Stand Down, Soldier!! The Spirit which does not bow down-General VK Singh

This UPA to me, apart from all the foolhardy and gibberish explanations for various scams till the time it got caught between the rock and a hard place, would also be remembered for a tenure which saw a name moving to the dead from the Army's hall of fame in the face of irritatingly obvious apathy, the glorious name of Sam Maneckshaw or Sam Bahadur, whose funeral a self-serving government could not find time to attend, nor for whom Laloo Prasad Yadav could think of recommending Bharat Ratna. No vote bank to be addressed there.

Another shameful episode was the way this government treated General VK Singh, one of the most pubicly upright public figure of late. I will not sit about to write the life story of General Singh, as I do not know from where to start, with his date of birth still in question due to obstinate posture of an unfeeling and crazy government. The line of argument and speak of this government is lame enough to send any sane man into tizzy, for instance, they said, they can take Anna Hazare seriously if it can be proven that he is apolitical, but why, is being political so bad, and then why did they get offended when they saw the banter on the political class.

In light of this there is no point to discuss the merits or demerits of Age row and Government position on it, what sure is important is the sad manner in which the whole matter was handled. And then how the matter regarding Tatra purchase was handled. The Tatra BEML unholy alliance raised right questions, which resonated with the collective national mindspace. But then this government is known to act in such manner. Only after the collective Khap Panchayat which we call Parliament backed down after shady politicos called the General names, did the fact registered that the whole nation is watching and there is enough substance in the error of procedure. Of course, there was no apology, Army can not send privilege notice, it can only order battalions to practise movement to Delhi, which can be picked up by a newspaper, which does not even bother to defend its position, as an imaginary, quixotic coup.

Anyways, for Army and nation, it was a time of crisis and as in any crisis, your bigness and smallness will stand magnified, so did the dwarfness and ugliness of the government and grandeur of character of the man called General VK Singh. As we stand at the verge of next election and a possible change of regime, we need to consider that the are few points of social probity on which national conscience hangs. Supreme Court, the army, the security apparatus make up for the reference points which hold the nation together and the current government has slighted each with impunity. This government has told at instances the SC to stay within limits, got into public battles with Army chief, disputed IB chief and has muddied all that the citizens held sacred.

People are guessing if he will come back to public life as a Politico is any body's guess, but if he does not, I will still thank him for offering a picture of composure and grace, in the time of gloom.

On the Eve of Formation of New Government

The long dance-duel of democracy has finally ended. The rulers and wanting-to-be-rulers have now decided to rest after a no-holds-barred battle is over. The unapologetic political parties and apologetic, righteous neutral commentators, jumping in and out of the discourse. In fact, the case for the commentators was the most curious, under the thinly wrapped veneer of neutrality and forward-thinking lurked the opportunity to shoot and scoot. This was a campaign which made people see through the charade of intellectual bourgeoisie, who pretended to be neutral but treaded the thin line between the public and private. Thankfully, the campaign ended and hopefully we are left with few things still left to believe in. Narendra Modi has a task cut out for him. Swearing-in happens tomorrow evening. My view he has things to do, new paths to tread. He has invited the SAARC countries, all of them to attend. That to me is a good be...

Why Teaching Kids Read Early Makes Sense?

Picture Courtesy- GettyImages I am an only child, though not a child anymore. My childhood went in search of friendships outside the home, and waiting for the evening to come by to immerse into those rare moments of camaraderie. Our days, the Pre-Appu childhood, was largely supervised by our parents. I do not much remember visiting my friend’s place in childhood. Much unlike my daughter and her friends who keep meeting up in their homes. My friends were kids of my father’s colleagues and we met when they met. Friendships were formed and finished in the children park. The interspersed period of loneliness was filled up by books. It was from Comics to pocket-books to Geeta Press to even, Indian Classics like Ramayana and Mahabharata . They filled up my days of solitude with rare happiness. I was called introvert and adults left me alone. It was an arrangement which we both liked. There was no other arrangement in the view. For some reasons, parents those days did not appr...

Death of soldiers and International Diplomacy- The Eternal Dilemma of Indo-Pak relations

India has just come out of a tumultuous year, which ended with the sordid saga of the gang rape of a twenty three year old, on the streets of Delhi. Culprits caught, what haunted the country was the rage that filled the streets of not only the capital but also the rest of the country. Driven to the brink, the outrage pushed the envelope and made the fumbling leadership sit up, and try to regain the lost ground with some new measures protecting the women, and a near autocratic ban on all protest neat the citadels of power in Delhi. The city having faced the ugly face of autocracy and those in power, having seen the audacity of the unheard and unseen, got back to life as usual, with the fault lines dividing the ruled and the ruler, more prominent, more clearly defined than ever. One could not have asked for a worse start to the new year. The enemy inside, the Maoists, fed and nourished on the same state they claim to hate, attacked CRPF jawans and taking a leaf out of the brutal savage...

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