Thursday, April 21, 2011

Lemonade Republic!!

As someone who believes in the spirit of democracy, it was heartening to see the country rally around Anna Hazare, and how! As a frail, old Gandhian took center-stage built on the hungry pedestal provided by the national media – it seemed in a long time the country had found a collective voice, it seemed that the concept of our government being “of the people” hadn’t lost it credibility. The government literally bought down to its knees, politicos for once running to take cover from the junta, it just seemed that this was the one bright spark of political activism the country so badly needed!

And yet, a couple of weeks on from the moment Anna took a token glass of lemonade, it seems we’ve had our full – of political activism. Feels as though, the token lemonade was good enough to satiate our hunger for change, our clamor for riddance of graft & corruption.

Alas, sad it may sound, but scratching a little at the surface of our collective political activism, it smacks so badly of hollowness; of complacency and herd mentality. And it will be these very reasons that once again, the politicos will be proved to be smarter than the junta. They have thick enough skins to see an adverse period through, and we don’t have enough gas in our activism engine to outlast them. As junta, we eventually have to come back to worry about our dal-roti while the neta can slug it out even though he currently looks silly with an egg on his face.

The fact that so many of us supported Anna, because it just seemed to be the “in thing”… heck how could be seen “left out” shows the herd mentality of our times… just lending a voice to the much hyped-up campaign was a sort of no-brainer that one would be foolish to miss – shows the little understanding we have of political activism. Tweet, blog, text and re-tweet, we did all … and with such gutso as though it was the end of the world. Sadly, as collectively as we got behind the septuagenarian, we also failed to capture the fact that merely lending our voice wasn’t ever going to be sufficient.

How many of us can confidently claim to have opposed offering bribe in the last two weeks? Whether its twenty bucks to a traffic constable or a lavish praise to an ego hungry babu… we all have and continue to bribe our way through our system! The reason why our politicians take us with the pinch of salt is the fact that tokenisms work wonders with our public – whether it’s a glass of lemonade or an heaps of empty promises that we seem to buy time and again.

Heck, who cares and needs an Anti-Corruption Watchdog, if as a nation we become Anti-Corrupt – be it politician, governance, system, people … anything! We’re too easy to mend, and therefore too easy to corrupt! As a public we’ve become spineless and therefore our country a puppet in the hands of the corrupt.

We’ve all given ourselves a pat on the back for seemingly have brought the government to its knees, but even while all the brouhaha over the Lokpal played over in the media… the Corruption machine kept milking our nation away – and many of us gladly provided the fodder – in an act of super-hypocrisy – that betrays at the very heart of our collective conscious.

Our lil Rendezvous

Sitting in a far off corner,

I was lost for all who could see!

Yet in the corner of my eye,

From the distance I felt you notice me!!


I turn around to check,

If it was indeed the case!

But you stole your eyes away,

Away you turned your face!!


So I walk in your direction

And in work you seem engrossed!

Do I say something or just walk by?

My heart – back & forth it tossed!!


And I walk past, but only just,

Only to beat a hasty retreat!

And to catch you stealing a look again,

Ah! My joy felt complete!!


So I muster enough strength,

To come and stand by you!

Deep inside my heart had just,

Skipped a beat or two!!


And when you looked up,

With that pretty smile!

I was so tongue tied,

Just stood staring for a while!!


For a while time seemed frozen

And the world seemed to melt away!

Just stare I could at the lovely you,

Still not sure what I wanted to say!!


Finally when I spoke,

Indecipherably I mumbled!

My mind was still lost,

And my sentences were jumbled!!


As I walked back

And reflected on our lil rendezvous!

Though I didn’t quite say it,

I’m sure you heard me say “I love you”!!

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Precious is your little heart!!



From where you stand

What’s gone is past,

There’s no point holding on!

For what is lost

Was never meant to last,

So it’s best to move on!!


From where you stand,

A new horizon waits,

So quicken your steps a tad!

For what is gone,

Wasn’t meant to stay on,

So don’t brood & look sad!!


From where you stand,

No time to waste,

On what could have been!

For what lies before

Is so much more,

Than what’s so far seen!!


From where you stand

It’s a bright new day,

To make a fresh start!

Remember this time

To not squander it away,

For very precious is your little heart!!