While Nero fiddled.............

All ages down history have had their spectacles. If it was the gladiators of Rome then today it must be the Indian politician. Hopefully the comic spectacle of two of our senior politicians in Karnataka heading to the famous temple of Dharmasthala, to duel, has ended and we can get back to more serious stuff. The news papers too, can get back to being less of comics. ( A few days ago much of the front page of a national daily was covered by the build up to Dharmasthala and that Aiswariya Rai was to be a mom!!!!)
The jamboree was apparently spurred as charges of corruption were levelled by each against the other in fits of self righteousness, following which a duel in the form of taking an oath like a truth serum was arranged at the temple.Why not a polygraph at NIMHANS?
Many years ago I was caught in a terrible storm, on the west coast of India. The ship was battered and bruised. Many thought we would sink and that was the end of that. Well, we survived and secured ourselves in the port of Kandla, which had in turn been pounded out of shape and the destruction was humongous. As all of us tried to pick the pieces up and get on with life, we heard, much to our collective dismay that the then Prime Minister A.B.Vajpayee was visiting Kandla to comfort the beaten population. There was chagrin & dismay because the politicos visit would only serve as a distraction to struggling state machinery in Kandla. I’m afraid the circus in Karnataka is one such distraction where time could be spent in dealing with more pressing issues rather than troubling devotees heading to Dharmasthala to get succour for their overflowing woes.
The Roman emperor Nero is said to have fiddled while Rome burnt itself to cinders. While most historians have discounted this as untrue the piece of trivia refuses to leave Nero and whatever good he might have done is forgotten.
A similar fate lies in wait for our ‘leaders’ unless they address real world issues rather than duelling in a virtual world.

The Big Loser!!!!!

In masculine societies like India to be seen as second best is painful. Our people are not only aspiration filled but also very competitive. The scramble for success is evident in almost every walk of life. In fact you rarely see a person walking these days. They are either cutting corners, jumping Q’s or traffic lights, in order to get wherever they have to get first.

The American’s, masters of jargon, went a step further and called all those who were not first as losers. There are no prizes for being second best as far as they are concerned. And nothing hurts more than being labelled a loser. The term is a slur which is indefensible and once labelled a loser one simply slinks away to lick his or her wounds, because there are no comebacks.

So today I was taken aback when one of my colleagues said he was a ‘Big Loser’. I admired the man’s candidness and was inclined to agree, but still, where did the nonchalance come from? Was society in flux? Just to get to the bottom of this rather strange admission, I decided to cosy up to him and complimented him on his new svelte look. His face lighted up and he described his exercise routine, in deep detail. The flow was so good I hadn’t the heart to stymie it and I did not.

I was beginning to nod off, when he suddenly stopped and said that, that was how he was the big loser. ‘What was that again, I asked?’ As if addressing a person with limited cognitive ability, he said, that the Gym he frequented had awarded him the prize of ‘The Big Loser’ for having lost the most weight amongst his peers at the Gym, over six months. So the loser tag here was a prize and he was proud to wear that badge of honour, despite what people think of being called a loser.

I too ‘am a pretty competitive guy, and the battle of the bulge is one battle that I would like to lose or should I say win and what the heck, I even will not mind being called a loser in this respect!

Shooting the messenger.....................

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A couple of days ago I inadvertently barged in on a small group discussing the shenanigans of Baba Ramdev. He was labelled a nincompoop and various other names, accompanied by derisive laughter.
I remained silent and the only one to do so and my silence was noticed with some surprise. Was I a chela of the Guru? Did I admire the yogi? By my silence I was trying to indicate that while Ramdev, need not necessarily be a role model for the general public to emulate, the message that he was trying to pass on to the lay Indian was very important and worth attention.
Corruption has hit me, the middle class Indian the hardest and I'm interested in anybody who speaks up against the corrupt in this country.
Ramdev has got corruption to the centre stage and has the powers to be worried and thinking. In short he has pushed them out of their comfort zones and there is hope that we might see a less corrupt society and more value for our money.
It is important to closely look at the message rather than shooting the messenger from the hip and losing what could be a game changer.
Let's not shoot the messenger just as yet, folk!