Mr. PM Modi, get your act straight...

State and Religion being together leads to a disaster, the prime example being Pakistan. NO this is not a problem of Islam, but the mix of Religion with State, Power and Authority. Any Religion for that matter.

A Government, State is for the People, irrespective of the Religion, caste, creed or the class of the people. What we see in reality is that the State is for the rich firstly and secondly for the majority, majority in terms of Religion.


People struggle and die for the basics of life of food and giving a blind eye to this, people fight and kill over Religion. The Nation and Leadership should distance itself from such matters. When the PM reflects a certain Ideology and Religion, he is born into it or not, it doesn't matter. Once you are the PM of the country, the religion, place, caste, or even political party for that matter should not matter. As one is doing the greatest service to the Nation, and still if stuck to these issues, it will be a disservice to the Nation in itself. I know what I am talking is impractical and too naive.


When you are representing a Nation, you are representing all the citizens and not the majority. Every vote is important, and people's opinion matters, isn't that the whole essence of Democracy, aren't we the world's biggest democracy..? Or just in name?

  

So I have every problem with ‪#‎PM‬ ‪#‎NarendraModi‬ gifting religious texts to the leaders of the Central Asian countries..
I don't have a problem with religious texts.. This issue could have been  handled with more sensitivity, if he had gifted all the Religious texts of India and not just Gita. He would have gifted Gita, Quaran, Bible, Guru Granth Sahib also along with Gita, as that reflects what India is, multi-religious, multi-cultural and not a Hindu country, just because Hindu's are in majority. Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs and all the other religions in India are equal, all the people belonging to these have equal right in the country as citizenry, the spirit, is what an Indian is and not the religion, especially not the majority religion. 

I fail to understand the logic people give that we are one of the two Hindu majority countries, and what is the problem if he gives Gita?, as it preaches peace, humanity and is the best book in the world, an ideal gift. Well, yes, we are a Hindu majority country, but that's all we are, a Hindu majority country. Not a Hindu country, We are a Secular country. Unless it is changed in the constitution, I would like people to understand and perceive it that way.
The other thing about Gita being the solution to all the world problems.
So is every other Religious text, according to all the Religions. So can we just skip it and go beyond it, but no the PM had to make a point by giving only it.

What harm right? There is every harm in it. May be the mild, liberal Hindus, not but the extremists and fundamentalists of the Hindu's (now don't start with the nonsense of, that the extremists are not real Hindus and all, as is the same with all religions, i will see what is in front of me right..!!!), will take it up in pride, that he took only a Hindu scripture and hence, he is projecting himself as a Hindu, which he may be, but right now he is heading the office of the Prime Minister of the Country, not a Hindu pundit, who is travelling the world promoting Hinduism.

Another harm is that it empowers the nuisance power of these extremist and fundamentalist groups which in turn causes communal and religious violence and makes the minority feel unsafe.

Even if nothing of this happens, the message it sends is wrong. The gifting of one religious scripture by the PM of the country who represents various other religions too. Religion in India is a personal thing, not a state matter. People do not understand this. Just because Hindu's are in the majority, does not give any right to the PM to do this.

Also, I feel he missed a great opportunity, as Modi is representing the largest ‪#‎Democracy‬ and when there are hardly around 56 countries that are democratic in the world, wouldn't it have made sense if he gifted the ‪#‎Indian‬ ‪#‎Constitution‬ to the world leaders when he visits them?
And that is when he himself had said once (before elections Ofcourse) that the "Constitution is the holiest book for him, above all"... Spreading the essence of a Constitutional Democracy, where people matter (in principle at least) should have been the thing to do rather than the religious texts.
This would have demonstrated that India is beyond ‪#‎Religion‬ and ‪#‎Hinduism‬ and we really care for people, and through governance it can change people's lives, not some nonsense.


‪#‎India‬ ‪#‎Modi‬ ‪#‎8legTour‬ ‪#‎CentralAsia‬ #Religion #Democracy

Why I will criticize Modi..

Why I will criticize Modi..

Why I criticize? Because I have nothing better to do, may be. But I criticize because I care. Because I cannot take bullshit and nonsense and I will speak up my mind and about what I feel is going wrong.  It doesn’t matter what public opinion is as it can be misleading or as we have seen it is with the majority and majority is not necessarily right. It causes Tyranny of the Majority. I haven’t cared much till now what others think of me or will think if I do something, it is mostly not relevant to me, until I believe in what I am doing is the right thing to do. Well right and wrong and all are subjective, depends on situation and also a lot of philosophical, so let’s not get into that. 

I have a serious problem with people drawing a line. Like the USA had drawn during the “IRAQ invasion”. If you are not with us, you are against us. Same thing during the India “Against Corruption Movement”, if you are not with Anna you are for corruption. I was like fuck off.  I dint support it because I felt there are important and really effective things to do like calling back the MP’s and making them more accountable than going on the road to protest for a parallel, huge bureaucratic system to keep a check and balance on the corruption of the rest of the bureaucrats and expected to be a non-corrupt "Lokpal", it was idiotic for me. I had my reasons and even if I had none, still I wouldn’t go just because I felt like it, and that makes me pro-corruption, right these are the public perceptions and ideals they create.

I felt compelled to write this because, there is a new trend emerged since the BJP and especially Modi has come in Power. If one says something against Modi, or his policies or his silence or his approach or anything other than how great he is or how best he is doing it is considered “UNPATRIOTIC”. (As it is my patriotic definitions are changing since the BJP and RSS call themselves patriotic. Still i have a problem.) It is not even that one is against him, it is directly Unpatriotic. What the hell. When and how did my Love for my country and its people, its values (some which are left hopefully) its aspirations, all got converted into 1 person. No this is not acceptable, he is the PM and that’s all he is, he is not the metric of whether I love my country or I care or I am pro or anti development or not. No.

I had rejoiced Modi on his Independence Day speech, when he called himself “Pradhan Sevak, Chief Servant” of the country and how he made himself to be felt amongst the people and all. I have criticized before every possible minister and Prime Minister, exercising my Democratic Right. It doesn’t matter if I believe in it or not, I will exploit it, what I have at my disposal. The problem people have is that if I am opposing Modi, I am supporting congress. Why on earth I will do that, I have criticized and personally attacked some ministers of congress so badly that, they could have committed suicide if they would have read it. So who I am against and whom I am supporting. I will support who does good and when and fuck up everyone who fucks up. It is as simple.

What Modi has done in building the Foreign Relations is commendable, it is beyond anyone, who had done it before (credits to Ajit Doval), still he listens to good advisors is a great quality.

At the same time I will criticize and oppose when Modi is silent on the dirty work BJP VHP RSS and other communal organizations are doing since he is in Power. It feels like chained dogs are unleashed since he has come in power. I will oppose him when he asks his MP’s not to speak nonsense and give political mileage to opposition, but not controls them from hurting the minorities. I will oppose him if he still fails and continues to fail to understand that he is leader of the Nation and not of a fucking religion and everyone has equal rights and the minorities are more equals. I will oppose him if he talks of development and not looks after the people for whom the development is and only serves the corporations under its smokescreen.  I will oppose him till the time he acts on what he said and not just makes great stunts and PR statements.  

I will criticize Modi and all the others who fuckup, irrespective of the party and affiliations, as it is my Right and the one which I have decided to stand up by, the right I am and will exercise.

Why I support Kiss of love

If in the above picture, the nakedness offends you more than the abuse, beating, harm done to the woman. You are Part of the Problem. 

 

  I support Kiss of love

Kiss of Love protest #KissOfLove is a non-violent protest against moral policing. It started in Kerala and later spread to other parts of India.

It is as simple as that. It is against moral policing, which has nothing moral about it. It is against people who think they have a righteous high moral standing over others and that too backed by the cultural and religious values that make no sense.  These are the same people who are bystanders for everything right from an accident to someone teasing a girl or goons beating up someone, why? “It doesn’t concern us,” they say. “Why should I interfere?”, “Not my problem.” These are the same people who turn up in numbers, mind you in numbers not alone, as they don’t have an existence on their own, no thinking capacity, no individuality, no standing but in groups they can cause menace, terror, destruction, damage and even murder. For what? Because something offended them, something which they supposedly do not think is in line with their so called culture, tradition and religion.

It started because things were going out of hand. The moral policing was way beyond normal tolerance. Even the police were acting beyond their powers. The Law does not have anything about how someone dresses, where someone goes, or whether someone hugs or kisses in public. It has one word ‘obscene’ which is left for interpretation and these religious bigots made it very narrow. Hence this protest! All this is happening despite the fact that the Supreme Court of India and Delhi High Court have made it clear that kissing in public is not an obscene act and no criminal proceedings can be initiated, for kissing in public, through landmark judgments.

I am sad (not surprised) at how the media is portraying the Kiss of Love protest. It has lost its aim, and its way and is just being portrayed as something rude and against tradition and society. Not surprised because the media is falling in line with the government in power, the government with its militant religious wings let off leash the #RSS #VHP #Bajrang Dal and others.

 

#Firstpost one of the premier online news website of the country, has a headline which reads “Right issue, wrong tactic: Why Kiss of Love protests miss the mark.” It also goes on to say that All the attention is on the kiss rather than the travesty of moral policing. (Of course, that a reporter spent his time counting the kisses at a kissing-protest speaks volumes about our comfort level with the act.) This clearly shows the ownership and news, truth or a unbiased view's conflict.

 

Isn’t that the basic problem? The media is missing the point or deliberately making sure they miss it and not the protest. The protest is not missing the point. It is bang on the point. It is an expression of counter-power against the government, police and the organizations that have taken up the baton of moral policing. It is a reaction to say that this is what you think is wrong so we are doing it in public, in numbers just to tell you that this is OK. It is just an expression of love, of friendship, or care, or attachment, of emotions and nothing of nudity and obscenity.

 

It is not about kissing in public. It is about the ban, taboo, the moral policing on it, the social stigma that is attached to holding someone’s hands, hugging someone and expressing in public. About not making out in public, no one would want to make out in public, against the claims of the so called sophisticated, cultural people whose moral and ethical standings are hurt by it.

 

The whole point of this is a fight for Rights, Freedom, Equality. It’s about the Right of one person over his/her body, the clothes they wear, the time to go out, and the place they decide to go or not to go to.  It’s as simple as that. No one has the right to stop someone or abuse someone because they think it is obscene or that a girl of wearing too clothes or something. It’s about Freedom of Expression. The freedom to express their love, their affection via hugs, kisses and holding someone and not making out in public as the people who are opposing this protest and cutting it down on this issue. And it’s against Inequality, the protest is against the power the self-policing organizations think they have over others; to beat-up and abuse the so called violators of their superficial and hypocritical code.

 

It is very easy to put down the protest which people are doing and saying that all those supporting this, let your moms and sisters kiss a stranger and that is OK? And people are blindly following the west and all sorts of ludicrous and vulgar comments, while claiming the protest to be vulgar saying that the protest will give rise to increase in forced kisses, sexism, eve teasing and all. These are the people who have no idea what the protest is all about and are blinded by some crappy religious, cultural beliefs and or are the majority of the mob, mobocracy, and power in numbers. It is not following anyone, it is about the basic rights of individuals which people clearly are missing, as they want to as most of them do not know that rights are for and why are they needed for. They are just giving it a bad name for the sake of it. Even the media and many others who understand it are giving it a bad name becoming pets of the government. This is ridiculous!

 

This is where you miss it all. It is about personal relations, friendship and not random people kissing for the sake of it. The aim is to let people express their love, friendship and emotions without the barrier or law or some crazy misled male chauvinists who think they have a greater stake in the society.

 

I support this campaign for the things I have written and also anything that is against personal freedom. And something whose basis is religion and culture, opposed to basic common sense and freedom, for me this is surely worth fighting for.

 

Anand Mangnale.

Revelations on Foreign Soil…

Anand always seemed to have a battery problem with his phone and felt everyone else's is perfectly ok.. 

London didn't change it, rather made it terrible, well it wasn't the fault of the place where he had landed, it was the amount of calls he made using the 3G internet, but that couldn’t be helped since he was so far away from home. With this problem, he realized that he needed an external charger urgently!

He got down or rather up from the Baker Street tube station and began searching for a shop. There were many shops with big names and fancy designs, but he was still looking, not knowing what exactly for…..That's one of his USP’s 'Not knowing Exactly' and 'Searching on and on.' Suddenly, a shop at the far end on the road caught his attention. He went in and was greeted with a warm smile by a guy in his mid-thirties – well-built and really smart. An Asian guy, not Asian-Asian like the Chinese or Japanese, but someone with Indian features. It didn't take a minute for Anand to realize that the owner was a Pakistani and that was when the owner also realized that Anand was an Indian. That did not make any difference. He was a businessman and Anand was a customer. He showed him 3-4 chargers in different price ranges. Then suddenly he was lost in thought for a moment and then he spoke and said that he had something very good, way better than all these, but the problem was it was pink in color.. They both laughed and Anand was like if it's really good and can charge my iPhone twice, pink or purple really doesn't matter! The guy said it was courageous of Anand to buy it and showed the price tag which said 35Pounds. He smiled and told Anand that he could have it for 25 since they were neighbours!

That came as a real surprise for Anand, as he was not expecting any kind of conversation. Anand was really amazed and appreciated the gesture. He forwarded his hand for a handshake and introduced himself. The man behind the counter accepted the gesture. They exchanged basic information about where they were from and all. The owner told Anand that he had a friend from Pune when he was doing his MBA in London. He said that he had heard so much about Pune and other cities and it would be great to visit them one day. He was from Lahore. As they were talking a Scottish playing the bagpiper passed by and the shop owner was like look at these guys, the Scottish referendum is tomorrow;, and see how peacefully they manage everything without any violence. Of course there was bound to be some heartache tomorrow, he said, but whichever way the referendum goes. It’s still admirable. And look at us... We have been shedding blood since decades fighting over Kashmir and still found no solution. Anand was like (to himself) yeah right (as he was also aware of what happens to talks and how the Pakistani Army and ISI violate the ceasefire and how the person representing from Pakistan is in no control.) He was trying so hard not to speak about all this and there the owner was going on and on…..And it was the owner, who said, but what can be done; our country is in bad shape as the politicians aren;t really in control. Other countries like America Saudi Arabia and the army run the show, but it will change for good. Soon there will be friendship between India and Pakistan. He said, who wants to  fight every day. Not long ago we were one single country and where did all that unity disappear!? Why did it become so bitter? 'Politics' they both said at the same time and gave a high five. The owner then continued to talk about how different it would have been if Jinnah had lived for a longer time. He was so secular and progressive and could have taken Pakistan in the right direction, he added! Anand couldn’t have agreed more!.

They were so involved in the talks that he just couldn't entertain any more customers. Anyone who came into the shop was directed to one of his colleagues. Being a busy time and a big shop with so many customers Anand found it strange. He thought to himself that this shows that the person is genuine and really interested in the topic that he is talking about. Anand was happy to meet a Pakistani guy who talked of peace and friendship at the ground level and was genuine and true about what he felt and meant every word he said!

Their conversation was just not stopping, soon it went on to the topic of the drama involved in the Pakistani and Indian elections. Anand asked him about who would be the one who could change things for Pakistan. He said it would be Imran Khan. Just a week back he was leading a march against the government in power in Pakistan, he added. Anand told about the alleged links he had to the Taliban sympathizer groups and that he had no standing as to what exactly he would be doing. The owner argued and cleared some things about this topic, to which Anand did not completely agree. And the owner was like can't blame you it's the media which paints things differently. The owner said he had flown from London to vote during the last elections and there were a lot like him and the numbers were increasing day by day as there are people who care for their country. He said all the election manifestos of almost all the parties had 'Good relations with India' in their list of things to do. He said how the general perception about India had changed and it wasn't like it was earlier. He stated that hate was slowly vanishing and was being replaced by peace and friendship. Anand was so happy to hear that. The owner was feeling so sentimental that his speech was overflowing with words and emotions. He also mentioned that so many times he felt like taking a car from Lahore and going for a drive to see the beautiful northeastern states and all, but he could not. Hopefully it will change. It has to change, he added. There are many like me who feel this and we will make a difference in our countries politics, he said, with his tone ranging from despair to hope.

Before they realized it nearly two hours had passed since they had begun the conversation. Anand’s iPhone’s battery gave him a warning sign and that brought both of them to their senses. He gave him the card with the new London number and wrote his personal cell number on it. He also informed him about places where he could find  better accommodation and also asked him to call him if Anand needed anything. Anand told him that he would come there if he needed to buy any electronic equipment in future. The owner smiled and said brother just drop in anytime to talk and also meet me about anything you need other than the stuff in his store or any kind of help in London. This didn't come as a surprise for Anand as he understood the bond they had built in the last ninety minutes or so. Both patriots, intellectuals, thoughtful, passionate people who wanted something better for their country had met and this kind of bond made sense!

Events like these make one realize how perceptions can be wrong, how it can be so different than something one had been thinking all along. And when you know, feel, you know everything and have made up your mind and formed your opinions, and feel nothing will change it or there is no hope, that's the time, 'LIFE happens'..