Lotus bloom

By Manish Anand


Finally, the lotus has bloomed south of the Vidhyanchal. After five decades of supplying the hardcore grassroot workers to the Rashtriya Swayam Sewak Sangh (RSS), its political baby, the BJP, would now form the state government in Karnatka. It's pregnant with significant political implications and it marks paradigm shift to the national politics.

The chattering class on television sets have exhausted much of their analytical skills. However, the political pundits sound too predictible that one can safely mute the news channels now. It's time that the news channels voluntarily shun all exit polls for just two reasons. First, it's not needed at all, and secondly for it prejudicing the electorates.

In another decade, the RSS would hand over the political tonic to the BJP in Kerala too. Just watch out for that, the social churning has been taking place almost for a decade now. The social undercurrents there would crystalise in another decade to hand over the BJP another hunting ground in the South India.

Arrogance is the hallmark of the Congress. For it the price rise of the essential commodities had just been the natural by-product of the high economic growth. It was nver seen being identified with the people bearing the brunt of the price rise. The JD (S) has proved a party which cheats the people's mandate. It's so called maveric patriarch H D Devgowda, who is known to keep the rupees in sacks and for distributing them in the same manner, could not find another way to fool the electorate. Good for the people.

The parliamentary elections would now not be preponed. However, the Congress has too less time for the damage control. It could now bank on its principal opponent the BJP to commit the political suicide in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar which it's hell-bent to commit.
The BJP in all likelihood would wrest Delhi Assembly from the Congress and could retain Chattisgarh and Rajsthan while losing Madhya Pradesh to the Congress in the winter this year. The BJP would go to the parliamentary elections with the winning momentum, while praying that the Congress looks at the common man with an impaired eyesight.

L. K. Advani could step into the shoes of A. B. Vajpayee but Bihar and UP could just prove to play the spoiler.

Man & animal conflict

By Manish Anand

Few years ago, giving the Civil Services Examinations, I along with many others were foxed by a short answer question on man and animal conflict. All did the guess works which turned out to be off the mark by quite a margin. In the evening, restless minds searched for the right answer and it turned out to be the Orissa farmers in conflict with elephants raiding their rice fields, as men had destroyed their natural habitat, thus forcing them to go into unknown territory in search of food. Our answers were just rubbish.

Reflecting on the issue, it seems that the phrasing of the question was just incorrect. Why call it man and animal conflict when man is just an animal; no better in any ways and rather far worse.

Few days back at a market place, one man was facing a group of people out to lynch him. His fault was that out of anger, as his vehicle was caught in the parking lot, he probably let his angst go on the window glass of the blocking car and which brought a dozen of people out to lynch him. Nerved at the size of the opposing party, he relished all the abuses and pushes and shoves offered to him. His plea to call the police to settle the issue had no takers. After an hour long ordeal, he was sent away.

But the show was not over, as one of his foe delivered another chaste abuse to him when he came back to the market after sometimes. Fed up with enough abuses, he barged into his foes' office and started abusing all, with even women getting no reprieve.

Take the fight into enemy's camp, you will either emerge victorious or will die with pride. And so he did. His foes had to do the explanings, with the issue looking too trivial for such a grand show. The man walked away having humbled his foes, with even onlookers remarking "bande me dam hai" even if he had committed any mistake. All the whiles, few dogs kept dozzing off and showed no interest at all in the show. Some had mocking smiles on their funny mouth.

In the HT City, which I rarely read, I found a piece which informed that lots of men come to Delhi from Mumbai and also go to Thailand for sex hunting, where they easily catch hold of college and other young girls in pubs and on dance floors for a one night stand. Nothing startling though, it also contradicts the phrasing of the question.

In a party in a five-star hotel, which I had a rare chance to attend, the liquor had made the base animal instincts of the people too explicit to take refuse in the man's dignity. Few were falling on a girl, who had committed the mistake of sitting a bit away from her friends, and were imploring her for dance, though their eyes were demanding much more. Liquor should not be blamed as it makes you just what you are. Though under heavy influence of liquor myself, I could not stop my critical faculties from obesrving people and their behaviour and keeping their records as well. I can not write more on this because of obvious reasons.

Dogs are really intelligent. They know that the UPSC had wrongly phrased the question. They mock at the man with all humility. It's no man, animal conflict, as it's all animals here.