The “Bal” legacy

I could understand the millions who participated in the funeral procession of Mother Teresa, E K Nayanar, or even Princess Diana.  But, when I saw that almost the same number attending the funeral procession of the “Marathi hero” Bal Thackeray (BT), I was a bit surprised. Not that, it was least expected, but somehow I could not understand that millions could agree with him on his “Maharashtra for Marathi” or “India for Hindu” slogans. That is when I decided to spend a few minutes to analyze what exactly he has accomplished.

When I was a kid, every morning I take the newspaper and quickly glance through the main page before turning over to the sports page, to see if there are any bendhs, so that I could sit at home. I am sure BT would really have been a source of relief and happiness for many kids like me, and I could understand how small kids would develop an instant liking for him.  Not only kids, even teenagers would have loved BT. He was the guy who stood up for them during Valentine’s Day. I know a lot like me, who find it so hard to have a girlfriend. We used to be very depressed when lovers go to parks, exchange roses or kisses, and not to mention, Valentine’s Day was our doomsday. The way he stood up for us, and harassed and drove off the lovers is admirable!

When we grow up, and as adults, we worship “heroes”, people who believe in what they say, and who walk the talk. BT was a true hero for them as well. He stood up for what he said, fought for what he said and was ready to kill for what he believed in. It actually does not matter that, he stood for divisive politics or rather communal politics, and that he instilled hatred for Muslims/South Indians/North Indians in the mind of ordinary Marathis. Just that, he was a hero and a non-hypocrite, that is all that matters!

Again, he was an indirect inspiration to many. There was a time in Bollywood, when it was a pain in the ass to watch Hindi films. RGV along with Amitabhji (both vocal supporters of BT), came up with Sarkar, a movie applauding parallel government. Indeed, it was a big relief, compared to the usual dull Bollywood crap. Even during his death, he would not forget the ordinary people. There were a number of shopkeepers, officers, businessmen who badly wanted to see the India-England match. All the shops were shut down, offices closed and they were happily home. He even helped a lady and her friend to visit the prison premises and verify if “all is well”.

On a serious note, I cannot help but feel surprised when people try to support Bal Thackeray. The claims of him helping the development of mills, various roadways in Maharashtra (not to forget Mr.Gadkari was in charge of PWD then), and preventing Mumbai from being swallowed by the underworld, might all be true. Probably I am too short sighted, for I cannot see a person as two, separating his positive side from his negative. I cannot just comprehend with the fact that in spite of his hatred articles, comments, communal attitude, there are “neutral and non-communal” people who actually liked him. Not to mention, the Mumbai riots, and the communists he had massacred!

P.S: Some points mentioned here are inspired from topics in Quora, and are not entirely mine :)

Standing up for all the wrong things…

Sitting lazily on a Friday afternoon in office, it is not surprising that your mind wanders, and that too much faster than your watch. Today, I was immersed in thinking of what all values I was taught when I was a kid, what all I used to love and feel passionate about, and what among those would I teach my child.

As I have covered my views on religion in my previous blogs, I am not going to drag that over here again. At least till my child reaches an age where he can think independently, he/she will be brought up as an atheist, or at least an agnostic. I would like him/her to know and understand that life is not fair, rather than polluting his thoughts with “everything happens for good”, and that there is someone with a remote “up there” controlling your life. I would probably teach him/her that truth will hurt, and suck, but it will never make you regret in life.

There was a time when I was passionate about being an Indian, probably even for being a Keralite. I would keep on bragging whenever possible about all these. But, then someday you realize that you being born or brought up in a place, has nothing to do with you, and that it is not something that you deserved or earned. Now, when I think of it, I find it completely wrong and shallow when a person talks so. Patriotism is only a false emotion, triggered in you by your surroundings, to infuse a difference, to make you think that you are better off/worse than people living in some other geographic location. Even our history text books do not help us here, other than portraying some as heroes, and the rest as zeroes!

I loved the Indian cricket team, and probably more than that, I hated the Pakistan team. In between, somewhere, I realized that Afridi and co. are not responsible for the Partition of India, the Kargil War, or the 26^th November attacks. I realized that Gary Kirsten and co. did not treat native Africans as slaves. I comprehended the fact that Vaughan and co. did not enforce divide and rule in India. I am sad that I had to learn it the difficult way, and it was too late. 

By the time I started realizing all this, I seem to be beyond change. Now when I consciously try to root for a team like Pakistan (who need a win to boost their economy, to make other countries play in Pakistan), I see that I just cannot do that. For sure, I do not hate Pakistan now, but when it comes to Pakistan vs India, I always side with India. I hope time can make me mature enough or at least old enough to forget all the hatred instilled in me, so that I can plainly think of everyone as humans, even if they are portrayed as Pakistanis or Africans or Americans.

Being patriotic, even if in the most righteous sense of the word, creates differences. I think only people who sacrifice their life for the country can be called patriotic, and no one else. I hope for the day when governments across the world will think of armies as a dispensable unit, and patriotism as evil.

Now, when I think of it, being a human itself has nothing to be proud of. In fact, I think they are the sickest possible animal that one can ever be. We think ourselves as the most intelligent species that inhabited earth. It is an irony that we have medicines for the deadliest diseases, but yet many starve to death. When we think that we live in an “advanced technological” world, somewhere else, people commit suicide because they fail to feed their young ones. It is a surprise that people living in some air conditioned room can order a war to kill helpless millions. It intrigues me that we continue to make nuclear weapons powerful enough to wipe out our fellow beings. At least, the law of jungle is to kill for food! We, humans, are the most insecure beings ever to have surfaced the earth, that we have reached a stage where we get satisfied and happy, only when we see others’ miseries.

My wife often tells me that I am highly optimistic. For once, I hope my optimism pays off, so that I can tell my child something other than “You are born as the sickest animal, the world is going to be annihilated soon, and you should neither have faith nor be passionate about anything!”

and then you realize you are in IT industry!!!

What you do: 

1)      Usually, you come at time for your work, and leave at the right time.

2)      Whenever there is extra work, you stay back a little, complete the work and go back.

3)      If required, you work on weekends.

4)      If you make mistakes, acknowledge it, and correct it.

5)      You do your work properly, with good quality, and keep up with your schedule.

6)      You come up with solutions for difficult issues, in a very short time.

7)      Even if the assigned work is junk, you do it without any complaints.

8)      You do not poke your nose in others’ work, and others’ business.

9)      You do not care what others think of you, do not involve in unnecessary discussions, and small talks.

10)   You laugh only if you like the joke, and talk in the meeting, only if you feel that something is there to be shared with the team.

11)   You interact with the colleagues for getting work done.

12)   You don’t talk to anyone for the sake of talking or because you and that person are alone in the lift.

Result: 

1)      Dogs are treated better than you are.

2)      You lose all your respect, and your dignity.

3)      You end the year with the worst rating, and the least salary hike.

What you do: 

1)      You come really late, and stay back late as well.Many just notice the time you leave.

2)       If required, you work on weekends.

3)      If you make mistakes, argue that it is not a mistake, and then if no other go, blame it on the next person.

4)      You keep up with your schedule, but your work is of poor quality.

5)      You do not come up with solutions for trivial issues, leave alone the difficult ones.

6)      You do only junk work.

7)      You poke in every other person’s work and you lose your sleep because of your insecurity.

8)      You think about what others think of you, involve in unnecessary discussions, and small talks.

9)      You laugh if your lead or senior is cracking the worst possible joke ever!

10)   You interact with the colleagues for each and everything, making them think that you both are invaluable and can’t live without one another.

11)   You talk just for the sake of talking, and not because you want to talk.

Result:

1)      You are treated like a king/queen.

2)      You maintain your dignity, as you do not have one.

3)      You end the year with the best rating and hike.