Sharad Joshi's Final Journey

Photos taken by Shantanu Mishra in Pune after a floral tribute on behalf of all Indian liberals to a man who cared to take up lost causes because it involved Freedom...

Farewell Sharad Joshi

Photo: By Manuwant Choudhary. Sharad Joshi speaking at Swatantra Party 50 years.

Today people pay their last respects to their beloved Leader Sharad Joshi.

My nephew attended it in Pune at the Deccan grounds and he called up to describe a heartfelt secene....people from all parts of rural India, the poorest farmers, and the VIPs all standing in a single file....many crying.

A dignified farewell to a rare Indian politician who led  a such dignified public life...always standing up for farmers and freedom.

No Heroes (5) - Why I Prefer Jungle Raj !

By Manuwant Choudhary

Everytime elections are announced....at least briefly Jungle Raj ends...the Indian government send their troops from our borders to Bihar...

The impact of this on our daily lives, economy and democracy is crippling.

Bihar is under undeclared curfew these weeks.

This is something not reported in the media.

But the checking of vehicles is so drastic that even businessmen cannot go about their activities.

Some say the 12 crore rupees confiscated are not from politicians but from businessmen.

Clearly, politicians spend much much more than that.

With so much checking I decided to check if my papers were in order and discovered that my driving licence had expired in March !

So for the past week I have been commuting on a rickshaw.

The humble rickshaw has its own place in Bihar politics.

Otherwise why would Laloo and Nitish travel on them now and then and offer photo opps !

Ofcourse for VOTES !

Votes of the poor.

So everytime I take a rickshaw I ask them how they are doing, about their lives, where they come from and who they think will win this time.

One  said, "I will vote after seeing which way the village votes."

Another, "I will vote after our family has taken the decision together."

Many rickshaw-wallahs have been around for decades..so for some democracy itself has lost its facination...

"Saheb, I have seen so many chief ministers in my 40 years in this city and they are all the same. Not just chief ministers..all our politicians....there was just one politician who could have done something for the poor..he wore only a dhoti....but they killed him...Gandhiji...."

There was an anger in his eye.

Yet, when I alighted he did a namaste with so much respect that one does not see these days.

The paramilitary in Bihar are obtrusive...they tell even women to get off from their cars....

Its like an election under military rule.

You don't see flags atop houses, hardly any campaigning...none door-to-door....

Just large rallies addressed by larger-than-life polticians (who get threatened by even Shatrughan Sinha)...

And yes the hoarding war....

But even that ends in Patna.

As you travel out in the country you will not see a single flag.

And this election is going to drag on for over a month.

Forget the package, let Biharis carry on with their lives ....and Bihar will be better....even in Jungle Raj!

No Heroes (4) - Fahmida Riaz recites `Tum To Hum Jaise Nikle'

No Heroes (3) - Buddha & Beef...

By Manuwant Choudhary

Prince Siddharth left his kingdom in Nepal to become a bhikhsu (monk) and went out in search of truth.

For years he wandered in the forests.

It is only after long hours of isolation and deep meditation that he learned about the truths.

But he still had no followers...

It was only after sometime a few learnt of his special powers that he got five disciples.

Now the rule for a monk is that he must go to the first house with his begging bowl and eat the food only once in a day.

So one day when the Buddha went to seek alms...he knocked on a door...an old lady emerged and put something in his bowl.

To the horror of Buddha's disciples...they saw the food in the bowl -  beef.

But what shocked them even more is when they see Buddha eat the beef.

They were fully convinced that the Buddha was a fake messiah...how could he eat beef when he himself preached non-violence.

The disciples were angry and they left the Buddha.

It is only when the Buddha's powers spread far and wide that the disciples returned but still not convinced.

So they asked the Buddha why he had eaten beef that day.

The Buddha replied,

"I ate beef because I could see that it was the only food the poor lady had in her house and instead of eating herself she offered me that food..what could be more loving and kind...in fact my refusal to eat beef that day would be violence...."

No Heroes (2) - Politics In The Cow Belt !

By Manuwant Choudhary

This election security in Patna is beefed-up.

And there he is...India's No.2  Amit Shah clambering up the staircase of 4 star Maurya Hotel.

In the BJP Shah is a big man...even literally.

And after BJP MP R.K. Singh's allegations that tickets are being sold, I wonder what was in the suitcases.

But then I also wondered how months ago Laloo predicted on television what the BJP plans to do in Bihar...spread rumours about pork and beef....only to benefit in elections.

Perhaps they could not do it in Bihar so now they have done it in UP...killing a man on rumours that he ate beef.

But I am more interested in what Amit Shah eats.

And Narendra Modi.

Besides, is killing a man a vegetarian thing to do?

Narendra Modi says only he can develop Bihar.

So I was curious what his vision is for the state.

Will he implement his Gujarat model on Bihar?

But that he has already done for India and Bihar is a part of India, I think.

So I actually  read the BJP's 10 point program for Bihar.

And No.1 on the list was to set up a cow breeding centre in Bihar.

Is that a vision for Bihar in the 21st C?

Is Bihar going to be happy with just cows and cow dung and selling their milk cheap to government owned companies?

You can't get rich with cows unless you are Laloo Yadav.

And why Laloo is ahead even here...he told the Income Tax dept. in the disproportionate assets case how he got two cows in his dowry and they became 300 !

So I met the Maurya chef to find out Amit Shah's diet.

Me: Aah now I know why Shah stays at Maurya its because of you..

Chef: No, no, not because of me..all top shots..even Modi they stay here...but I cant tell you what they eat.

Me: Do they eat hot jalebis..dipping in sugar syrup! Ah gimme some pls..

Chef: No, no it is against our company policy to tell you what VVIPs eat?

Me: I can understand the security and all that but surely a Rossogolla is a Rossogolla not a bomb!

Chef:  I am not telling you...not even what Shatrughan Sinha eats.

Me: Ya I was coming to that...Shatru definitely eats something the BJP wallahs don't eat...he gets away with criticising the Leader....

Chef: Shatruji is our permanent guest.

Me: But I thought he has a home in Patna...

Chef: Our food is better than home food....so he stays here..

Me: Exactly, do you cook everything in ghee?

Chef: I can't tell you even that...

Me: Do you use multinational ghee or Ramdev babe ghee?

Chef: You want even ghee to be banned, like Maggi?

Me:  Katju is come out on his diet..."I Eat Beef", surely you can tell me what Shah eats.

Chef: No, never. You guys in the media will say we cook in Dalda?

Me: No, no, Dalda was banned a long ago when they found out it had cow fat in it?
But tell me about Modi-Shah...diet...they look so good together on the posters...white beard & black beard...

Chef: Their beard has got nothing with what they eat.

Me: I want to know what they eat is because they talk so much.

Chef: Ok, I will give you a hint like Amitabh Bachan...What is the opposite of Khokhla (Empty)...

Me: Aah...yes..yes...(thinking hard) Is it Dhokla ?

LETS BAN DHOKLA

No Heroes In Indian Politics (1)

By Manuwant Choudhary

Just like the film `Hero' where all are villains, so it is with Indian politics.

I watched the film `Hero' and soon realised that it really had no heroes.

Promoted under the Salman Khan banner...the film is a birthday gift to Sooraj Pancholi, yes the same person who was Jiah Khan's boyfreind at the time she died mysteriously.

Bollywood has like one real murder mystery every ten years but nobody really solves it..life and the parties just go on...

Does anybody remember Divya Bharti?

Of course, the Sheena Bora murder case has overtaken Bollywood but then we do live in the age of television.

Coming back to Hero the film is about how a `Goonda's' son falls in love with a police inspector's daughter....but soon you realise that even the police are just the same `Goons in uniform'.

I waited and waited for Salman but after three hours with the titles rolling there he was singing `Ki Main Hoon Tera Hero".



No, no, definitely not.

Not even him.

In Salman's next  movie he will make even Indrani Mukherjea look like a Saint wronged....

I thought Bollywood is so much like our politics.

Look at whats happening in Bihar.

The mahagatbandhan is actually just a gatbandhan now...Mulayam has walked out..the Communists are on their own...

Nitish is alone on the posters.

Laloo says he just wants his sons to win.

And Laloo's Jungle Raj is better than the BJP Mangal Raj.

12 crore rupees have already been caught in Bihar.....

And Ram Vilas Paswan...it is his son Chirag....but a report today showed his village has no electricity even today...`Chiarg Tale Andhera'....

Its your caste versus mine or your religion against mine.

And the only alternative is one Pappu Yadav !

Father Van - A Rector To Remember

By Manuwant Choudhary

If I were the Dalai Lama I would try and find out where Father Van is reborn and who....

But the way he loved India and Darjeeling I am sure he must be a toddler Shrestha or a Pradhan in the cradle of the Kunchenjunga.

Father Gerard Van Wallegham was the last foreign missionary and he passed away recently at the age of 88 in his room at St Joseph's College, Darjeeling.

He was only 24 when he came to India as a Jesuit priest and stayed all his life.

And all his life he tried to get an Indian citizenship and the story is that  it was always rejected.

Even Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi tried to get him a citizenship only to be told that the same man some Mr. Chatterjee has rejected it.

I wonder when hundreds of our Indians become Canadian citizens..even when they are not so great..why the Indian government denied Fr. Van a citizenship.

I also wonder why Fr. Van is the last foreign missionary in the hills of Darjeeling?

Born to Belgian parents at Winnipeg, after graduating from St. Paul's, Winnipeg he decided to join the Jesuits.

I am immensely blessed to have been his student and also to have met him a few years ago at our 25 year Reunion.

Even at 85 he would walk from school to Chowrasta.

Memories of Fr. Van take me far back to my own childhood and the first day my parents put me into boarding.

At the age of 7 one does not even know what is a boarding school?

First I was quite happy with all the new school uniforms and the goodies being bought for me...but then
when that final moment for goodbyes came all hell broke loose.

Mr. Venkat was our Prefect and I recall giving him a nice kick and running away from the study hall...telling my parents that I did not want to be an engineer or doctor...I would be happy looking after the cows !

Mr. Venkat remembered my kick all along.

Then a younger tall foreign missionary simply lifted me up in the air and brought me to the Rectors office.

Fr. Van, the Rector, spoke in English...and he must have spent an hour trying to quieten me..but when everything failed...he just slapped me.....my cries stopped and I slept away in his office.  He carried me himself to the school dormitory and put me to bed.

I could hear him talking to the sisters to give me some soup when I am awake.

Of course, Fr. Van could not remember all the details when we last met...memory was failing him.

Also he had worse students to handle than me....like in a documentary on St. Joseph's he talks about how King Gyanendra of Nepal who was a tough one to handle. Said Fr. Van, "When I tried to control him he said he will call his troops !"

My own father was very fond of Fr. Van and when we were home Fr. Van would often come up in our dinner conversations....

Once my father went to drop me to school and it was a rainy Monday morning with the school assembly being held in the corridors.

Fr. Van was standing on the wooden stool and suddenly my name was called out.

I had never got a prize till then...and my father was all smiles that his son had finally won a prize.

Later he asked me what this was about..I explained that it was a Rs.100 fine for coming late to school !

St. Joseph's did give me a prize on the last day of school...something I value more than all the prizes out there in the world.

Sujay Ghosh's Thriller `Ahalya'

Ben Carson For President !

By Manuwant Choudhary

When US President Obama visited India in November 2010 HBO telecast a film on Ben Carson and I wrote here on my blog that the Ben Carson story is better than the Obama story.

http://indiavikalp.blogspot.in/2010/11/gifted-hands-ben-carson-story.html

In a way I wished he was America's President and not Obama.

So now when I see Carson running for President I do feel America is blessed.

I have never been to the United States of America nor have I a desire.

Yet, American democracy is important to the world.

Obama said "Yes You Can" and he won.

Back in India Modi copied "Yes You Can" and he too won using similar propoganda material.

And I am not sure if they have both improved their countries.

So Carson seems genuine and honest and he knows how the brains work, even that of politicians (if they have one that is)

Hear him out right till the end at this introductory video and if the American voters are enlightened they would vote Carson.

The Girl Under The Umbrella

By Manuwant Choudhary

This morning I woke up to heavy rains...the kind that makes you want to go to bed again.

Luckily, my taxi did not turn up so here I am writing.

I do like the rains...especially after a really long and hot summer.

The first rains when they hit the ground in rural India...the smell of the earth...quietens my nerves like nothing else...

Not sure if they have it in the spa.

But rains bring back all kinds of memories...from the rain pounding on tin roofs in the school dormitories of North Point in Darjeeling...to upturned umbrellas at Nariman Point in Bombay.

The fierce winds from the Arabian sea lashing across Marine Drive.

A walk.

The local trains coming to a halt...and everyone trying to make their way home..like ants.

Bombay rains are said to be the most unpredictable.

The saying goes, "Bambai ka Barsaat, ghore ka laat aur neta ka baat ka koi bharosa nahin hai...." (The Bombay rains, the kick from a horse and the promise of  a politician are all unreliable)

As a cub reporter in Bombay it was our job to call up the weather bureau each morning.

It was a routine and speaking to the weatherman over the years, the Reporters knew exactly what to expect.

So one day my colleague instead of calling the Weather Bureau chose simply to look out of the window and file her report.

Simple.

In fact, sometimes even horoscopes were penned by creative reporters.

Rains are also about romance.

Bollywood has so many hit film songs featuring the rain dance.

My favourite memory is on a holiday abroad...it was pouring..so I had no option but to visit the nearest club for a meal.

As I walked hurriedly, I noticed someone trying to squeeze under the umbrella of a security guard...I could only see her feet...

Just as I was about to enter the club, the managers looked a bit hassled...they asked me to wait.

Then I see them frantically look for someone.

The girl under the umbrella.

All embarrassed I see a very beautiful girl emerge.

Her job...to accompany me in the lift.

And we just smiled all the way.

I still don't know her name.

Breakfast With Chandra Shekharji

By Manuwant Choudhary

I have covered all kinds of stories as TV Reporter but one story I cannot forget is when I got this news that body guards of a former Indian Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar had shot dead a student in a train at Allahabad.

Chandra Shekhar was on his way to Balia, his constituency in eastern Uttar Pradesh.

We drove all night to enter UP and as the mist was only clearing we arrived at the guest house where the former Prime Minister was staying.

SPG men in their dark suits stood all around the guest house.

I wondered if they would shoot again at an intruding press.

Chandra Shekhar himself was notorious for his temper and he would shut up even a Laloo Prasad on the floor of parliament.

So it was challenging to even send him my visiting card at that early hour.

But surprisingly I was called in within a second.

Chandra Shekhar was still in bed under a quilt I remember and its only when he spotted the cameraman behind me that he got out of bed and took a seat on a sofa.

I recall asking my questions point blank.

And surprisingly I got an equal point by point reply...with Chandra Shekhar not only accepting that the incident took place but he gave vivid details of how the SPG had to resort to to fire.

And he had no emotions.

Just like his politics.

I wondered how is it so possible to be so honest about your own ruthlessness?

But that was Chandra Shekhar...he became India's 9th Prime Minister after toppling the V.P. Singh government with support from Rajiv Gandhi.

Even while we spoke I was clear my story would be hard-hitting.

The interview over I was happy to leave when Chandra Shekharji asked me...

"Aap kahan naashta kijiyega..." (Where will you have breakfast?)

I explained that I would eat at one of the road side dhabas in UP whose utensils were so new that you could spot them from a distance.

He replied, "Nahin, nahin, aap naashta humare saath lenge..."(No, no..you will have breakfast with me..)

But then it would be sometime for breakfast so he called his men...and asked them to show me around in Balia.,,,,

"Inhein jara aap Shaheed Smarak dikhayenge..jab tak main snan karta hoon...(Kindly take him to the Martyrs Memorial till I get ready...)

And off we were...a carcade of white ambassador cars...not knowing where....

Balia is a backwater...perhaps nothing happens in these parts even though Mangal Pandey...the sepoy who mutinied against the British was from the region.

And suddenly we enter an area which was like paradise...dahlia's and landscaped gardens all around...a river even....

It was unbelievable.

In fact, this was what we call chaur or low-lying area (which is generally water-logged and good for paddy.)

On my return, I did have my breakfast with Chandra Shekharji.

Over Puri & Sabzee he explained how as a Member of Parliament he could do every little for Balia so this was his gift to Balia and to the martyrs who won India her freedom.

He told me how he has earmarked land to be given to different research organisations in the country, from seeds to forests..from computers to fertilizers....and they would all work from here and offer India a better future.

"Because I have been India's Prime Minister it is possible for me to call up Vajpayeeji and get work done..."

All this was so unexpected from a politician I did not care about that I finally asked him who actually accomplished his vision and he replied, "Charles Correa from Bambai..."

0 Mile

By Manuwant Choudhary

0 Mile: If I were Anna Hazare fighting for farmers, I would fast right here...a stones throw away is the shut Hindustan Fertiliser Corporation...I would demand either the Indian government re-open this or return the land to the farmers from whom it was acquired.

The HFC is a ghost town.

While farmers have to buy Urea in the black market.

I watched NH 10 and it sure  is a violent film.

I could watch it again with Anushka Sharma.

Gurgaons night life, the shiny sky-rises...and then the wilderness beyond - caste - honour killings.

From the film I did get it that the Toyata Fortuner is  good ...and the Mahindra Scorpio is a goon !

But 0 Mile is worse.


Its a story of how socialism has destroyed India completely.

I drove around this ghost town...and cried.

Modi Sarkar is just as greedy as the Congress.

If I were Anna I would not make common cause with the Congress land bill...70 per cent consent or whatever is bullshit..rather I would talk about restoration of first principles - the right to private property.

The Indian government has acquired enough land in the past 66 years (the Indian railways is India's biggest landlord)....and they still want more...this time to give it to the private sector.

Even Gurcharan Das should stop calling himself a liberal as he writes "Even a farmers son needs jobs."

I would say, "Even a tycoon eats food".


The debate should never have been between jobs and farmers interests...rather on the basic right to private property.

It is ironical that its the Anna's and the leftists who often fight for private property...while the liberals put up a front for corporates.

This is what happened with Enron....

The Medha Patkars stole the show while liberals in India have remained absent.

Not just the HFC...in Bihar there are 55 public sector companies..who have thousands of acres of land under them...totally abandoned.

Their net asset value is 0.

Miss Roy

By Manuwant Choudhary

I am not sure why I went to see this new Hindi film Roy but I did quite enjoy it and came out falling in love with the Sri Lankan actress Jacqueline Fernandes.

She does have an uncanny resemblance to Jacqueline Kennedy.

But Bollywood directors take things just too far...I don't think she is suited to be a ballerina...even if it is for a few minutes on lovely seaside locale.

The film was modern and international and reflects the times we live in.

Even thieves are no longer the chain snatchers at railway stations.

My mom says a minister in the Narendra Modi cabinet snatched her gold chain many years ago.

But this film does make you ponder....especially when throughout the film Ranbir Kapoor keeps repeating "Main chor hoon !"

The film has some nice songs but still may not do well at the box office...its too classy even for the chor's (thieves).

Coming back to Jacqueline....she looked amazing with the horses and the way she did yoga and the reading glasses and playing hard to get....retaining a bit of her soul in this mad bad world.

Studying in the UK I got a call from an old friend in London and he asked me how things were in India.

The journalist in me would not stop as I went on to talk about the corruption in India....20 minutes of JVG, Sahara etc...and how they were looting the ordinary egg-seller.

At the end of it I asked him what he did.

And there was a pause...and his reply, "Thats exactly what I do..."

He worked for an American finance company.

Of course, todays papers have this story about Subrata Roy and that he is in prison for a year now because India' s Supreme Court wants him to pay a bail amount of Rs.10,000 crore and he has been unable to sell his properties abroad.

At airport bookstores I have seen his autobiography staring at me but I have not bought one.

Nor have I worked for him.

In fact, it has always amused me as to who this man is and the Sahara pranams I would see his employees do at airports with bouquets in hand looked so fake...almost Hitlerish..that I never cared about him, until now.

Until I find his freedom taken away from him by India's Supreme Court.

And now even Amar Singh and Amitabh Bachchan don't say a word in his support.

Nor does Mulayam Singh.

Not Team India who wore his Sahara uniforms for decades.

Not the politcians he favoured.

Roy's bail is his right....as long as he does not escape the law.

And the Supreme Court demanding 10,000 crores for bail violates the principles of justice `Equality Before Law..."

Some years ago..a friend from abroad inquired about Roy and that he planned to set up a dairy and some hotels there....she owned a logistic company.....

My advice to her, "Don't let him transport his cows in your truck...he will take your trucks alongwith the cows !"

Jokes apart....I think Subrata Roys prison term violates the principles of justice.....and I hope justice prevails....because you may be next.

My ex-boss is also a Roy - but the bearded one....

A Cat & Mouse Game In Bihar

By Manuwant Choudhary

Manjhi has rattled Nitish Kumar...and never before has Nitish been available for TV interviews so easily as now.

And why even Manjhi gets a fair share of airtime because of his utterances.

Like he called uppercastes `foreigners' and later called upon migrant workers not to leave their wives behind as they would have sex with other men !

But on TV what shines are not his words but his teeth.

I wonder what toothpaste he uses or datun (neem twig) perhaps.

Though toothpaste companies are not lining up at 1 Anne Marg just yet.

For all you know...it may be because of his diet...Rats !

There is a cat & mouse game going on in Bihar...and Nitish is spending some sleepless nights...

Just yesterday Manjhi confessed at a public meeting that he takes cuts on every bridge pillar that is built in Bihar.

What he implies is that if he takes cuts then so did his predecessor...its common practice...in which case if he is to be jailed then so should Nitish Kumar.

And I do not agree that there is horse-trading in Bihar.

Just rat trading !

And this will go on till the Manjhi government strength is tested on the floor of the house.

The BJP is ecstatic at recent developments and Nitish Kumar looks for words to explain his predicament.

After all how could a man he handpicked to be chief minister turn out to be so wrong....

The BJP says this is normal.

But the BJP forget the Ramayana so easily...when Ram was to go on his 14 year vanvasa (exile)...he asked his brother Bharat to ascend the throne.

But Bharat refused..instead asked for Ram's khadaun (wooden slippers) which he placed on the throne and looked after the kingdom until Ram's exile ended.

Essentially, this is how Manjhi should have behaved.

But this is Kalyug and Manjhi is no Bharat.....he is rather Bhasmasura...the demon blessed by Shiva that he could destroy anyone on whom he placed his hand...

Bhasmasura decided his first test would be Shiva...