Fractured' reasoning

While the prices of everyday commodities have sky-rocketed and the economic growth of the nation itself is 'Fractured', Aamir Khan favors a fractured verdict in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. In his words,

"It's not fair to give mandate to single political party in the upcoming polls."

Then, what is fare? letting people starve due to increasing inflation? People dying in bomb blasts and other terrorist activities? Deserving candidates being denied college seats due to quota system and adding more seats and categories based on religion into this system? Our soldiers being beheaded and their bodies being mutilated? Locals being driven out from their own homes by the Bangladeshi refugees in Assam? or ethnic cleansing of Kashmiri Pundits? Attempts to pass a communal law such as 'Anti-Communal violence bill' in the name of secularism? Women being openly molested in streets in wide daylight? Neighboring countries trying to snatch our lands? dividing the Nation in the name of religion, region and casts? Unemployment? Corruption or screwing with taxpayer's hard earned money on unnecessary subsidies and scams?

A well informed citizen of this Nation knows well that whenever people's verdict helped the Third front to come into power, the Government has never been able to take tough decisions.  every decision is delayed, every interest of the Nation is compromised for regional gains of the constituent parties. Even in the current scenario, its one coalition against the other - UPA against NDA. So, in reality, there is no 'One Party' thats going to contest elections. This is a time when the Nation needs a stable government and strong leadership that can lead the Nation out from the current crisis and address issues that concern us all. Sadly, none of these requirements can be met by the Third front. 

Why was Aamir Khan mum till now? What makes him voice his opinion just a few months before Nation goes for elections? Going by his past publicity stunts, its evident that Amir Khan only speaks now, to promote his show - 'Satyamev Jayate'.

Mr Aamir Khan,
'Humko hae desh ki fikar' - We care for the Nation...Seriously? you want us to believe that? I would have believed your intentions and these words had you not charged a hefty sum for doing this show or atleast donated a good chunk of your own personal earnings for issues that you raise in your show. Sharing stage with victims and heroes and shedding crocodile tears doesn't count for shit! You are a brilliant actor and I'm a fan of your acting skills; and exactly for that reason, everytime you cried on the show, it was difficult to believe that it was real. I have seen you in news, cutting people's hair and your other publicity stunts to get audience for your movies. Its not uncommon for actors these days to use people's emotions and issues to promote their movies. But there is a line that must not be crossed - Do not try to bake your bread on pyres. Thats an art best left to News media and dirty Politicians. You Sir, have crossed this line. I would have respected your freedom of expression had this comment of yours come not at such an opportune moment for the promotion of your show. You have successfully caught eyeballs for your show with this gimmick, but lost respect in the eyes of one your fans. I'm sure, compared to crores gained from the show, this isnt a loss at all. Even if I were to believe that your intentions were true, Mr. Aamir Khan, your view, at best, is myopic. 

Fuck you and fuck your show.
Sincerely 
Up yours!  

NB: those who would say "atleast he is doing something", please find out how much he earns for every episode and then say the same.