With his boyish looks, suave persona and twitter friendly attitude layered on to his past experience as a UN under secretary general, Tharoor always came across as an articulate and a very visible minister - a man whose aura and mystique grew with every successive move & tweet; irrespective of how politically incorrect it was. It actually did seem for a while that India was finally ready for politics of a different kind.
His devil may care attitude about holy cows in his own backyard, actually lent a certain freshness and credibility and endeared him to many, including me.
His fall from grace has been as thundering as his rise was meteoric. As he now stands "pushkared" into a corner, robbed of the garb of decency and his reputation shred to tatters, he appears naked ; yet unrepentant and unabashed.
As a has been admirer, i feel let down for 2 reasons -
a) as an elected MP, like most, he chose to forego his core job to work for his constituency rather than devote effort and energy into matters of the heart, wallet and cricket.
b) He appears to have joined the very same league of political crooks that we believed him to be different from and has yet again dented whatever little hope we had of some of these new age guys.
Politicians almost always believe that the hoi-polloi is blind. and deaf. and dumb. and can be hoodwinked all the time.
The only improvement over the years has been the fact that earlier politicians would be caught red handed with truckloads of money stashed away in their houses ! Now they get caught trying to sweat their way into arranging equity for their paramours. India has progressed, all right!?
With him out of the way, its now Modi's turn to face the axe. The big difference ofcourse, in this case, is that there are no big surprises. Everybody has known this all along. In this hamaam, they are all nakedly alike.
Monday, April 19, 2010
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Sania-shoaib reflective of Indo-Pak relations
The Sania - shoaib relation in many ways is reflective of Indo-Pak relations. what started out as a fairytale, igniting hope of a new beginning has already hit rough air pockets much before its smooth take off. God knows who's to blame and who is being dishonest with whom ? The future of both leading a happy life together is clouded by the transgressions and haunting sins of the past. Love, mutual trust, friendhip and statesmanship stand swiftly swapped with distrust, suspicion and rank immature behaviour.
Wonder, if it is India again (and Sania) getting the raw deal ?
Wonder, if it is India again (and Sania) getting the raw deal ?
Monday, April 5, 2010
The end of the world is nigh..
There isn't a phrase more firmly implanted in my consciousness, than this. Not because, i have always believed in it but because this was a GD topic during my TAS preliminary rounds, the immediate context and provocation for which was the American attack on Iraq during the Iraq-Qatar war. The start of the third world war had seemed imminent then.
Now 19 years later, no matter how far one has come from those days and no matter just how much the whole world has evolved, there is this phrase that's resurfaced like the proverbial phoenix from its firmly entrenched groove in my head. I still remember quite vividly, arguing about not just the end of the physical world (due to the war like context) but its eventful journey into a world sans boundaries and a world devoid of tension and war. That was my little idealistic oasis, perfect and untouched by the evils around.
In early 91, no one could have imagined any other unifier. This was 3-4 years before the net became the omni-present potent force that it is today and maybe 6-7 years before the introduction of mobiles in India.
However, my inspiration to write this piece is neither the net nor the mobile. It is the IPL.
What years and years of discussions and debate could not achieve, the IPL has accomplished with ease. Who could have imagined that we would dump our own nationalistic pride and instead be rooting for a Pieterson and Shane Warne, going gaga over Malinga, Gilchrist and Gayle and applauding all the way for Ross Taylor, Kallis and Jayawardene as much as we would be appreciating our very own Sachin, Yosuf Pathan, Dhoni and Uthapa.
The world that we grew up with, has collapsed. Nationalities remain mere paper formalities and appear irrelevant. It is pointless thinking of a situation more perfect than this. Even if the motivation and driving force behind IPL was money, what it has achieved, goes far beyond. I doubt even Lalit Modi had visualised the Goliath, his baby would become or the radical changes it would unleash in the way and scale of how and what we think, interact and plan.
The other - inspiration has been the Shoaib Malik- Sania Mirza's proposed alliance - a somewhat star crossed, cross border alliance between two national stars (in their own countries) in less than perfect circumstances. Both- because of bitter inter-country tensions as also because of completely bizzarre talk surrounding his previous matrimony. If it eventually does come through and lasts, it would be perhaps real life emulating reel life (a la Veer Zara). It would set a good example of love transcending borders and mark the beginning of the end of an era of enemity, hatred and mutual disrespect and suspicion.
Now 19 years later, no matter how far one has come from those days and no matter just how much the whole world has evolved, there is this phrase that's resurfaced like the proverbial phoenix from its firmly entrenched groove in my head. I still remember quite vividly, arguing about not just the end of the physical world (due to the war like context) but its eventful journey into a world sans boundaries and a world devoid of tension and war. That was my little idealistic oasis, perfect and untouched by the evils around.
In early 91, no one could have imagined any other unifier. This was 3-4 years before the net became the omni-present potent force that it is today and maybe 6-7 years before the introduction of mobiles in India.
However, my inspiration to write this piece is neither the net nor the mobile. It is the IPL.
What years and years of discussions and debate could not achieve, the IPL has accomplished with ease. Who could have imagined that we would dump our own nationalistic pride and instead be rooting for a Pieterson and Shane Warne, going gaga over Malinga, Gilchrist and Gayle and applauding all the way for Ross Taylor, Kallis and Jayawardene as much as we would be appreciating our very own Sachin, Yosuf Pathan, Dhoni and Uthapa.
The world that we grew up with, has collapsed. Nationalities remain mere paper formalities and appear irrelevant. It is pointless thinking of a situation more perfect than this. Even if the motivation and driving force behind IPL was money, what it has achieved, goes far beyond. I doubt even Lalit Modi had visualised the Goliath, his baby would become or the radical changes it would unleash in the way and scale of how and what we think, interact and plan.
The other - inspiration has been the Shoaib Malik- Sania Mirza's proposed alliance - a somewhat star crossed, cross border alliance between two national stars (in their own countries) in less than perfect circumstances. Both- because of bitter inter-country tensions as also because of completely bizzarre talk surrounding his previous matrimony. If it eventually does come through and lasts, it would be perhaps real life emulating reel life (a la Veer Zara). It would set a good example of love transcending borders and mark the beginning of the end of an era of enemity, hatred and mutual disrespect and suspicion.
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