Winds of change

And so the winds of change are blowing … again … It is the peak summer season in most of India. And yet people seem oblivious to this scorching heat and are busy changing the landscape. History is being written and re-written.

Changes in Hindi heartland

The biggest and the foremost change, closest to my heart and eagerly followed by many countrymen is the political landscape of Uttar Pradesh. It won't be an exaggeration to say that most parties had big things at stake and they left no stone unturned during their pre-poll campaign.

Samajwadi Party: The ruling party, Samajwadi Party, was of course fighting the anti-incumbency as it was fighting their much maligned "Goonda Raj" allegation by one and sundry in the state. Their solution (surprisingly!) was Star Power! … From Chandra Babu Naidu to Amitabh Bachchan … SP roped in all … and worst of all was the now infamous ad featuring Big B, that ran on TV for months … it touched nerves but not in the way that SP wanted … Amitabh Bachchan proclaimed "UP main dumm hai kyonki jurm yahan kumm hai" … If you have seen this ad and you know anything about UP you would either laugh or get outraged or both :) … apparently most folks in UP got outraged! The clippings that TV channels aired showing reactions from people living in remotest of villages must have been very humbling for Mr Bachchan and SP …

Even if you did not know anything about UP, you are bound to wonder why all those Goondagardi movies are set in UP/Bihar ... one wonders but apparently Mr Bachchan does not ... if only he had a role in Omkara or Shool or something similar this tragedy could have been averted!

BTW, I just don't grok the logic behind this ad … People are shouting everywhere that crime has risen in the state and then the party comes back trying to convince people that it is not as bad as it could be (they cite a report that says that crime rate is lower than other states!) … Now what can you say about that logic … well people have spoken and the result and the government is out!

Congress: Another case of banking on "Star Power" … This was the first election when Rahul Gandhi took the ownership of Congress in the state and campaigned extensively … he got the crowds but not votes … which is unexpected (since traditionally people have voted for the family) but actually makes sense (He has nothing to show except his family's name) … He tried various time tested techniques … Dug up Ram-Mandir/Babri Masjid (when BJP was not doing it!), talked about creation of Bangladesh and what not … nothing worked (fortunately!) and the result was that Congress lost even more seats than last election when apparently they had no one to campaign for …

BJP: This party has just amazed me with the depths its leadership has fallen into in such quick time … This was the party that touted its morals, issue based politics, educated and eloquent leaders and what not … and yet it has stooped so low that other parties now look better than BJP … this is somewhat like the state of our cricket team … from runner up in last WC to first round exit … the parallels don't end there … their bane is in-fighting and power struggle and what I thought were great leaders (Atal/Saurav) missed the most important duty of a leader (in my opinion) i.e. prepare the next rung of leadership …
Anyways, while they abandoned their time tested Ram-Mandir promise, they reached the nadir by distributing some really virulent, communal and detestable CDs/VCDs against Muslims … when they were "caught" the leadership dilly-dallied for a long time on whether they distributed it or not … well the electorate had made up their minds. No to such communal politics!

That leaves BMW! Behen MayaWati and her party BSP … and what a show she put up! No stars (but herself) for campaigning … just a clever formula SDM (Savarn + Dalit + Muslims) and single point focus on rising crime under SP's rule … She changed her focus from Bahujan Samaj to Sarvjan Samaj … As News Channels showed in their interviews, most people do not have animosity towards either group … they want development and they want to live in peace … And hence BSP got a simple majority … This happened after 14yrs in the state … those who understand the fractured electorate of UP can understand what a BIG change this is ….

As one editorial put it, Mayawati has uninterrupted power and unique opportunity to make a difference in next 5 yrs … People want good governance all around and nothing else … She can follow Lalu's path and put the right people in right place and support them … Hopefully things will follow!

Who would have thought (except people of Bihar who always believed in him) 5-7 yrs earlier that Lalu's Railways would be the most remarkable turn around in PSU governance and that it would be a case study for management trainees around the globe … who would have thought 5-7 yrs ago that BSP would earn a simple majority in UP by combing SDM … the winds of change are surely blowing … I wish and hope that the coming 5 yrs would herald a new era in UP … otherwise it will be such a colossal waste of opportunity and real Shakespearian tragedy!

Oh and yes, on national front, there is a presidential change on the anvil … the very parties that got us our first apolitical president are now leaving no stone unturned that this "mistake" does not happen again … of course they did not have any good intentions behind supporting Kalam the first time … that was a populist move that backfired on them … so they want a change … a person that has "political" background … what a shame!

Amongst other changes, the Indian Hockey and Cricket team (less so) are back to winning ways … they still have a long way to go but being an eternal optimist, there is reason to cheer!

With all this change happening, mother nature is not to be left behind … With heat intensifying, the mangoes are changing too! They are getting delicious with every passing day :) Yummy!

Not to be left behind, I am changing too ... I have started moving my limbs more often and even with all the mangoes flowing in my blood, I have reduced the burden that I put on mother earth, albeight only by a kg.

Aaj ke samachar yahin samaapt hote hain ... fir milenge .. Jai Hind!