When life gives you 2020..

As the clock struck 12 on Dec 31, 2019 and the midnight ushered in the new year, I wonder if anyone had any inkling how 2020 would treat the world.

Almost half a year after those new year messages and social media posts, here we are - wistfully assessing if there's anything - anything at all about 2020 (for most, if not all people) to be happy about. And I haven't even gone local.

Coronavirus, masks, sanitizers, at least 20 seconds of hand wash after touching externally-sourced items, remote way of working, social distancing, living without maids, drivers, malls, et al - this is the new normal.

6 months ago, who could have said that the US would be on its knees (Corona, David Floyd)?

Who knew that eating out or shopping (physical, not virtual/online) would become mere memories?

Teachers taking classes online, students attending it like a circus ('Keep yourself on mute, class!') and academic institutions postponing exams/promoting candidates en masse - the world has well and truly changed.

But, you know, we Indians cannot stay content with just a few. We have always had just a few more irritants to contend with.
Locusts, frequent (albeit low-intensity) earthquakes, online theft and robberies - you name it, we've probably seen every problem in the book.

Reason enough to be disappointed..

Yet, yet, yet....


The year is only halfway done.
So what if the war's just begun?

Yes, the current times are bleak
But just be positive and not meek.


Whenever you find that
life has made you a pawn
Remember: It gets darkest,
only just before dawn.

So pull up, chin up, and stay as calm as a Boeing.
When the going gets tough, the tough get going.

An Open Letter to our Pride Minister

Dear Pradhaan Mantri ji,

Hope you are doing better than what you were/did on May 19.
I am not among those who think you are the wrong person in the chair, but you might not be able to count me as your blind-to-any-fault supporter either.

Perhaps even your strongest critics do not doubt your charisma and public speaking skills.
However, this one time, the script has perhaps gone haywire.

Your speech in Shanghai, China has evoked a strong reaction on social media with your "earlier-you-were-ashamed-of-being-an-Indian".

Well, it must be said that the comments were avoidable, to say the least.
It could be a fact that Indians feel more proud an assertive today than in times gone by, but that does not mean we were ashamed of being Indians.

Sir, your claiming it and ascribing it on a billion people as their mentality is certainly inappropriate and flawed.

Yes, we might have had (and continue to have) our flaws here and there (which country doesn't?), and there have very well been more reasons to be proud of ourselves as Indians.

However, this does not mean that the people of this country were ever ashamed of being Indians before you came to power.

For all the progress we have made in recent years, with or without you at the helm, those pessimists/cynics who felt ashamed earlier, might well continue to feel so even now, or later too.

We cannot pronounce judgement on an entire nation's mentality, on the basis of a miniscule group of such critics and cynics.

There was also a more than obvious hint there inyour speech, which seems to suggest, that the (flawed sense of) shame went and was replaced by pride in being an Indian, almost as a direct after-effect of May 16, 2014: or after May 26, 2014 to be precise:
Dates when the election results were announced sweeping you to power with an unequivocal, absolute majority, and the day when you were officially sworn in as PM, respectively.


Sir, please do not doubt the patriotism, pride, and sentiments of all Indians, based on a handful of the kinds who exist everywhere, in every country.

Please do not assume that we (surely, the majority of Indians) were ever ashamed of our identity.
Just as any other country, we reveled and took (and will continue to take) pride in what we and our country achieved over the years.

The problem is not in the shame being felt by any individuals. The problem is in it being foisted as a national sentiment for everyone, and imposing your copyright on us now feeling an enhanced sense of self-esteem, thanks to this government and your leadership alone.

Please ensure that as you lead us, we, as a nation, become the pride of the world.
Everyone's self-pride will take care of itself.

Regards,
Just one of the forever-proud Indians

Putting the I in ETHICS

If you are reading this, chances are you have a bit of spare time - in which case, I would strongly recommend you to read this.
Consider this recommendation to be a precursor to this post.

Apart from being a truly well-deserved eulogy to the best prime minister we have ever had, this article also traces the origins of today's omnipresent corruption in our system and collective psyche.

In today's world where blatant flouting of political propriety is the norm, can we ever expect to see any politician worth his salt (let alone a high-ranking minister) even considering plying by public transport? Oh, that, after (and because) he has voluntarily relinquished his position as a minister!
Yeah yeah, dream on!

True, we are not living in that era anymore, but what stops us from being better people than what we are?
Yes, none of us might (heck, can) ever attain such a towering moral rectitude as that of the great man, but why can we not try being at least true to ourselves?

I hope we never lose sight of the fact that even Shastri ji could have had his temptations.
Even he could have died rich, bequeathing a legacy of unforeseen wealth for his progeny.

However, we tend to worship only the glitzy, blighted by the chamak-damak, saluting only those who can bamboozle us with their 'numbers', dazzle us with their razzmatazz, making legends out of those who've 'made it large'.
In comes an Ambani then, while we forget the industriousness of a Tata.

Perhaps it is an unfathomable travesty, that understatedness goes unrewarded. The most genuine and morally 'rich' are often silent people. However, unfortunately, today's parlance has found the synonym of silence and understatement to only mean weakness and meekness.

Therefore, it is my humble attempt (in writing now, through this post!) that atleast I, shall put the I in ETHICS.

Strive I shall continue to do, for success and for everything I want to be...
But I don't need 'em if they come by losing the very principles which have shaped me.
What's the point of reading or writing a thousand words of eulogy....
if I do not actually imbibe the teachings of my hero - Shri Lal Bahadur ji?!

Amen to the effort and good luck to me! (and anyone else who'd like to follow suit)!!