Live Life King Size!

हर पल यहाँ जी भर जियो,

जो है समां, कल हो न हो|

A road accident yesterday brought an abrupt end to the lives of four youngsters from IIT Delhi; that too when they were on a journey celebrating friendship and creating memories. Tragic incidents such as these make me want to believe in the theory of ‘rebirth’. The only way I can find solace is to think that these beautiful souls, who have left us in mourning, will bring laughter and happiness into some other lives.

I didn’t know them closely; one of them was just an acquaintance. Nonetheless, the terrible news brought back the realization that how ephemeral life is and how precious our moments in this world are. It is so pointless to waste these precious moments holding negative thoughts in our minds towards the people around us. A wise man once told me, "Wherever you go, the thing that will matter the most will be the people around you."

So, the best way, I believe, to pay our respects to the departed souls would be to celebrate this gift of life. Let us use our time here to spread happiness around us and bring smiles to as many faces as we can. क्योंकि, बाबू मोशाई, जिंदगी बड़ी होनी चाहिए, लंबी नहीं |

A Letter to Arvind Kejriwal ji

Dear Arvind Kejriwal ji,

After the trust of the public, you have now won the trust vote in Assembly also. Kudos to you for making history by going from the chief agitator to the Chief Minister of Delhi in just about a year.

A week ago, just after the oath-taking ceremony, you proclaimed that the ‘aam aadmi’ of Delhi has become the CM. While I appreciate your idea of Swaraj to put the power back into the hands of the aam aadmi, you need to recognize that you, being the Chief Minister now, are no longer an aam aadmi. With the authority to take decisions that impact the lives of millions of Delhi-ites vested in you, you are an important person. I won’t call you a Very Important Person (VIP), since you despise that label; and rightly so, given the extent to which VIP culture has infected our daily lives, from traffic lights to temple queues.

It is understandable that you seek to maintain the deep connection with the people that resulted in the exceptional electoral verdict for AAP. But I feel that you have gone overboard in propagating your ‘aam aadmi’ image. Starting from the metro ride to Ramlila Maidan to your rejection of the 5-bedroom apartment as your residence, this is appearing merely symbolic now. By all means, stay in a government bungalow, but also ensure that its gates are open to everyone irrespective of their social or economic status. Whenever somebody would agitate outside your house, if you could offer them water in glasses to drink, and not in canons to bathe, you would more strongly reinforce your ‘aam aadmi’ identity. If you can remain sensitive and responsive to concerns of the common people about their lives, they won’t bother about the number of bedrooms in your house. Living in a big house doesn’t stop one from having a big heart.

However, my sincere hope is that anti-corruption drive, and not shunning the VIP culture, becomes the major highlight of your Government. If you could send the culprits responsible for CWG scam to jail, you would do more justice to the aam aadmi’s sentiments than by riding auto rickshaws to work. Remember that time during Janlokpal agitation when Union Ministers challenged you to get elected and pass the bill yourself. Now that you have accomplished the more difficult first part of the challenge, you have the opportunity to demonstrate the practicability and efficacy of the Janlokpal model. Only a more effectively-working Lokayukta can highlight the weaknesses of the Government’s Lokpal model, which everyone except you has welcomed and celebrated.

You, your party, and now your government, have been receiving disproportionate media attention. Vasundhara Raje, with a three-fourths majority in Rajasthan elections, or Shivraj Singh and Raman Singh, returning to power for a third term, might grudge you for stealing their thunder. But too much of anything is counter-productive, as you might be starting to realize. Even the irregularity of your bowel movements is now being made ‘breaking news’, but that should not distract you from the ambitious mission of “vyavastha parivartan”.

The country has witnessed how you have shifted the political discourse away from personalities to issues, and now you may even set the agenda for 2014 General Elections. Aam Aadmi Party has opened the doors of politics to people with no political lineage, money or muscle power. But the process of systemic change should not stop at cleaning politics, but further extend to overhauling the administrative machinery from the lowest levels of bureaucracy to the highest echelons of power.

Putting transparent governance mechanisms in place would have more far-reaching impact on quality of people’s lives than providing free water or cheaper electricity. And while we are at it, it would be desirable for the want of transparency that your government puts in public domain the deliberations that went into the decisions of water and electricity subsidy, along with the larger action plan on improving the accessibility and affordability of water and electricity. That would not only enrich the raging debate on the implications of these ‘populist’ measures, but also indicate a long-term vision and not just short-term political considerations.

Sir, you now carry the burden of aspirations of many who have placed their trust in you. While some might like to see you fail so that they can shout: “I told you so”, a larger section of the public wishes to see you succeed in what you have started. You have become a symbol of hope for the people who have time and again been let down by the political class. Don't you become just another politician now! Don’t you let us down!

Yours truly,

An Aam Aadmi

One Evening at Raisina Hill

[Disclaimer: This is a detailed account of a personal experience, and may contain minute details uninteresting to you.]

After witnessing the outrage over Twitter against the heinous incident of rape and attempted murder in the capital city of India, I found myself to be in the same place for 4 days. I could not loose this opportunity to witness, participate, and engage in one of the largest spontaneous uprisings of young boys and girls that I can remember. So there I was, walking out of Central Secretriat Metro Stn at 6pm on Saturday, observing the various shades of Indian youth trying to assert themselves.

While I moved towards Rajpath, I saw one young agitated guy trying to damage an already fallen police barricade, and running came another one (his friend, possibly) stopping him furiously, and asking him whether he is here to damage public property or demand justice and safety of women. A smile appeared on my face, as I saw a small but significant example of self-correction and self-restraint. The barricade was lifted and put on side of the road, and I moved ahead.

As I walked towards Vijay Chowk, the centre of all action and attention, I saw many small groups of young boys and girls - the same ones, I guess, who you can see hanging out at CCDs and McDonald's - raising slogans at their own pitch and pace. What united them was the call for exemplary punishment to the rapists and a safer Delhi for its daughters and sisters. With time, more people trickled in and the small groups merged into a larger one - sitting peacefully on the cold surface - some had candles in their hands, some had banners, while some like me were empty-handed contributing just by voice and actions.

Moving further ahead towards the aisles of power that be (Rashtrapati Bhawan, North Block and South Block), I heard small circles of protesters giving heated statements to media personnel - some of which made sense to me, while some didn't. As I moved closer, I was stopped by a group of policemen. Showing that I was unarmed and meant no harm, I was allowed to walk around. And I was standing in front of the last barricade - separating the two Indias - young, energetic protesters on one side, and battalions of police and paramilitary forces with heavy bundobast of water canons, anti-riot brigades, tear shells & guns on other side protecting the seats of power. Shouts of "Sheila Dixt Haye Haye" were suppressed spontaneously, and were replaced with slogans of "We Want Justice".

Amid all this, everybody heard some sort of "Akashvani" - the summary of Home Minister's press conference was being read out by ACP Mr. D C Shrivastav, further asking that the protesters should end the protest since their demands have been listened to. A few girls also joined from top of police van, saying that they were randomly selected from the protesting crowd to meet the Home Minister, and were asked to convey his message to the public. The public lost its calm and asked aggressively why Home Minister could not come to address the public himself - genuine question in my opinion, "Why do our leaders and representatives need messengers to interact with aggrieved citizens, and expect us to feel satisfied with it?" They must be really afraid - I thought.

I joined a group of young men talking to ACP D C Shrivastav about the status of investigation in this particular case - DNA tests, identification parade, medical reports - and that law would take its "due course". Everything looked calm and quiet, until a rogue element started hurling abuses at the ACP. The ACP called upon to catch hold of the person, which the police force took as a signal to jump the barricades and beat the protesters - even those peacefully sitting. I saw policemen hitting out at mediapersons' cameras and pulling out their wires as they captured their faces. I stood there amazed at what just happened in a matter of few seconds.

I was pushed away by 2-3 constables to go back home and not come back, as the protests are over. I started walking slowly, but the constables were not satisfied with my unafraid demeanor and I received a blow of the cane on my legs asking me to run away. I turned and shouted at them angrily. I was joined by some others, and within next few minutes, the police was back behind the barricades and the protesters were back to the same spot. We identified the policeman who beat me, and asked for his identity. The "fattu" man hung his head in shame and ran behind the wall of his fellow policemen not to be seen again. The crowd became agitated asking for the reasons of the sudden crackdown. The slogans turned from being anti-rape to anti-tyranny. Most policemen claimed innocence saying that their baton has not hit one single innocent person throughout the day. What chameleons - I thought!

With time, the protesters regrouped and situation became normal. With increasing cold at 10pm, only some highly determined ones held ground while others started moving back. The police contingents also started dispersing with orders to report back at 6am the next day. Things attained normalcy in some time and while I walked back to Metro Stn, agitated and tormented inside at the state of the nation, wondering what kind of crippled democracy India has become, whether this is just a low in the story of India and whether the Indian youth will fight back for a brighter future. Only time will tell.

Dharnas Undemocratic?

I find the terming of picketing of MPs houses and offices across the nation as undemocratic to be grossly misconceived. While the critics propose democratic process as the solution to this problem, they seem to have forgotten the basic premise of representative democracy. If our honuorable Members of Parliament, as representatives of the people, had reached out to the people of their respective constituency to recognise the popular view on this crucial issue of Lokpal, this act of 'dharnas' in front of MPs would have been unnecessary. Just because of the growing disconnect of the representatives from the people, such acts become necessary to ascertain the mood of people who they most proudly claim to represent. In general, the people's representatives must stop toeing the lines of party "high command" blindly and give voice to the people's will in their respective constituencies even if it doesn't conform to the party thinking, as is observed in other mature democracies like US.

Letter to Editor (The Hindu)

I wrote a letter to the Editor of The Hindu today. I don't know whether somebody in the editorial team of The Hindu will read it or not. Reproducing the letter here nonetheless.

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Sir,

This is with reference to the recent "Lead" articles published in The Hindu on 23rd and 24th Aug, 2011. Not only do I not agree with the analysis and arguments presented in the articles, but also I find these articles to be based on incomplete information.

Ms. Arundhati Roy's article "I'd rather not be Anna" has been refuted based on facts in the following article (not written by me):

http://clearvisor.wordpress.com/2011/08/23/why-i’d-rather-be-anna-than-arundhati/

I hope you would find the arguments in the above blog substantive and would give ample space to its fact-based analysis in your esteemed publication, so that the large readership, which your newspaper enjoys, does not remain misinformed.

Mr. Prabhat Patnaik's article "Messianism versus Democracy" is theoretically sound but makes grossly mistaken observations about the happenings at Ramlila Maidan. He claims that the "occasion is not used to enlighten the gathering" about "the differences between the Government's Lokpal Bill and the Jan Lokpal Bill". Nothing could be further from the truth, as not only the stage of Ramlila Maidan is used to educate the masses of the differences in provisions of both the bills, members of 'India against Corruption' movement have used print media (The Hindu also, at times), the electronic media, social networking (Facebook, Twitter, Youtube) and even printed pamphalets distributed to doorsteps by volunteers to explain their suggestions to a large section of the society. On the contrary, the 'democratically' elected government has not attempted to defend the provisions of its own bill by any such means and even on the floor of the Parliament. Apart from that, the stage of Ramlila Maidan is used to immediately impress upon the masses about the progress of dialogue with the Government, while the Government's representatives continue to make muffled statements about their stand on contentious issues.

The Hindu, particularly its editorial page, has a large number of followers which is respected for its non-partisan views on the matters of concern to the nation and the world. Due to the prestige associated with The Hindu, the articles published almost decisively transform public opinion on various issues. Therefore, I would like to request the editorial team of The Hindu to publish the articles only after adequate verification for factual correctness, and not based on just the esteem of the author. I am not advocating that various perspectives of an issue should not be brought into public knowledge, but the arguments in any debate must be based on truth and authentic facts, not misinformation or inadequate information.

I sincerely hope that The Hindu will continue to function as a responsible media house bringing quality news to its readers, and take corrective measures to prevent the few aberrations such as the ones pointed out above.

With best regards,

Vikas Prajapati

Dual Degree Student,

Dept of Computer Science and Engineering,

Indian Institute of Technology Delhi,

Hauz Khas, New Delhi - 16