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Victory for Afghans Return of the native |
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Bahu khoob
BJP’s quest for new ideas
Gifts for mother
Follow Up Delhi Durbar
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Victory for Afghans Saturday's peaceful presidential elections in Afghanistan, the first such exercise in this landlocked country, marked a turning point in its history. By all indications, interim President Hamid Karzai will continue to occupy the position he holds. Though the results will be declared officially in a few days, it is almost certain that he will get far more than the legal requirement of 51 per cent of the total votes cast. This was a foregone conclusion, given the many strong factors working in his favour, including his Pashtun background. What is noteworthy is the smooth conduct of the elections with negligible bloodshed and a massive voter turnout despite the threats from the Taliban and its supporters. Burqa-clad women exercised their democratic right as enthusiastically as did men. The world could not have missed a remarkable transformation in Afghan society with even a woman candidate trying her luck at the hustings. A pall of uncertainty appeared on the horizon when 15 of the 16 candidates (two had already withdrawn in favour of Mr Karzai) in the fray announced their boycott of the elections at the eleventh hour. Soon, however, the situation was back to normal with the assurance to probe their charges by an independent commission. It was a bold decision, reflecting transparency and fairness. The disgruntled candidates showed pragmatism when they accepted the enquiry and ended their boycott, though they initially wanted a fresh poll to be held. Some may say that Mr Karzai's success is a victory for the US. That is true. But he has developed friendly relations with many other countries too, India being one. None of his challengers was a match for him. He is better placed to take care of the requirements of his war-ravaged country. He, however, needs billions of dollars as aid to provide the necessary infrastructure despite his interim government having done a lot for normalising life in Afghanistan. The international community must honour its commitments in the interest of peace. |
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Return of the native Political battlelines will need to be redrawn in Haryana, now that the Haryana Vikas Party of former Chief Minister Bansi Lal is set to merge with the Congress. The stalwart is today a pale shadow of his old self but his party does retain some of its relevance. While he may be happy with a sinecure job, it is his son Surender Singh, who can be a major beneficiary of the move. The Congress may also emerge stronger with the return of Mr Bansi Lal, considering that he was its most visible face in the State till he was expelled from the party in 1991 for anti-party activities. Although he asserted as late as on October 2 that the HVP would go it alone in the coming Assembly elections, there were clear-cut signs that his party was drifting closer to its parent party. The Congress had fielded Mrs Kiran Chaudhary, wife of HVP Secretary-General Surender Singh, for the Rajya Sabha seat from Haryana but she lost to Mr Tarlochan Singh, backed by the ruling INLD of Mr Om Prakash Chautala. The strong pockets of influence that the HVP has in several districts will be a valuable acquisition for the Congress. That does not mean that it is going to be a win-win situation for all concerned. For one thing, the merger will be opposed by Congressmen at the middle rung who will now have to share tickets with the new claimants. Mr Bhajan Lal is believed to be none too happy with the decision. Mr Bansi Lal is expected to lie low at least for the time being but there is a strong lobby which feels that he could be a strong candidate for leadership queering the pitch of the Jat race between Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Mr Birender Singh. At one time there was talk of the HVP merging with the BJP, in alliance with which it ruled the State once. But things did not work out. To that extent, the merger is a setback for the BJP. However, those HVP men who left the party to join the BJP will be happy with the arrangement. Much will depend on how smoothly the Congress and its new constituent pull along during the forthcoming Assembly elections. |
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Bahu khoob Madame Tussauds will have to step up security because of a certain Lalita Bakhshi. The frustrated Indian male would still provoke Nirad Babu for having "sex on his mind and fear in his heart". What he has shed is the load of inhibition of family values imposed on him. In the good old days he wanted a wife who could cook, press his feet and bear only male children. Now he wants a more attractive face, a hungry party animal, for taking him places in the fast lane. His new age attitude has blurred the distinction between a broad and a broad-minded woman as his soul-mate. Since Aishwarya Rai is said to have the face of Helen of Troy, the new Indian male's dream revolves around her as his life partner either as Paro, in Devdas, or Lalita Bakhshi in Gurinder Chadha's Bride and Prejudice. With Bollywood male actors themselves fighting over her, the non-celebrity males do not stand a ghost of a chance of getting the most sought after hand in India. The next best option is to somehow get, by hook or by crook, the newly installed wax statue from Madame Tussauds. That is why the need for increased security. A revealing study on the changing profile of the Indian bahu has resulted in a book titled "(Un)tying the Knot: Ideal and Reality in Asian Marriage". The study by the Centre for Social Research found that in the 60s the focus was on caste and family. Only two matrimonials asked for a slim girl as bahu. In the 70s, looks became important. The 80s were the worst phase for the traditional daughter-in-law. She was forced to play the role of the housebound "pativrata" of the 60s while taking on the additional burden of becoming a successful working woman. Had the Aishwaryas and Madhuris been allowed to act in films in the 60s, the conservative Indian male might not have waited so long for seeking a "professionally qualified, physically perfect" woman to tango with. |
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Language is the dress of thought. — Samuel Johnson |
BJP’s quest for new ideas WHILE Ms Uma Bharati’s recent Tiranga Yatra exercise of waving the national flag across 3,000 miles caught the eye for symbolising the intra-party struggle in the Bharatiya Janata Party among second-tier leaders, it was meant to serve a deeper purpose. Unlike Mr L.K. Advani’s Rath Yatra, which led to the tragedy of the Babri Mosque demolition with a seeming inevitability, but served as the BJP’s golden key to power, the new yatra has had little immediate tangible effect. However, it has revealed the party’s strategy as it is evolving. Having tasted power at the Centre for nearly six years, the BJP for a time flirted with a shrill version of Hindutva to enthuse its constituency after losing the election. But a revival of the old slogan was found to be impolitic if the party wished to continue with the fiction of the National Democratic Alliance and seek another stint at governing the country. It has therefore been thrashing out for a new magic key to catapult it to power. Ironically, the Congress-ruled state of Karnataka gave the BJP an opening by reviving a 10-year-old case against Ms Bharati for planting the national Tricolour at the idgah at Hubli. It served two purposes for the party. Ms Bharati’s maverick ways were unsuited to the post of Chief Minister she held in Madhya Pradesh and her resignation in view of the local court’s arrest warrant was a suitable excuse to change horses. Second, the BJP could try out a new tack to test the political waters. Its hoary practice is to undertake a yatra when in doubt. It has been variously defined as “new nationalism” by Ms Bharati or “cultural nationalism” by Mr Advani. What better way to promote these concepts (whatever they might mean) than to let Ms Bharati conduct a new yatra essentially to wrap herself up in the national flag after the manner of American parties, once the Karnataka government withdrew the cases against her? It is recognised by the party as by everyone that there is a measure of risk in any Bharati enterprise because she is a loose cannon, but it was a risk worth taking. As the BJP is mulling the impact of Ms Bharati’s travels, the tinge of disappointment of the party leaders is perhaps due to her decision to dilute the flag message by burdening it with fighting corruption, the issue of so-called tainted minister in Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s Cabinet and, above all, by her constant tirades against the Congress leader Sonia Gandhi. In fact, her desire to mock Ms Gandhi’s foreign provenance became so intense that it was an embarrassment, even allowing for the streak of vulgarity that is often part of the culture of the Sangh Parivar. Insofar as Ms Bharati could restrain herself, she suggested that her mission was to “steal” the Tricolour from the Congress, declaring on one occasion that the Congress had no right to use the colours of the national flag with the party symbol. In other words, she resents the history of the Indian National Congress as the party of Indian independence, which set the mould for the country’s political development. The BJP has long decried the Congress’ “pseudo-secularism”, but the party’s attempt at an alternative nationalism built around other figures of Indian history has not been particularly successful. One such alternative leader was Veer Sarvarkar, and the removal of a plaque honouring him in the Cellular Jail complex in Port Blair to the accompaniment of some blunt words by Mr Mani Shankar Iyer gave the BJP the opportunity to protest. Ms Bharati apparently did not take kindly to Ms Sushma Swaraj, another claimant to party honours, launching her agitation in the Andamans while her yatra was making its noisy progress. The credo of cultural nationalism has been tried but has proved too amorphous a phrase to inspire the party cadres. Hindutva is snappy and effective in enthusing the cadres but is a red rag to a bull in its connotations for too many. Previously, the BJP has sought to define it in softer hues, often falling between two stools, without satisfying either its cadres or the minorities and secular individuals. Perhaps, Ms Bharati gave the game away by her ceaseless flow of rhetoric. She said she would use the national flag against the allegedly communal politics of the Congress to ensure that the latter would not play politics with it. She protested (too much) that she was not playing politics with the flag for partisan profit. Only “aggressive nationalism” and development would make India a superpower by 2021. Apart from her reported threat of retiring from active politics for two years she subsequently denied, she said she would ask the party leadership to “allow me to roam in the streets to spread the message of nationalism”. During the period of its coalition rule at the Centre, the BJP’s method has been to downplay Hindutva while setting in place the mechanisms to spread “cultural nationalism”. This was apparent in the revision of history textbooks, as it was in personnel changes in key institutions of historical and social sciences. It was, in a sense, a long gestation project to transform the country in stages as the BJP grew from strength to strength. Unfortunately for the BJP, the party lost in the general election after a relatively brief stint in power and is now witnessing an aggressive Congress minister painstakingly removing the BJP’s plants, in textbooks as in key staff positions. This was an unexpected setback for the BJP. The energies of the party leadership are now devoted to finding a new strategy while attending to the immediate tasks of fighting local and state elections. The BJP felt cheated by being deprived of the evocative issue of a person of foreign origin holding prime ministerial office because Ms Gandhi declined the honour in favour of Mr Manmohan Singh. It was an anti-climax after Ms Bharati and Ms Swaraj had staked their future political careers on the arduous penances they would undertake when Ms Gandhi took office. Perhaps as a consequence, while nursing her wounds, Ms Bharati has been particularly strident in hurling accusations at the Congress leader, lacing such attacks with highlighting her original birthplace. It remains to be seen how long the BJP leadership will take to put the flag issue on hold. The answer will depend upon the party finding a more rewarding symbol of
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Gifts for mother I lost my mother sometime back; before that and after, there has never been a day when I did not feel her in me. So I felt strange when I found my son getting worried about getting a gift for his mother to make her happy on the Mother’s day. I was fortunate to be born at a time when love for mother was not a much-publicised emotion. In fact, it never crossed our mind that there could be a gift for mother apart from our actions and achievements. I vividly remember my school days when my mother would keep standing at the gate, waving as I would ride away on my bicycle. Coming back from the school I would find the food kept warm for me. Then I would run to the field to play cricket. Back at the nightfall I would take a tumbler of milk and ready myself for a two-hour sitting with the tutor. It would be dinnertime by the time the tutor left. There was no TV. But I loved to listen to the old Hindi film songs on the Vividh Bharati; so did my mother. So the radio would be on as I took my dinner. She expected me to retire to bed early and get up early too. She never kept a strict regimen for me and as long as I went through this routine she was happy. That was a gift for her. She had a lot of faith in me and was not unduly worried when I slipped down the merit rank. I remember the time when I put up my poorest show in the test preceding the Matriculation exam. My father was furious and he predicted a bleak future for me. I stole a glance at my mother. She looked, calm, composed and confident. She stroked my cheek, ruffled my hair leaving a shudder of nervousness in me. Then asking me to spend more time on studies than on cricket she went back to her household chores. She seemed to know that I would do well and sure enough I did! That was a gift too, which she took graciously. Then there was the time when I topped the list of successful candidates in the university. My mother was very happy as if she had received the most expensive gift from me. There was love and a hint of pride in her eyes. The same thing I found when my first article was published and she ran to father with the paper and read it out excitedly. She endorsed my principled views more than my craftsmanship as a writer. She expected goodness from her child more than achievement and whenever my teachers, friends and later colleagues had a good word or two to say about me she was happy. Then one day I decided to resign and become a full-time writer. All hell broke loose with everybody throwing tantrums over my supposedly foolhardy decision; but my mother, even though she did not understand much about writing as a profession, stood by me with that quiet confidence of hers. So when I made it as a writer she was very happy and till her eyesight failed she used to read every article of mine and preserve them as if they were invaluable gifts for her! One day in August she left me all of a sudden but as I sat with her in her last journey and looked at her peaceful face, I realised that she was still with me and that she will always
be.
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Follow Up
The bearded persons generated contempt in the US in the 1960s. America’s invasion of Vietnam had given birth to a protest movement by the non-conformist, bearded youngsters. This had led to the killing of three students in Ohio. Hence, anyone with The World Bank, keen to hire Dr Babra, appointed a three-member committee, which concluded that Dr Babra’s reasons for having a beard were religious. The committee’s findings would have remained buried had the then Director Mr Waterston, not disclosed these years later. Anyway, Dr Babra joined the WB in 1962 and remained with it for the next 26 years. Dr Babra’s had his roots in Rawalpindi. As a student of Sikh National College, Lahore, he used to lead the bonfire of Western clothes and was soon elected President of the All-India Sikh Students Federation. The British police raided the college and arrested seven leaders, including Shamsher Singh. He and his associates were released in March 1947, when partition was at its peak. “We could not imagine the gravity of partition and still thought we could continue to live in Rawalpindi. We got busy protecting the Punjabi community. But the impact of partition was so enormous that we found ourselves herded towards Amritsar”, recalls Dr Babra. “Once with the World Bank, which was very conformist at that time, we Asians had to outperform the Americans and the British to make a place for ourselves. The then Vice-President of the World Bank, Hollis Chennery, also a famous economist, used to believe and announce from his position that Americans’ productivity was 20 per cent higher than anyone else in the world. No wonder, the entire policy-making was in the hands of the Americans alone. But they could never ignore our work”, recounts Dr Babra rather dispassionately. He headed the price forecasting section of the World Bank. The price fall in the second half of the 70s was correctly predicted by Dr Babra. In Ghana Dr Babra prepared the budget and economic recovery programme of the country for three years. For one year, he was at Oxford as a Visiting Fellow. He made a niche for himself at the World Bank and earned respect for his expertise. In 1956 in Washington Dr Babra was strolling on a road which had embassies of various countries with their flags fluttering. He saw the Saudi Arabian King inaugurate a mosque in the embassy. “A thought flashed my mind: will we Sikhs ever have a gurdwara on this prestigious road? Over a period, this thought became a passion for me”. To realise his dream Dr Babra formed s Sikh Cultural Society in 1964. And at that time the Society had only $13,000 in its kitty. But in 1981 his passion bore fruit and the Society bought the land on that road for $ 240,000. And seven persons who joined hands with him in sharing the cost were Satwant Kaur Bill, Narinder Kaur Keith, Gajinder Singh, Nanak Singh Mangoo, Satwant Singh Grewal, Mohinder Iqbal Singh and Harjap Singh Riyat. The Society is all set to get the occupancy permit of the gurdwara this October. Is it proper to spend so much money on a religious place when violent fights take place in various gurdwaras all over the US? “Yes, fights are common in gurdwaras. I am often saddened by the way Sikhism has been pushed into the shackles of fundamentalism, ritualism, conservatism, casteism by the people with vested interests in the gurdwaras. The ignorant granthis and many conservative and feudalistic people with political motives are using gurdwaras for their self-promotion. I strongly feel that educated Sikhs can play a more constructive role by asserting themselves against any irrational dictation”. Dr Babra has formulated very progressive rules and regulations to run this gurdwara and to ensure that Sikhism isn’t imprisoned by narrow interpretations. For this Society, the Sikhs include all Sikhs, Sehjdharis, Sindhis and even friends of the Sikhs, who may decide to follow Sikhism. The Society is also going to give an option to the devotees to take langar on the floor or on a table-chair depending on one’s physical condition or choice. The gurdwara has three floors. The ground floor will be used for social functions. The first floor has the gurdwara and a huge hall for the devotees to pray. The third floor will have rooms, where Sikh students can even have an office. “The ground floor hall will primarily be for serving langar but we will also allow students to learn folk dances of Punjab or hold dance parties for weddings. We want our next generation to embrace Sikhism from their hearts and not by forced ritualism. We would ensure that they understand the interpretation of the Sikh way of life. Mere visits to the gurdwaras with a covered head does not make you a true Sikh if you are not following the preachings of the Gurus in your life. Our society through this gurdwara will motivate younger generation to discard casteism, to respect the birth of a daughter, to give equal status to women, not to touch alcohol and drugs and to respect their parents, who build their life inch by inch”, adds Dr Babra. |
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Delhi Durbar There was much talk among Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s supporters that he was in line for the Nobel Peace Prize along with Gen Pervez Musharraf. Well, that was not to be. The Nobel Peace Prize for 2004 has gone to Kenya’s environmentalist Wangari Maathai. Some overzealous BJP activists sought to float a balloon that Vajpayee was in line for the prize considering his efforts in putting Indo-Pak relations on an even keel. However, impartial observers in the BJP explained that the reports about Vajpayee being nominated for the Nobel Prize were incorrect.
Varun joining Congress?
Despite stout denials that Varun Feroze Gandhi is ditching the BJP and joining the Congress, the talk is becoming shriller by the day. Congressmen in the know insist that there is every likelihood that Varun is inclined to switch sides after the assembly elections in Maharashtra on October 13. Significantly, Varun has had meetings with Congress President Sonia Gandhi and the family is quite taken in by the idea. The Gandhi family’s fondness for Varun is apparent though there are differences of opinion on this issue with his mother Maneka Gandhi. While campaigning in Maharashtra, Varun has assiduously refrained from criticising his aunt or his cousins Rahul or Priyanka Vadra.
Full-time chiefs of PCCs
With senior party leaders holding charge of the PCCs in faction-bound Chhattisgarh and West Bengal, the Congress high command seems to be in a hurry to appoint full-time Congress chiefs in the two states. The Central leadership feels that though AICC Treasurer Motilal Vora and Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee have several responsibilities at the Centre, they cannot be relieved of their duties in Chhattisgarh and West Bengal. Motilal Vora is also in charge of Uttaranchal and Pranab Mukherjee of Punjab. Both the leaders have apparently expressed their desire to relinquish the posts of PCC chief, but the high command feels their presence helps in checking rumblings in the two state units. The coming organisational elections of the party may finally provide the two leaders a chance to make an exit.
Congress chances in Maharashtra
A section of the Congress leadership from Maharashtra insists that that the party should strive to form a government on its own rather than opting for another coalition arrangement which has its inherent drawback. Thus the calculations are for the Congress securing at least 145 seats out of the 288-member assembly. If that is the arithmetic after the votes are counted, then the Congress can speak from a position of strength. At the same time there are others in the party who insist that intense factionalism in the Congress and Sharad Pawar’s NCP coupled with the anti-incumbency factor can have an adverse impact on the combine.
Raghubir Singh’s retrospective
Celebrated India born photographer Raghubir Singh’s works are being displayed in New York. Showcasing 45 images, the retrospective of Raghubir Singh will last three months. Considered a pioneer of colour photography, Raghubir Singh died in 1999. A student of Delhi University, Raghubir Singh met Henri Cartier Bresson, the French master of news photography. Contributed by Gaurav Choudhury, S Satynarayanan, Prashant Sood and R. Suryamurthy. |
Being heirs to Divine powers and glory, a few men form a class of their own. To this class belong Incarnations of God like Chaitanya Deva (Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu) and their devotees of the highest order, who are parts of the Lord. — Sri Ramakrishna In religion there is no caste; caste is simply a social institution. —
Swami Vivekananda When You are here with me, what more do I need? I am telling the truth, my Lord! — Guru Nanak Good is attractive; evil is disgusting. A bad conscience is the most tormenting pain; deliverance is the height of bliss. — The Buddha Men, at some time, are masters of their fates. — William Shakespeare |
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