A Common Man's Politics in India? A special retrospective with reference to the swearing in of the Executive Members of the Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi

Sitting before television set, looking at a live telecast of a New Chief Minister being sworn in as the Chief Minister of New Delhi, I couldn’t help but be pleasantly surprised! This is a landmark in history of the politics of not only Delhi but the whole country! The zeal and zest could be seen in all the party supporters of the AAP party. There was a palpable atmosphere of  excitement in the air, and everyone was talking about change, an end to corruption. The Common Man’s Party seems to have been formed of ordinary, common people from every day life. What appeared to me most unique about this party was the decision of the C.M. designate, Arvind Kejriwal's decision to travel by Metro to the Ramlila Maidan in Delhi for the swearing in Ceremony.  Somehow, what has marked this party distinct from the other two major parties, the Congress and the BJP has been its ability to identify itself with the common man and his problems. The Aam-Aadmi Party seems to be committed to address the problems of the common people such as inflated electricity bills, insufficient supply of potable water, and overwhelming stranglehold of corruption.

The lesson to be learned by all the National Level parties  for  the forthcoming General Assembly Elections, is that the chances of success will depend on how well their manifestos have been linked to the  problems of the common man! To quote from the Film, “Chenai Express” Shahrukh Khan’s words, “Don’t underestimate the power of the common man!” Seem to ring true! The events taking place in Delhi today, the swearing in of a most unlikely candidate and and equally unlikely party stands testimony to the common man’s hunger and desire for change. With the common man being fed up with nepotism, corruption and rising prices, one can’t predict what will happen in the 2014 General Assembly Elections.

I very strongly believe that there have been a large number of factors that have fuelled this uncontrollable desire for change in the common man. The promotion of the Firebrand young man fighting for the rights of the common man, the young man fighting corruption has been the reason for the success of various films like “Naik” and another milestone revolutionary film, “Rang De Basanti”. One can only wonder whether it is films that make the society or the society that makes the film. The fact is that Indian films and the society are so closely linked that watching of films should be an important task for all politicians. In the film “Naik” the angry young man Anil Kapoor takes on a corrupt Chief Minister, Amrish Puri as a reporter conducting an interview. The battle hardened Chief Minister is unable to answer some of the questions posed by Anil Kapoor and loses his cool. In a challenge, Amrish Puri challenges Anil Kapoor to become the Chief Minister for one day. What happens thereafter is filled with drama. The movie, “Rang De Basanti” voiced the disgust of the Indian youth with the corrupt system of governance. It was a call for revolution, a Gandhian form of revolution against a cantankerous system although it promoted a non-violent form of protest and revolution which is evident in the way the people of the Aam – Admi Party have promoted themselves before the people of Delhi.

The winds of change started blowing from the very land of the Pharaohs in Egypt. Ousting of Hosni Mubarak who had ruled Egypt for decades due to protests by common people at Tahrir square was bound to have repercussions all over the world. Birth of the Jasmine Revolution, its impact on the middle east, including Syria, the ousting of Colonel Gaddafi in Libya were all the result of common people being fed up with dictatorships, corruption, and government policies which didn’t address the common man. The winds of change reached India in the year 2011 when “Big Brother, Anna Hazare” launched a nation wide reforms against corruption and a demand for the Lokpal Bill to be passed by the Parliament ( Check out my earlier posts, links given below  ). That was a year when I had the opportunity of joining the St. Thomas School at Jagadhri as its principal, and I had to spend a lot of time in explaining to the staff of that school that change was in the air , and that they couldn’t afford to be complacent within their shells believing that nothing would happen to disturb their lazy and complacent lives. Jagadhri being in the interiors of Haryana, about 250 kilometres from Delhi, the teachers felt somehow protected from reforms taking place in the field of education. The swearing in of the the New Chief Minister of Delhi is proof that change has finally caught up with all of us, and no one can be free from it whether one lives in the backwaters of Haryana or the NCR region of Delhi! I would like to reiterate what Shahrukh Khan said the the Movie “Chennai Express”, “Don’t Underestimate The Power of the Common Man”! Thus you have today a ruling party in Delhi which is made up of common people from all walks of life and not just career politicians!

1.http://rodrickwrites.blogspot.in/2011/08/big-brother-wave-in-india-need-for.html

2.http://rodrickwrites.blogspot.in/2011/05/land-acquisition-norms-need-for-review.html

3. http://rodrickwrites.blogspot.in/2011/08/wave-against-corruption-sweeps-across.html 

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Christmas Celebrations in Gurgaon

 

Come December and the air of celebrations is in the air, and Gurgaon is not an exception!Being a city with a multicultural, multilingual community, it is not surprising to see how well the shopping centres and malls are decorated. Many Christian families begin preparations for Christmas from the first week of December itself. The visit to Khari Baoli in Chandni Chowk is a must if you have to buy the Choicest of peels and stuff to be put in the Christmas cakes. The peels, cherry, and ginger are then soaked in Rum. This is so that the peels in the cake don’t go bad. The best shop in Khari Baoli is the BEADS shop, and the gentleman who runs the shop will guide you about the amount of peels required. But then to come back to Gurgaon, we can find all the ready made eatables from the bakeries in Gurgaon. I saw ready made plum cakes at the Sugar and Spice outlet in the Galleria outlet in Gurgaon.

This time when we visited the Ambience Mall for our Christmas shopping, we saw the tall Christmas tree attracting the glances of all the shoppers. At the base of the the tree, people were pasting colourful post-its with wishes to Santa.

The  atrium at Sahara Mall at MG.Road hosted  a winter scene with lots of snow.

And of course who could forget Mr. Snow Man?

Christmas shopping generally starts quite early, but then the week before Christmas Day is when some of the best offers can be had in terms of garments. Shoppers flock to their favourite outlets looking for last minute discounts and gift  options. This year as always, the city has been decorated with Christmas trees, wreaths and bells. Plum cakes can be bought from Harish Bakery, Samrat Bakery and the Sugar and Spice outlets.

Those who wish to attend Mid-Night Mass can visit the Church of the Epiphany at Civil Lines Gurgaon. This is a one hour service which starts at 11:00 p.m. and ends at 12:00 a.m. (just ensure that you are properly wrapped up for the weather, and yes, the likely fog). The more enterprising can go to the Cathedral Church of Redemption, Church Lane, New Delhi which is close to the Rashtrapati Bhawan.

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Driving on New Railway Road, Gurgaon poses a serious threat to the safety of pedestrians and other road users

An increase in the number of motor vehicles on the roads of Gurgaon combined with poor  traffic management is posing serious threats to the safety of others road users, especially pedestrians. The large number of rashly driven Diesel Auto Rickshaws add to the chaos. The Traffic condition on  the New Railway road in old Gurgaon is a matter of concern. A lack of traffic lights, lack of speed breakers (On one lane) makes it risky and hazardous for pedestrians crossing over to the other side! To make matters worse is the problem of the parking of commercial vehicles on the side of the lane which has been clearly marked residential constricts the road even more! The New Railway Road is an important road that connects New Gurgaon and other sectors to the Railway Station. Imagine what would happen if this accident, the photograph of which I have pasted below had taken place during the day and not late at night? We were told that immediately after the accidents the two persons in the car scampered of never to be seen. I guess they would have to do a lot of answering to their parents. Yes, the car was a total loss, wonder what they were doing racing late at night, that too driving on the wrong lane? Parents, are you spoiling your children by giving them expensive cars to trash and allowing them to be away from home late at night? With New Year round the corner, drunken driving is bound to shoot up. One needs to be more careful while driving on the roads of Gurgaon at this time of the year, what with idiots and donkeys all around!

The impact was so great that the concrete Pole supporting the high tension electricity wires overhead was snapped at the base, and the boundary wall of a house was damaged. Imagine how fast this car was being driven to have sustained so much damage, and to have caused the concrete electricity pole to have snapped at the base. The car must have been doing more than a hundred and twenty kilometres per hour on a road where cars are meant to be driven at not more than forty kilometres an hour.

Gurgaon is bursting at the seams, and this is evident from the amount of traffic on the roads at any time of the day. Ironically enough, the hustle and bustle on the roads increases during holidays and weekends! The greatest problem is the lack of good road sense in people driving swanky and high end cars. It is funny how even those driving the humble hundred CC motorbikes like to zip and zoom as if they were being pursued by a hundred demons! With everyone driving like crazy, one wonders if the stress of driving on congested roads might not perhaps be affecting the ability of people to drive sensibly and with respect for other road users.

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Yujan-2013, The Winter Carnival

 

This Photograph speaks volumes about the spirit of the moment!

The Winter Carnival of my school took place on the twenty-first of December. There was a festive atmosphere in the air, and what better moment it was for the school to end the year! A gala of events, performances by students who performed on the stage, Christmas Carols and the latest western numbers, as if this was not enough, there were a large number of food stalls that served exotic food. The students had worked very hard to set up game stalls. the school band performed with élan,  the vintage car attracted envious glances, and the light fog set hearts beating! What more could one ask for  at the end of the year? Without saying more, I have pasted below some of the photographs that I took on the occasion, for pictures speak more than words, and I am sure you will surely agree!

That was the stall that I was deputed to!

Of course, how could there not be my photograph? Although the student of Grade Eight could not compose the snap right cutting my left foot in the process!

The School Band Whipped up the hearts of all those present!

The Release of the Brochure by Mr. Vishnu Katrtik, the Senior Program Leader stands testament to the students of the Journalism Course!

This is a photograph of Shantanu, a Student of my Science section manning the EATHS Stall. This incidentally was a stall that dealt in environmental issues.

Shrey was there on the occasion and he looked after the fire safety requirements.

Shrey Chopra had insisted that I should have this photograph with the Fire Engine, so I obliged!

Last but not least was this wonderfully preserved Chevrolet car!

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Urban Myths and Legends-Are Superstitions a throw back on Race memories and instincts?

A couple of days back it was Friday the Thirteenth, and somehow or the other no one at my place of work even mentioned it as if the very act of mentioning the fact would somehow bring them bad luck! Somehow, fewer people  in India believe in Western superstitions and fewer people in the West are somehow even aware of the superstitions that people in India believe in. Take for example the Owl. The owl according to Western Culture is a symbol of Wisdom, but for people in India it symbolizes bad luck! The same can be said about a cat cutting across ones path ahead. In India this is supposed to bring bad luck, but then in the West, people would even bother noticing such an event! It is clear, from a superficial view that  most superstitious beliefs  are dependent on geographical and cultural factors.

That brings me back to the topic of Friday the Thirteenth. This is an Urban Myth associated with the Western Culture and has some links to the Christian Religion too. The number thirteen is supposed to be so unlucky by some people that you don’t have a thirteenth floor in most buildings, and similarly you might not have a seat numbered thirteen in a commercial aircraft. Why people continue in believing in such superstitions is beyond reasoning. Scientific reasoning and rationality suggest that their is absolutely no basis for believing in such superstitions as never crossing a path that has been crossed by a cat, or not stepping out of homes on Friday the thirteen. Somehow, it is race memories that are to blame for such irrational beliefs. If too many horrible incidents took place in the past on a particular date, then people begin to associate bad luck to that particular date. The only solution to such superstitious beliefs is education. In India where there is an auspicious moment for everything, it often becomes really difficult to move on in life without being really scared of something or the other. Take for example the belief that a person born on a Tuesday, a Mangalik will bring certain death to the spouse who is not himself or herself born on a Tuesday. Imagine the large number of people who remain unmarried their whole lives because of this superstitious fear of causing the death of their partners.

In times of extreme competition and stress and hard work, it is amazing how strongly superstitions and Urban Myths continue to hold sway on societies across the world. I guess, superstitions are deeply ingrained in the psyche of the societies all over the world, and these memories are difficult to remove, they are like the instincts that many of us are born with and are unable to explain somehow their workings. They are like memories engrained within our DNA, memories integral to our being human. While no doubt, Education could be a way of removing superstitions from the society, in some cases it can be a factor for promoting Superstition, take for example the superstitions associated with Friday the thirteenth. Very few of the less educated Indians would even be aware of the superstitions associated with this particular day, although once introduced to the idea, they would be more likely to accept it wholeheartedly because their own belief in auspicious dates for every thing.

To state that western societies are less superstitious than eastern societies would in itself be a very wrong assumption. Some of the most advanced societies can be as superstitious if not more superstitious than their eastern counterparts!  Which brings me back to the topic of Friday the Thirteenth. This is an Urban Myth or Legend that has been strongly ingrained in the Western man’s psyche. Intriguing connections between events, practices are attributed to ancient culture that mark Friday the thirteen as the unluckiest day of all! Katherine Kurtz in Tales of the Knights Templar ( Warner Books, 1995) writes: “On October 13, 1307, a day so infamous that Friday the 13th would become a synonym for ill fortune, officers of King Philip IV of France carried out mass arrests”. 

  “ LEGEND HAS IT: If 13 people sit down to dinner together, one will die with the year. The Turks so disliked the number 13 that is was practically expunged from their vocabulary (Brewer,1894). Many cities do not have a 13th Street or a 13th Avenue. Many buildings don’t have a 13th floor. If you have 13 letters in your name, you will have the devil’s luck (Jack the Ripper, Charles Manson, Jeffrey Dahmer, Theodore Bundy and Albert Salvo all have 13 letters in their names). There are 13 witches in a coven.” -*

It is clear that most Urban Legends, Myths and superstitions all have a basis in historical events and ancient facts. One interesting assumption is that “primitive man had only his 10 fingers and two feet to represent units, this explanation goes, so he could count no higher than 12. What lay beyond that – 13 -  was an impenetrable mystery to our prehistoric forebears, hence an object of superstation.”-* The Norse god Loki was the god of mischief and when twelve gods were invited to a banquet at Valhalla, he gate crashed into the party bringing the figure to an unlucky thirteen! The same can be said of all superstations that prey over the minds of people in India.

Most superstitions are apparently very old superstitions those that have been with us since the times when our forefathers lived in caves. When these memories are taken up by people living in modern urban cities all over the world, they become  Urban Legends, thus a house where a murder has taken place will be shunned by all, and we continue to fear haunted houses. Each city has its own Urban Legend, like for example my father keeps telling me stories about how in the past, many years back, when he was a child living in what is now Gurgaon, Millennium City of Haryana, it was dangerous to give lifts to unknown strangers while travelling towards other villages. One of his uncles had narrated a story  to him about how one evening, while riding his cycle to Badshah-pur, someone asked for a lift and he obliged and the passenger sat on the Cycle carrier. After some time the uncle noticed that it was becoming tougher to ride the cycle. When he looked back, he noticed that the passenger had grown in size! There are many other superstitions that have become very much part of our culture today and you will see even highly educated people believing in them. Take for example the habit of stringing green chillies and lemons ad then hanging them before the gates of business establishments to ward off the evil eye and ensure prosperity-or for that effect, straightening shoes that are upturned, lest the upturned shoe should bring bad luck to their owners!

All that I can say as a conclusion to this article is that Fridays might be most lucky for some people, and the number 13 could be lucky for those people who according to numerology have birth numbers that include the numbers 2, and 4 as the addition of 1 and 3 in thirteen equals 4 and 4 divided by 2 equals two and 4 divided by the birth number 4 equals 1 both lucky numbers indeed! The fact of the matter is that however we might rationalize our superstitions, and beliefs in Urban Myths, there is no Scientific basis to any of these and they are to be taken with a pinch of salt and a smile! Certainly, they are quirky appendages of every culture and might have something to do with historical events and incidents that took place in the past-a throw back to our race memories, memories that have become ingrained deep within our psyche, a collective consciousness that is unique and distinct for each culture. Fact of the matter is that they continue to prey on our minds no matter how educated we are and at times need to be treated seriously. If a person goes into depression on a Friday the Thirteenth or he  believes that all his bad luck is because of his unlucky birth number, then obviously he would require counselling or even medical treatment. Unfortunately we have become slaves to habit and are easily fixated in our beliefs no matter what may happen to prove our beliefs wrong. It is ironical how most of these beliefs persist even in an age of scientific and technological advancement!

* http://urbanlegends.about.com/cs/historical/a/friday_the_13th_2.htm

Should the reader be more interested in reading more on this rather quirky topic, the following sources might prove helpful:

·        Bowen, John. "Friday the 13th." Salon magazine, 13 Aug 1999.

·         Brewer, E. Cobham. The Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. (1898 Edition in Hypertext).

·         "Days of the Week: Friday." The Mystical World Wide Web.

·         de Lys, Claudia. The Giant Book of Superstitions. New Jersey: Citadel Press, 1979.

·         Duncan, David E. Calendar: Humanity's Epic Struggle to Determine a True and Accurate Year. New York: Avon, 1998.

·         Ferm, Vergilius. A Brief Dictionary of American Superstitions. New York: Philosophical Library, 1965.

·         Krischke, Wolfgang. "This Just Might Be Your Lucky Day." Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 1 Nov 2001.

·         Kurtz, Katharine. Tales of the Knights Templar. New York: Warner Books, 1995.

·         Lachenmeyer, Nathaniel. 13: The Story of the World's Most Popular Superstition. New York: Avalon, 2004.

·         Lawson, Thomas W. Friday, the Thirteenth. New York: Doubleday, 1907.

·         Opie, Iona and Tatem, Moira. A Dictionary of Superstitions. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1989.

·         Panati, Charles. Panati's Extraordinary Origins of Everyday Things. New York: Harper Collins, 1989.

·         Q and A: Triskaidekaphobia. New York Times, 8 Aug 1993.

·         Scanlon, T.J., et al. "Is Friday the 13th Bad for Your Health?" British Medical Journal. (Dec. 18-25, 1993): 1584-6.

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