Ban Alcohol Worldwide!

I don't know why but I woke up after this longish dream where I was so powerful that I was banning alcohol not just in Bihar but all over India and why all even a worldwide ban. But would I ban her or him? In Hindi every word is a he or she, masculine or feminine. This has always confused me and I spent all night trying to figure that one out. Until finally I remembered seeing alcohol being stored in the female lockup of the local police station. The men's lockup had eighteen year old bootleggers and suppliers. So alcohol must be definitely a She! Then the other confusion over whether wine is alcohol or not? Shiv Sena's Sanjay Raut says wine is a fruit juice made from grapes and so it is now readily available in Mumbai supermarkets. So can I just buy wine and fly into Bihar? Or would I be arrested? No. no it's best to ban all alcohol instead of tempting biharis and Gujaratis and manipuris in some supermarkets. It was a horrid dream. I have never felt this way before but I cannot say why I felt this way. As I awoke I looked at myself in the mirror and I looked every bit like Nitish Kumar! Unshaven. I had run out of my seven blade Gillette razor and I am not a believer in digital India online shopping. So I found a Rs. 70 single blade Gillette razor in my town. I shaved. And now I am ready to end prohibition in Bihar.

The Brinjal Budget!

The only line I could hear finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman say loud and clear is that Modiji told her No New Taxes! Aah what a relief! But alas we are the onion eating janata and so we have to pay Rs.50 per kilo for onions. Rs. 200 for edible oil. Rs. 100 for petrol and diesel. Rs.

1000 for cooking gas. And cement is like Rs. 450, up by Rs. 100 per bag. Iron is up by Rs. 30 kilo. Sand is Rs 60 per tin, up by Rs.30. Urea and DAP the fertlisers are up by a few hundred but unavailable even at higher rates. The economy is ground to a halt. Because this Modi government thinks oil is milk. BBC Hindi carried a radio report on what the budget had for farmers. Interesting listening to voices from Uttar Pradesh, the state going to the polls. And it concluded the budget had nothing for the farmers. The Prime Minister gives Rs 6000 per year as kisan Sammlan. It's virtually nothing to the individual farmer but it's a huge drain on the exchequer...thousands of crores of our money... so that Modiji can win the election. But for farmers the lockdown years have been tough at best. Like I sell brinjals for Rs 10 per kilo in the local Mandi. And because Indians stand with farmers they buy brinjals from Big Basket for Rs. 115 per kilo. There is no Hindi word for a budget. At best it is aaye vyay ka lekha jokha. For farmers it's just baigun ka chokhha!

Extinguishing The Eternal Flame 2

Just as the BJP government extinguished the Eternal Flame at Amar Jawan Jyoti there is another eternal that they seek to extinguish - Sanatan Dharma. While voters remain caught up in their propaganda and razzle dazzle religious events, a militarist Hindutva is very, very far from the liberal Hinduism that we know and follow. They have even used the name Swami Vivekananda after a think tank trust to promote hardline Hindutva. Slowly Hindu religious leaders across India are waking up to this ugly face being presented by the BJP, and some have spoken up against the party. But to defeat their idea you have to defeat them at the polls. The opposition must get their acts together. And one upwomanship of Mamata and Mahua does not help.

Extinguishing The Eternal Flame

Extinguishing the eternal flame at India Gate, New Delhi, is an act of sacrilege. The Modi government has crossed the laxman rekha. The explanation that its being merged with the flame at the newly constructed war memorial is hardly convincing. Or that Modi government is so short of funds that they cannot maintain two flames. To maintain the two flames they could have taken the help of oil majors IOCL and BPCL. Or if they still needed more money they could have sold the two companies. Then the reasoning that India Gate represents the colonial era, but then the President should also move out from the Rashtrapati Bhawan Palace. That too is colonial. And Modi should stop giving his bhashan from atop the Red Fort, that's Mughal, it should be returned to the successors of the last mughal emperor. And retired Army officers writing nostalgia pieces about Amar Jawan Jyoti and at the same time supporting the act of the Modi government only shows how far they have come. History does not start today or even yesterday. Respecting elders and traditions is also a part of Indian sanatan culture.

Bijli Rani 3

At a recording studio in Patna I met the popular Bhojpuri singer Bijli Rani. She was not tall. She wore a red saree and was busy recording a song. When she finished I asked her if she could sing for us too. She asked on what? I replied on bad roads in Bihar. She said so far she had not sung any on bad roads. So the lyrics had to be written. Some 4 boys all in their twenties were sitting on the carpeted floor busy writing scripts. She instructed them And within 5 minutes the lyrics were ready. And no rehearsals or anything but Bijli Rani simply looked at it and called for the music and there it was... The song was recorded within 20 minutes from start to finish. And within days it would be bellowing it's double meaning across Bihars day and night buses.

Bijlee Rani 2

If I had to make a film on Bijlee Rani I'd cast actress Jacqueline Fernandes. After all she is so unafraid. Everytime the Enforcement Directorate call her for questioning she says she has to meet Salman Khan's horses. I mean how can she do that to Modijee... the ED is like Modijee. And even the photo she took with Modiji is not helping. After all 200 crores meant to go into BJP coffers has gone elsewhere... Amit Shah has told ED you better find out how this money has been laundrered. As for conman Sukesh Chandrasekhar he is definite Prime Minister material!

Bijlee Rani

Bijlee Rani is a popular Bhojpuri folk singer of Bihar. Long before vikaas came to Bihar through her lilting songs she would sing about Bihars development. I think they were five sisters all singers and dancers from a village near Arrah. I had visited them once and they performed for us for television. These singers/dancers are usually from lower castes and they have an upper caste manager/bodyguard/lover to take care of them as they travel from one event to another. Generally these men are also music lovers often writing the lyrics for the songs. Bhojpuri singers are not dependent on the government for anything. Fiercely independent their songs reflect their fearlessness.... to be continued....