I AND MY WORDS

Diagnosing the Problem - Arun Shourie (Courtesy The Hans India) Since yesterday evening there are words and acrimonious exchanges flying thick and fast within and without the right wing sphere. Much brouhaha has to do with Arun Shourie's 'criticism' of the Narendra Modi led government , and many Adarsh Liberal Presstitutes have been trying to give a spin to what he said (and did not say) to imply that there was nothing but bluster for Modi. Irony could die a thousand deaths because the very same bunch of people derided him for attacking holy cows of secularism in the past; such hypocrisy is indeed hard to miss. However, there are several layers of subtext that most people have conveniently ignored, especially if one has been following Arun Shourie's assessments over the past year. Arun Shourie has criticized the government on economic reforms repeatedly. His repeated diagnosis has been that not enough is being done to free the economy. Now it is no secret that th...

The Nautanki of Nayantara Sahgal - Much Ado About Nothing (Courtesy - The Hindu) Of late, we have been seeing writers across the board returning their Sahitya Akademi award for great creations. It all started with the niece of the hallowed Jawaharlal Nehru, Nayantara Sehgal, followed by people like Ashok Vajpayi, Uday Prakash and many other people, including the likes of Surjit Patar joining the list, totaling to a grand number of twenty one. "Freedom of speech being throttled", "no space for free speech", "vitiated communal atmosphere" are phrases that are being bandied about as reasons for the protest. A cursory examination however demolishes many of the facts that are being loosely thrown around recklessly to vitiate the atmosphere. Most of the writers have just announced returning of awards. A news report by the Indian Express has specifically noted how many of these 'eminent' writers have been more than eager to announce in the media ...

नव युग के नव प्रभात में नव पंकज तुमको है खिलना रंग प्रकाश सुगंध भाव संग क्षण भर भी विक्षन्न न होना स्मरण करो उन बलिदानों को शूल छिन्न उन अपमानों को मत भूलो इतिहास की वेला क्या कुछ नहीं है तुमने झेला चक्र चला है आज अनोखा समय द्वार पर पालक देखा सत्य बधिर, मूक कण्ठ धारे चहुँ ओर माया का फेरा शब्द असत्य, चित्र असत्य कण कण में है घोर असत्य अंतःकरण को कर भ्रमित है मिथ्या की पाशों ने जकड़ा अवसर आज, अस्त्र भी साथ कर में थाम तू कर प्रहार मिथ्या के पाशों को काट कर स्वतंत्र तू सत्य को आज हुई पराजय बीते कल में छीनो उससे विजय को आज करके पलटवार पुनः तुम सत्य का दामन थामो आज देखना तुम, इस बलिदान से विजय पताका संग के साथ नित्य संघर्षरत रहो तुम अवसर मिलेगा फिर न आज नव युग के नव प्रभात में नव पंकज तुमको है खिलना रंग प्रकाश सुगंध भाव संग क्षण भर भी विक्षन्न न होना

Isn't it surprising that we have people shouting themselves hoarse on absolute non-issues in India just to ensure a slant in the coverage of India? Well it should not surprise anyone. However the examples are just so many that one can lose track of the shoddiness (perhaps deliberate) in presenting half-researched stories as an 'alarming Hindutva fringe attack on India'. Sample these: 1. A girl in Mumbai who works in a media house shouted herself hoarse claiming she was denied a house because she is Muslim. The media went overboard and pointed how intolerance is rising within India? We had editorials and discussions by the hallowed likes of Barkha Dutt and Rajdeep Sardesai extolling secular values. However, research done by Mid-Day, a Mumbai based paper showed that the real matter was something else. Apparently, the girl had already lived in the same apartment for over two years and was having problems with the broker of the apartment. In fact, there were Muslim families c...