The Mayawati Statue

Oft raised the Mayawati issue finally had reached the Supreme Court with the highest court issuing a show cause notice to the UP government.

Saying anything against Mayawati is the quickest way to brand oneself as elitist ignoring the atrocities inflicted on the downtrodde. One cannot deny the fact that the downtrodden section of our country still is way in darkness and a lot needs to be done for them. Parading oneself as their messiah for one's own petty gains is not the way it is done

That's my grouse with Mayawati. She aint no messiah for the Dalits or for anyone. She is furthering her agenda by way of giving a voice to the Dalit cause. The statue issue is just one of the ways to put herself up using the Dalit cause.

2000 crores in these times to erect statues is horrific. When more than half of the kids under the age of 5 are malnourished, spending that amount of money for erecting statues is crazy. Height of sycophancy whereby she erects her own statues in the lofty company of Dr. Ambedkar. Misusing his legacy to achieve power and govern the state to further ruins.

I still cannot fathom why i have to pay from my pocket for erecting a Maywati statue. If she wants it so much let her have a million of them in her own house paying for them for her own pocket. Why use public money for erecting her own statue.

Offering limp excuses that Kanshi Ram always wanted her by his side wont do. Kanshi Ram's family would have a different story to tell. If his last days were anything to go by it would be difficult to believe what Mayawati often propogates.

Thank god the Supreme Court has intervened and ask the Government to respond. It would be interesting to see what defence the government mounts. It however wont change till the people who vote for her wake up and see whats happening.

It's statues today...something else tomorow. Mayawati will find a way to use and rouse the emotions. Her vote-bank hopefully realised this and asks for better governance than to turn a corner and have Mayawati in stone lookin back at them

Amongst a flurry of emails there usually is one or two that beats the "send it to a million and you'd spawn a million " kinda mail, something that stands out. A mail that one is loathe to delete from the archives.

Just happen to view one such email. Katie Kirkpatrick. Never heard of ever before. Never will forget her ever after.

The ability of Human spirit to rise above pain and achieve what it wants for itself continues to fascinate me. Katie symbolizes the fight inherent in all of us to go beyond issues that stop us. Thats Katie when she was the homecoming queen at Lapeer East High School where she also was a co-valedictorian. the photograph sits on a table in her family's home living room in Metamora.


On Valentine's Day 2002, Katie Kirkpatrick, then a freshman at Rochester College a small Christian college in Rochester Hills, Michigan) was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. Undaunted, Katie strove to keep up with her studies, but she suffered another setback in 2003 when she was diagnosed with "an inoperable lung tumor wrapped around her pulmonary artery.

However Katie did not allow that to stop her from celebrating one of the happiest days of her life. She was in love with Nick Godwin since 11th grade. The fact that is that we can rise above adverse circumstances. It always is about how much one gets and what one can make out of it. Katie got what she did but what she did further with it is what makes it all the more special


Katie strode ahead inspite of the severe pain taking morphine and numerous medications to help her. Inspite of suffering from terminal cancer with prolonged medications and multiple organ failures Katie took care of every detail of her wedding.The wedding dress though had to be adjusted a couple of times because of her constant weight loss. Inspite of everything Katie walked down the aisle to marry Nick Godwin, 23, at Church of Christ in Hazel Park on Saturday January 15, 2005.


Five days later, Katie died. She did not let her illness stop her getting what she wanted. She has a wonderful wedding the love of her life by her side. She did not stop living then. She did not stop living now. Incredible that the story has resurfaced again after about 5 years. Her father recently lost his battle against the same illness. However the human spirit or the tales of such live on. All of us have the same human spirit, to look an adverse situation in the eye and strive and attain what we want inspite of our situations. Katie Kirkpatrick is an embodiment of the same human spirit and lives on long after she has gone. I know she will last with me till the time I am. And that i believe is the way that an illness could not stop Katie from attaining love, happiness and share memories with people all over the world.

Cristiano Ronaldo to Madrid

Florentino Perez has done what Ramon Calderon could not. Break the bank and bring not only Kaka but Cristiano Ronaldo the Bernabeu. For the watcher's it was waiting to happen. I did not expect Kaka to move to Madrid but credit to Perez he made it happen. And with David Villa and the Valencia saga that attacking line-up sure looks ominous.

For a United fan the saga was already a long drawn affair with almost all bored of it. Deep down everone knew Ronaldo was on his way with his sights set on Madrid. As a fan of both the teams i find the deal to be the best for Madrid . The two players can lend the strongest midfield that would eclipse the trinity at barcelona. The addition of David Villa would make it a fearsome stike-force at the front. Not sure how the talismanic Raul or RVN would figure in the final line-up however another striker of the same quality as either of the three would mean an extended time on the sidelines for the two. With reports of both sneijder and Robben on the move, the left of the mid-field hopefully will be bolstered by the addition of some new players. I'd be loathe to see Robben go and worse to Liverpool but his injury record is not the greatest.

As a United fan the loss of Ronaldo is big almost impossible to fill but the amount of money on offer was ludicrous. Ronaldo will never have a season of 42 goals ever. Made sense to let go of him when the price was the highest. For the same Price United can have 3 world class players and i am sure the gaffer would have thought of something before letting his star player go.
For me the typical United player is someone like Roy Keane who would absolutely kill himself for the team. Rooney somehow fits in the same act now, selflessly playing out of position and tracking back like hell defending. The present squad at Old trafford may not have the same combative spirit the team did under Keane, but sure have combative stars

I guess thats one of the reason Cristiano could never endear himself to the faithfuls. The fight when things go against the team the amount of effort put in him is what gets appreciated. Even Berbatov too is guilty of the same. On the other hand Carlos Tevez has becomes a darling of the faithfuls with an incredible display of heart even with his future uncertain. No wonder Old trafford crossed the manager with chants to keep him and Carlito was teary-eyed with the support.

I am not sure what reception Ronaldo would get when he returns to the 'Theatre of Dreams'. His loss is immense no doubt but it does not make me sad to see him go. The heart the fight that one associates with the United shirt is what matters.

United have recovered after losing bigger stars. Cantona, Stam, Schmeichel, Beckham, RVN... all legends in their own right and much more to the fans than Ronaldo could. United will come back again.

For his time at the Theatre of Dreams a big thank you to Cristiano and and wishing him lots of luck when he dons the white shirt of the los merengues. Real probably is the biggest club in the world and he hopefully dazzles the world with his skills further

Spring within

And I know no sentence should begin with an 'and.' But that was a hiatus and this is a continuation that will end in an ellipsis. For it ebbs and flows with seasonal tides. Spring showers and buds bursting forth in pinks and whites and yellows. I know the pale leather wet from splashing in puddles will dry down soft and pliable and will lose its bite. A little more room to wiggle, room to breathe. Swine flu and a smell of death in the air but this season promises green leaves so tender they smell like a baby's scalp. You know you believe in regeneration. While Cohen quotes the Gita -'You will never untangle the circumstances that brought you to this moment. Embrace your fate,' you laugh silently and know in your heart that you wanted to be here.

Sanjay Dutt barred from elections

Munnabhai ain't gonna be an MP anytime soon. The Supreme Court has disallowed Sanjay Dutt from contesting the elections.

In my opinion the decision is absolutely correct. Criminalisation of politics needs to be regulated. The Parliament had expressed its resolve to stop the participation of nefarious elements in politics. Any other decision would have set a bad precedent as the Supreme Court itself mentioned

I know a lot of Sanjay Dutt fans would be disappointed that he cannot contest however the fact remains that he has been convicted under the Arms Act and unless and until his conviction is set aside he cannot contest. There never was any doubt to start with that his case would never be upheld. Once he was convicted he should have realised his limitations and should have thought better of contesting.

The judgement is landmark in itself considering it sends out the strongest message that people with criminal antecedents have no space in the public sphere. Sanjay Dutt and his exemplary record during the trial notwithstanding he has a criminal record to himself and an example needs to be set. The greater good of the nation should take precedence over the future of an individual candidate. Further more the right to contest is not a fundamental right, but a statutory right, so the Supreme Court cannot be accused of violating Sanjay's fundamental rights in any way.

The comparisons with Navjot Singh too ain't right. The two cases are entirely different. In one instance Sidhu voluntarily resigned after his conviction, vacated his seat and then approached the Supreme Court to stay his conviction which then allowed him to contest.
As of today Sanjay stands convicted as such cannot contest.

That the benchmark is now set further action needs to be taken in decriminalization of politics in a big way with the politicians present in the system needing to take the biggest part. As far as Sanjay is concerned he may get his wife to fight and get himself elected by proxy. Knowing our politics it is quite possible that Sanjay and the Samajwadi Party might resort to it.

However a person with a crime conviction should not be allowed to contest whoever it maybe. If and when the courts do stay his conviction he is welcome to represent me in the Parliament. Till then no can do.

Varun Gandhi Arrested

Finally Varun Gandhi has surrendered and has been arrested and sentenced till Monday morning. The irony of the situation though is very peculiar. Someone who should be in the dock for his comments is slowly elevating himself to a cult status.

It has been played out into a drama to be very honest. For a day BJP was embarrassed about his comments and disassociated itself with his statements. And now they have turned back and realised that they have the golden hen and started planning for the eggs.

Quite ironical that Varun Gandhi whose party should have come out in force and corrected his ways have played out a gimmick for votes. They see an opportunity to polarize the electorate and gain votes by way of it.

The damage that they cause to our national fabric is so apparent. I wonder how the BJP leaders cant think of the Nation as a whole. Dividing the electorate on the basis of religion so that they can come to power is deplorable. What's more they have succeeded in winning pilibhit over maybe even Uttar Pradesh. How can we be so naive that we dont see these designs that the political parties create.

I mean Common does Varun Gandhi really care about nation building and uniting the nation. He talks about standing by his principles. I wonder what principles have been ingrained by him that he has to resort to such cheap measures to elect himself.

Appalling that the BJP has lent full support to Varun wanting to create another Narendra Modi or maybe even better a 'saffron Gandhi'.In political terms it has been shrewd manipulation by both BJP and Varun to turn the tables around on Congress.
Poor Congress must be wondering what have they got themselves into. They planned on doing something and the result simply is terrible.

Reports indicate that Varun Gandhi might go and campaign in other constituencies apart from Pilibhit sowing seeds of disharmony everywhere he goes or atleast an attempt to do so. It remains to be seen if the Indian electorate can see through this gimmick and then vote on issues that matter.

As far as Pilibhit goes i think Varun will succeed, I hope he never does outside Pilibhit

IPL Moved

After a lot of dilly-dallying the IPL 2 matches have been finally shifted out of India. England and South Africa are apparently the front runners to bag the the second edition of the cricketing bonanza

It does not make too much of a difference to be very honest. However it just not sound Indian when they play it abroad. I can never imagine Manchester United playing at Eden gardens and calling them home.Old Trafford is the Theatre of Dreams and shall stay so. Similarly the atmosphere the passion at Eden gardens for Kolkata knight riders can never be replicated anywhere else in the world,

The shifting of the tournament can be seen as an attempt by the IPL organisers to send a message to the government. Then again maybe it have been a purely business decision. The franchisees have invested too much into the whole show. It is better that the tournament is atleast happening instead of none at all. For someone who would eventually follow the game on the television it would not be too different
What is shocking however has been views expressed somewhere about how the government should have given precedence to thew IPL over the Lok Sabha elections. It is totally ridiculous to think that a money spinning event with an added entertainment value could come anywhere close to an affair that would guide the where the country moves for the next five years.

It is a tragic shame that some people blame the government for the country losing out on the cricketing event. The elections are the most important national event looming large. The political class that exists may indeed not be the best of the crop, however their existence as a political class is failure on our part. They exist because we let them do so. Us not involved in the democratic setup and maybe giving more significance to the razzmatazz that would have occurred instead.

It is a sincere plea on my part to utilise one's vote in the most sensible way possible. Please do vote. IPL will happen and I am not sure how much of a bearing it shall have on the state of millions of malnourished kids in our country. IPL wont do any good to the economy figures posted day in day out. Disintegrating social fabric will not suddenly find itself in the course of 20 odd overs. A government true to the people however will influence all this. The guy on the street shall still sleep if IPL occurs on Mars, he may not if the farm loan confiscates his roof. So do VOTE and VOTE for someone who you think shall lead us forward.

A positive spin on the whole of the IPL being moved is that the cheer-leading gals can go about strutting their stuff uninhibited the neo-religious Sena's notwithstanding.

Varun Gandhi's Speech

I wonder what Maneka Gandhi's reaction would be to the rabble-rousing her son has indulged in. She has won from pilibhit everytime, but once, and has moved away trying to ensure the her son has an easy entry to the Lok Sabha.

The Varun Gandhi comments though leave a not so good taste in the mouth. Especially in the situation they were made. Had he promised to cut off hands that attacked Hindu's in different times i would not have too much of a problem...even though Hindu's don't need Varun Gandhi to protect them, but then again his personal thoughts...saviour for the community or pretends to be.


What i have a problem with is how his religious messiah-ism was asleep all this while and suddenly woke up when votes are at stake. Making fools out of us voters by promising to help us in case the seeds of hatred the politicians sow take root makes me sick. First communalise the whole agenda..paint a community bad....and then protect us from a certain community.

If it is just a political gimmick ( i hope it is) or something with a deeper underlying thought, it still reveals an inherent weakness in our voting scenarios, where politicians like Varun Gandhi and his illustrious predecessors can fool gullible voters by raising rhetoric and espousing there credentials to protect a section of society from others. I find it deplorable that even the younger crop of our politicians ( who i presumed would be saner and work along issues that matter) indulge in such non-issues just because it suits them.

The focus is hardly on building a nation or even smaller...building the constituency he represents into a small harmonious place where everyone co-exists in peace and the representative can work to the further the development of the region as a whole...After posturing himself to be against a community i wonder how Varun will represent all sections of his society if he does win.

The Congress ain't any worse. They'd just use the comments made as a plank to stand upon and berate their opponents mistakes rather than set their house in order... Both the National parties asking for votes because the other is bad...not because they r good.The less said about the so-called Third Front the better.

The fact is that we r a multi-dimensional country with many issues in front of us. It is ironic that when tragedies lash us they never differentiate between us on the basis of languages or religions. Thinking again maybe i am wrong. They do. Tragedies = politicians of a certain ilk. On a serious not i have never seen rain that falls only in the Muslim areas in shifts and then reverts back to a Hindu area.

What he has done may indeed win him votes. Maybe the seat too (although i pray he does not)...along the way tho he too has just played a small bit in the deepening divide between communities in our country. A smallish contribution he could have avoided. I hope he comes to know that what we need is not a saviour from people in our land but problems that surround our people. Wonder if unemployment or poverty ever figures in his plans or he'd be always away with his cape trying to incite fights and then resolve by cutting hands.

I still am waiting for Maneka Gandhi to react.....Tho i maybe disappointed with her reaction..but still

PAKISTAN CRICKET ATTACKS

The attacks in Pakistanare horrific. The logic of cricketers not being attacked by terrorism has been blown away by the attack.

The whole world will be watching the attack and for no fault of ours India too would be involved in the scrutiny that follows. I hope it does not have a major impact on IPL as well as the World Cup thats about to follow.

More importantly Pakistan will have look back at what has been happening. Years of supporting unlawful groups have raised a demon that is now biting the hand that fed it all the while.
The fire that rages on however consumes many in its wake.

As long as nothing is done to control these groups by the authorities who reared them innocents will continue to be attacked, lives lost.