In Deep Shit

Rain, BITS and me share a long and beautiful relationship. It just brings out a whole different person in me. So this is one of those episodes from my  3-2 (6th semester). 

This is the intermediate time before the teenage romaticism starts wearing out and sagely cynicism starts setting in. So in most cases this phase would be termed as 'happiest days of my life' . In my case more so, everything seemed to be going my way. I had big plans for my future, I had wonderful friends, I got closest to being in a relationship and for sometime my grades seemed to be improving (But sadly they never did). Life was beautiful. 

One such February morning after a wonderful sleep, Pilani woke up to a brilliant rain. Ram and I wanted to have Special Chai which was a daily routine by now. Most of the time it was to celebrate Ram's unsucessful attempt to get to his first hour tuts. Rain just added a bit more flavour to our routine. After drinking two full cups of Chai and generously getting wet in rain, we wanted to get into the sky pond (a dirty water body with all kinds of fishes). We got few more souls to join our madness. After the usual I am too well dressed for something like this drama, three of the four decided to step in.  As each one stepped into the sky pond we realised the shit we got ourself into. Turning a deaf ear to the kind of skin diseases we may contract from the saner one in the lot, we walked across the sky pond.  Another round of Chai and long walk we retired to our bogs to clean ourself. It took a half a bottle of Dettol and an hour of bathing to get rid of fish poop.

I miss the rain, my friends and more importantly  the energy, energy to do anything. I can't imagine a better place to start a crazy adventure or to implement a seemingly mad plan. The place is defined by the kind of people it houses. Pilani is a brilliant example for this.

Post dedication: Ram, Deepali, Aarthi and Praz.

Age

"When you stop enjoying the rain and start worrying about your shoes you are growing old."

-keki

Why am I excited about Chiranjeevi's political debut?

Chiranjeevi has finally taken the plunge after handful of his recent movies with 'social message' and many years of deliberation.  I am happy at his arrival on the bipolar political scene of A.P. 

There are very few times when a political system gets a chance to redefine themselves, rewrite their agenda, change and challenge the prevailing system. In Andhra Pradesh politics it has happened twice before, once in 1984 when N.T.R used his on-screen charisma to capture people's imagination and invoke Telugu pride like never before. His victory not only brought A.P to national scene but changed the political equations in the state. Congress which was the only major party had to go through seven year period without power and a major paradigm shift to make itself relevant to the people of the state again. Telugu pride, emphasis on education, prohibition and health care became major issues with the advent of Telugu Desam. Then a new equilibrium set with little to choose from the two parties. 

Then for the second time equilibrium was disturbed by K.Chandrashekar Rao, by playing the Telangana card. After his arrival, there has been an effort by all political parties to woo people of telangana region. Each one claiming to be the real representative of the region. The Telangana issue has added a new dimension to the otherwise useless 'tu tu main main' game between TDP and Congress. I am not sure if there would be a separate state but the people of Telangana are getting benefited by the space they are getting in state politics. Lot of 'packages' and developmental projects seem to be on the way.

Just when dust was settling in, Chiranjeevi announced his arrival. His arrival not only adds some more issues, but presents a wonderful opportunity for all the players to pull up their socks and get a complete image make over. An opportunity to come up with new ideas to develop the state and improve the living standards of people. His initial emotional appeal which attracted an estimate of ten lakh people is sure to force major political parties to gear up for the coming challenge. With plans of Chiranjeevi hitting the road, the time is ticking for parties to start their preparations to recalibrate their scales. Whatever the outcome of elections is, people of the state will have better political parties than in the past. Thanks to Chiranjeevi.

Sometimes they say ignorance is bliss. Coming from a non-political background is blessing in disguise for the people of the state. The initial idealism of the movement will carry the state forward faster than in the hands old political masters. His agenda to root out corruption and to eradicate poverty though very romantic have set a very different tone from the usual wish lists that the political parties have to offer.

Till date there have been very few leaders who could appeal to the youth of this country/state. We had leaders who had a following based on caste, religion or leaders who connected to  women or the downtrodden  but in Chiranjeevi AP has a leader whose core constituency is youth. He is one of the leaders who is trying to channelise the endless energy of youth into a movement. That is something I have seen very seldom in Indian politics. That is another reason why I am excited about his political debut. I hope this is the start of a movement, which will redefine the political landscape of AP. For the better though! 

I wish Chiranjeevi all the luck and waiting to see how my state responds to his call.

Quotable quotes!

“Bihar was vulnerable to epidemics even before floods...this is nothing new about the state..."

-3/9/2008

When asked about measures taken to control the epedemic due to floods

“Section 377 of the IPC, which criminalises men who have sex with men, must go,” 

-8/8/2008

-Anbumani Ramadoss,Union Health Minister

There surely is a difference between things you have to do and things which if done would be great. If you confuse these, the consequences may be huge, in this case just a few more lives.

Joker wins!!!

Joker wins this time!

In every story of his a farmer died, but this time he scripted a story where he killed the music!