The great Indian beef politics

In a Hindu dominated country, appeasing the Hindu community is the only way to grab maximum vote banks. How do politicians go about it? Bring in the holy cows for Hindus believe that the cow is the embodiment of divine virtues like love, compassion, benevolence, tolerance and non-violence.

To gain political mileage state governments started implementing animal preservation acts as early as the 1950s. On October 26, 2005, the Supreme court of India, in a landmark judgement upheld the constitutional validity of anti-cow slaughter laws enacted by different state governments in India.

Today 24 out of 29 states in India have various regulations prohibiting slaughter of cow.  Kerala, West Bengal, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Tripura and Sikkim are the states where there is no restrictions on cow slaughter. Why? Because majority of the people in these states eat beef for economic reasons. Politicians understood that prohibition of cow slaughter in these states will definitely back fire.

Here is a great example of how politics play a big role in deciding the food habits of the Indian people.

There is yet another economic angle to cow slaughter. Beef in India costs less than half the price of lamb or chicken. It is the preferred source of first-class protein for the poor, who constitute a majority of India's population. The absence of beef will raise the food bill for the underprivileged. 

Having said that law can not be taken by mobs in their own hands pretending to uphold the ban. If there are breaches, let the law take its own course. In a secular country there is no place for intolerance towards the sentiments of other religion.

Moving away from beef, before leaving India, one most important lesson the British taught the Indians and the Indians learned very well is ‘divide and rule’.

Everything that politician does is based on this concept. Politicians thrive on spreading hatred. They teach us to divide and hate for their political gains. Nowadays media also plays a big role in exaggerating trivial matters. Endless debates on petty issues are norms on national TV these days.

Come to think of it, aren’t we paying a big prize for upholding democracy? Can we ever envisage a time when we can all co-exist united rather than divided? Is democracy a hindrance for secularism given the size of the nation consist of various religion and caste? How can we not let the politicians take us for a ride?  These are all pertinent questions we must all ask ourselves.

When will we open our eyes to identify religious outfits camouflaged as political parties? When will we stop accepting political agendas forced upon ourselves?

Ignorance is the sole reason people fail to understand the motives of communal politics. It is high time we understand that democracy, secularism and ideologies don’t go hand in hand.

Sadly in India and similarly in several other countries, religious fundamentalism has spread like cancerous cells and we are at a point of no return. Various conflicts in the world are testimonial to this fact.

In a broader sense the truth is secularism is a myth. Don’t believe if any politicians or government state we are secular. They are a bunch of liars.

If today beef is off the menu, what will be off the menu tomorrow? Let us wait and watch.

The unstoppable Bollywood

Bollywood is raking in big bucks these days  with every movie starred by top Bollywood stars tripping over each other to become the biggest grossers of all time. No wonder India commands a formidable position in the world movie industry and one of the biggest movie stars in the planet is a Bollywood actor. Unlike Hollywood, Bollywood  relies on sheer star power, dance numbers, family melodrama and logic defying themes to woe the movie goers . Bollywood doesn't require an armageddon nor does it have to deal with end of the world scenarios as its plot for a winner.

As critics write off a Bollywood movie with negative reviews, the audience welcome them with open arms helping the movie hit the prestigious ‘100 crores club’ in a couple of days from its release and the movie then moves on to break box office history. At this rate, an Rs 1000 crore ($160 million) gross collection for a movie is not too far off.

In 2014, top 5 Bollywood movies collectively grossed quarter of a billion dollars (Rs 1600 crores) across the world.  Despite doing such humongous business, sadly none of these movies will be remembered by the future generation and neither can these movies be counted among the classics. The adage of movies being a lasting work of art is long gone in Bollywood. A new generation of movie makers have capitalized the industry with new formula with the only intention to make maximum revenue.

Yet one can’t complain about it.

Indian movies are made to cater to masses of different classes. A rickshaw wallah, or an odd job worker wants  to get simply entertained after a long day of hardship. A typical bollywood movie very well provides that much needed feel good experience. These classes clap and whistle for their favorite stars throughout the movie and leaves the movie hall thoroughly entertained.  

However, one can only hope that all is not lost. The silver lining is presence of a few movie makers with the intention to make good movies. These movie makers can produce meaningful cinemas and at the same time ring in the box office with good revenue.

Going forward, the dance numbers and the melodrama will remain integral part of Bollywood movies and regional movies for that matter. After all, it is what sets us apart as Indians and that is the message we want to spread across to the rest of the world.

The outgoing prime minister Dr. Manmohan Singh's farewell letter to the world leaders

As he prepares to demit office,  prime minister  Manmohan Singh wrote farewell letters to leaders of various countries including US president Barrack Obama, former Chinese premier Wen Jiabao, and Russian Prime minister Vladimir Putin.

Here is a hilarious look at what he might have written to them.

Dear fellow leaders,

It is with mixed feelings  I am writing this letter to you as May 16^th 2014 marks my last day in the prime minister’s office of the largest democracy in the world, India.

I had  never aspired to be a prime minister. My strength always lies in economics. In 1991 Narasimha Raoji inducted me in the cabinet as finance minister to rescue India from a severe economic crisis. I was quite contented with my role then. In 2004 Soniaji unexpectedly relinquished the prime ministership, I became an accidental prime minister. Sanjay Baru even wrote a book by this title. Then everything went south. I had no idea what I was getting myself into. Little did I realize that I was a cover for the dramas about to unfold.

I have always been regarded as a man of clean background. Moreover I have been lauded “as a man of few words” . I took these as compliments. Then came the greatest shock in 2012, when Time magazine’s Asian edition cover remarked me as an “underachiever”. I have been accused as  a person “unwilling to stick his neck out”. Those remarks hurt to me to the core. My public image has been tarnished with my government having been accused of various corruption scandals for which I was a silent witness. I have been termed as a puppet of a powerful political family.

Friends,  my silences and unwillingness to project myself became more manifest in my second tenure and I would like you to know that I kept a low profile only because I didn’t want to rise above Soniaji.  

Looking back, I regret that I didn’t stand firm enough to fight corruption, didn’t stand opposed to micromanagement of Gandhi family for leadership was never my forte. I am extremely worried about the future course of my party which especially lacks leadership and a front runner for the prime ministership.

Finally, I can say this with confidence that there will never be a prime minister in India with such an elaborate list of paper qualifications that I possess.

I wish you all good luck.

Singh is King.

Is the upcoming Indian parliament election a game changer or a mockery of the democratic process?

The stage is set for the biggest democratic electoral process in the world where approximately 814.5 million Indians out of a population of over a billion people will exercise their democratic right in the coming months. According to the center for media studies the political parties are expected to spend 30,500 crores ($ 5 billion) in this election.  In addition this election will also cost the exchequer 3500 crores ($573 million). As you can see the cost of democracy is enormous.

While the political bigwigs Congress and BJP are in the lead, neither of them appear to achieve the majority to form the goverment. Which means that a coalition government will take oath once again with the support of regional parties. In return the plum offers these regional parties are likely to receive is another matter for debate.

It happens only in India. Little seems to have changed with major political parties continuing to partronize candidates with criminal records. Both Congress and BJP continue to give tickets to candidates with serious criminal records including murder.

A surprise entry in the upcoming parliament election is the AAP (Aam Atmi Party)  projected as the common man’s party.  Holding a broom which symbolizes a promise to clean up corruption deeply rooted in Indian politics, AAP appears to make their presence felt in the Indian politics under the leadership of Mr. Arvind Kejriwal.  A number of eminent people who have been fed up with the existing political parties now have a choice and a good reason to enter politics and make an impact.

While Narendra Modi of BJP is potentially the next Prime minister if BJP takes center stage with the support of National democratic alliance, it is debatable as to whether Modi can replicate across India the success he made in his home state Gujarat given the fact that a prime minister has limitation especially under a coalition government. In a coalition goverment it is hard to always please the allies as they remain a permanent pain in the neck. Being a hardliner, whether Modi will be able to please the allies through out his 5 years term is another matter of concern.

The curse of India is the countless regional parties who are opportunistic and tend to change their position in a split second if their demands are not met.  The writings are on the wall. The deep divide between regions inherent in our political system is clearly evident thanks to the various political parties. Whoever takes on the power to steer India has a huge challenge ahead.

What does it all mean to a billion population?  There are many questions to be answered. Will the new government be able to provide sustainable and inclusive (benefiting everyone across India without discrimination) growth? Will they be able to put control on inflation? Etc etc..

The biggest democratic electoral system has its own flaws.  People have very limited choice in terms of who they want to handover the power to. No matter which party comes to power, a corruption free India is a distant dream or will remain a mirage.

Well, don’t lose heart. If you are not happy with any of the projected candidates, the election commission has bestowed you with an unprecedented option to vote NOTA (None of the above).  Meaning that no candidate deserves my vote and in all likely hood many who are fed up with the existing political system will choose to go for that option. Post election, the upcoming parties like the AAP may very well capitalize the statistics of the NOTAs so that they can position themselves better to exploit the gaps going forward.  Is the option NOTA going to change anything for the winning candidate? Probably very little. The candidate who gets the highest vote still wins despite the significant drop in the candidate’s vote banks.

The fate of India and its biggest population are sealed even before the election. With no credible political parties in the race, you and I can do very little about it by the voting process. Isn't that frustrating? Well as depressing as it may sound, that doesn’t give much hope for the progress of India. Does it? God bless the Indians.