How to Lose an Election in Five Simple Steps.

The results are out, the dust has settled and it is now time for the autopsy of the semifinal of 2019 general elections. The MP, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Telengana & Mizoram legislative elections are considered as an indicator of the national conscious as they are spread across the nation and has a sizeable population.  And by the look of things, the grand old party of India is making a comeback while the 56’’ chest is rapidly deflating. The more pressing sign is the show of strength by the regional parties in Mizoram and Telengana which reminds me of the abominable coalition governments of Gujral, Gowda and co.

Full disclosure, I was rooting for the BJP primarily because I have faith in PM Modi, the family politics and sycophant of congress sucks and a coalition government will undo all the economic and infrastructure progress made in the last fifteen years. But with the BJP spectacularly loosing all the states I need to understand how they manage to do that. These are the five things that I believe resulted in this debacle and the possible solution that I could think of.

1) The Anguish & Anger Of The Rural Population

By rural, I mean the farming community which includes the people who owns farms, works in them, engaged in allied activities, small time investors and even small business which cater the farming needs and the family of all these people. That collectively becomes 58 to 60% of Indian population. The long marches which we saw in Delhi worked in two fronts. One it gave the farmers a chance to vent out their anger and more importantly it showed the other 40% of the population that all isn’t so peachy. I must applaud the timing these protests and feel flabbergast how the modern day Chanakya Amith Shah & friends didn’t see this coming. Considering the fact that CPI (M), an obsolete party managed to win two seats in Rajasthan, the BJP think-tank seriously need to revaluate their thinking capabilities.

Are they blinded by success or just too arrogant to admit the facts?

2) When Fuel Burned Wallets & Votes

The last UPA régime gave the oil companies the authority to decide the price of fuel based on the global crude oil price and other factors. In a capitalist economy, the decision was a wise one but in a mixed economy like India, it ended up hurting the masses. The NDA government had more than enough time to get it right, but then the economic policies outlined by the late Narasimharao is what is being followed till date. It has made the oil industry prosperous and the government rich with taxes but literally robbed the common men. Fuel price rose sharply for the last few months, topped a record and then dropped sharply when the election was round the corner. The public do forget and forgive, but not that quickly.

Fuel is the key to economy, if it is not made affordable and stable, NDA will burn.

3) India Shining Version -2 Or A Recipe To Disaster

In 2004, the NDA government was sitting at Delhi and was pretty happy with what they had done. They had stable five years, won a war with Pakistan, blasted a couple nuclear bombs and the GDP was looking good. Someone cooked up the slogan ‘Indian Shining’ for the next general election and they lost it decisively. Right now, we have another NDA government about to repeat the same mistake. Yes India is in a far better position in all aspects now than in 2014 but we are not exactly shining. The farmers are in dire straits, the rural economy is yet to recover from the GST/demonetization drive and the urban population boom is negating the economic growth.

Showcase what you have achieved so far without gloating and what you are doing to give the suffering population a better life.

4) Temples & Statues

We build the tallest and the most magnificent statue in the world. And that statue honors Sardar Vallabhai Patel, the true father of the nation. I am proud of the statue and what it represent but unfortunately when people ask for bread, you can’t tell them to eat statues. Yes, using the 3000 or so crore will not abolish poverty but you could have avoided the PR nightmare. The fact is that the media including social, anti-social, visual, print and paid is filled with liberals and closet communists. They are good with language and will pounce on each and every misstep or slip made by the régime and it is words that bring down empires more than swords. The Ram Mandir was an issue in the last two decades but the among the better read contemporary youth it is not so. You can still get a sizeable crowd of devotees to fight for religious issues like Ram Mandir or Sabarimala but that does not necessarily translate to electoral victory. Not anymore.

Either control yourself or find a way to control the media.

5) The Yogi Menace

BJP draws its strength from the RSS and there are always two leaders – a master and an apprentice.

Syama Prasad Mukherjee - AB Vajpayee; AB Vajpayee - LK Advani; LK Advani -  Narendra Modi; Narendra Modi - Yogi Adithyanath.

I know it looks too much Star War-sy but please indulge me for a minute. In this list of leader and successor, we find two peculiar findings. One is that the master is always a statesman, a person who commands respect and is admired for his work while the successor evokes fear, dread and confusion in the mind of a layperson. But once the apprentice becomes the leader, he gets the qualities his master while he passes negative qualities to his new apprentice. Is it a true observation or does the media simply project them as such?

Presently PM Modi is the master while Yogi is the apprentice which brings me to the second point. All the leaders in the list are veterans in politics except Yogi. They all knew the nuances of governance, the need of corporation and compromise for peace but not Yogi. Although he was a five time parliamentarian, he is known primarily as the head of a Gorakhpur based sect and a firebrand communal orator. In today’s India, what we need is a leader with the vision of Naramsiharao, the policies of Manhohan Singh and the determination of Narendra Modi. Grooming Yogi and for the prime position, allowing him to spit fire and banking on polarizing the community for gains will not help you win 2019.

Reign in Yogi, let PM Modi be the sole torch bearer of NDA for the general election 2019.

Apart from these prime reasons, the anti incumbency factor, alienation of multiple castes, unusual competency shown by Rahul Gandhi etc snowballed into this election result. The only positive note is that the vote share percentage between NDA and UPA is just a fraction and with good governance, reduced fuel price, less anti Nehur-van, anti minority rhetoric, judicious use of Hinduvata and a more down to people approach the NDA can still salvage the general election of 2019.

A God, Some Girls and a Court Order.

All good reads begins with a story. This is a very special blog that I wanted to write for a while so let’s begin with two great stories.

Story 1 : The Demon, the Boon and the Son of Two Men.

Eons ago, a buffalo headed she-demon named Mahishi was wrecking havoc in the peninsular India. Many heroes tried to stop her but were slain in battle because of a boon she had received. She can be killed only by the off spring of the two Elder Hindu Gods, Vishnu & Shiva. Mahishi was a sly one as back in the day, there were only two genders and it is unlikely for two men to have a kid. Unfortunately for her, Vishhnu was an even slyer one. He used his magic to become a lady named Mohini, the same avatar which will be used in many later events and seduced Lord Shiva. They hit it off and gave rise to an offspring – Ayyappan the warrior. 

Ayyappan promptly set out to find the demon and slayed her in a duel. As her corpse hit the ground, a spirit arose from it and materialized into a nymph of ethereal beauty. She was a celestial spirit that was cursed to torment the earth in form of a demon. The nymph was smitten by the charisma of Lord Ayyappan and offered her hand in marriage. Lord Ayyappan was an eternal celibate born for the singular purpose of protection of his devotees and had no plans in marrying anyone, celestial nymph or otherwise but he also didn’t want to hurt the feelings of the lady. He offered her an option, he will marry her in the season (3 month period) in which no new male devotee comes to worship him. He was pretty sure that his shrine will soon be swarmed by devotees and he could drag his promise to the end of the world. The nymph accepted his proposal and decided to wait for the Lord at a nearby temple. Eons have passed and the Lord now presides over the hilly forest of Sabarimala and the lady reigns waiting for him at the adjacent temple as Malikapurathamma.

On contrary to the popular opinion of Lord Ayyappan refusing to admit women of reproductive age into his shrine, it is in honor of Malikapurathamma, the women chose not to visit Lord Ayyappa for it would be an insult to Malikapurathamma's love and sacrifice.

Story 2 : The Boy, A Pirate and a lactating Tigress.

Around eight hundred years ago, a childless King of Pandalam dynasty in South India was hunting in the Kingswood and deep in the forest he heard an infant cry. The King went searching for the child and finally found it on the banks of a small stream. Baffled at this discovery, the King picked up the infant and walked back home. Enroute he happened upon an old ascetic and asked if someone around have misplaced an infant. The old monk smiled and asked the King to take the baby home and foster him and when the boy turns twelve, you will know who he is. Most men would have been skeptical about this bizarre prophesy, but our King is not most men. He took the baby home where he grew up as a prince named Manikanda. 

The boy was a charismatic fellow well trained in martial arts and worthy of being a prince. At that time a dreaded pirate named Vavar was terrorizing the coast and the King dispatched Manikanda who was still a boy to take care of the crisis. Manikanda challenged the pirate to a one on one fight and disarmed him quickly. Impressed by the boy’s skills, Vavar joined Manikanda as his friend and lifelong companion and now resides at Sabaimala where he has his own shrine. Years later the King decided to crown Manikanda as the Crown Prince but the Queen and the ministers did not want that to happen. They somehow forced the King to sent Manikanda to collect milk from a lactating tigress to make a medicine for the queen. The sheer logistics of the project seems to be impossible and chances of a gruesome death certain, but Maikanda decided to rise up to the challenge. He marched up into the forest and a few hours later returned home, riding a lactating tigress. The entire court bowed down to this feat and they understood that this boy is divine in birth. He revealed himself to be an avatar of Lord Ayyappan and walked back into the ancient ruined temple at Sabarimala. The King rebuilt he temple to its former glory and Lord Ayyappan now resided there as an eternal celibate warrior God.

Lores aside, the temple deep in the jungle was rediscovered few hundred years ago and very few pilgrims went there due to the difficult access. The priests used to trek through the forest for the necessary rituals during auspicious dates and the temple was left to the wilderness for most of the time. In 1950, the temple was attacked by unknown assailants who torched the inner sanctum and desecrated the idol. This lead to widespread protests lead by various Hindu organizations of the date and revived the concept of united Hinduism in Kerala. Ayyappa Seva Sangom, rose to prominence and the temple was rebuilt in a grand scale. The rituals become more elaborate and a torrential pilgrim flow began. Over the decades, the infrastructure grew to accommodate the increasing population at the cost of the environment and the shrine is now considered to have the largest annual pilgrim flow in the world.

History scholars have found various relations of the deity Lord Ayyappan with other historical and mythical figures.  The Tamil God Ayyannar, a horse riding warrior is often considered to be the same as Lord Ayyappan. The Buddhist cults consider Ayyappan to be a Buddhist creation based on his yogic meditative posture and the slogan Swamiyee Saranam Ayyapa’s similarity to Sangham Saranam Gacchami.

Lord Ayyappan’s lores are scare in Northern Ithihasa-Puranas and it can be assumed that he is a true Dravidan contribution to the Hindu Pantheon, probably the greatest. He encompasses all the virtues of Hinduism with universal inclusiveness, moral principles, dharma and justice. He is truly secular in nature; the kind of secularism where all religions are welcomed and not a communist secularism where all religions are to be abhorred. Among all, I consider his ability to unite the otherwise shredded Hindu community as his greatest virtue. Casteism is the most powerful dividing force within the Hindu community and many temples in Kerala had prevented the so called lower caste from entering or worshipping there. In case of Sabarimala, to the best of my knowledge, there were no such restrictions recorded in history. Either our Marxist historians failed to comprehend the importance of this hilly shrine to fabricate a story or truly there was none. If there is any such incident reported, please enlighten me.

Activists escorted by the police up the hill

The biggest accusation about this shrine is its stiff opposition to entry of women of reproductive age into its premise. The conservatives say that the temple has its rule, so follow it. The liberals say that it’s a demeaning, discriminatory rule so change it. This quarrel is probable the greatest threat faced by both the temple and the communal harmony of the sate in a long time.

Protests against the court verdict

A religion is a myth, story that is believed and followed by a large group of people that enables them to identify complete strangers and accept them as brethren. A Muslim can greet any one with Islamic dress/mannerism with ‘Aslamu alaikum’ and will be replied by ‘Wa-Alaikum-Salaam’ and an instant kinship will be established. Any Christian can sport a crucifix and be identified by another Christian who firmly believes that the son of God, Jesus of Nazareth had born, lived and died among men, for men. They also believe that he arose three days later and ascends into heaven and they await his return upon the Rapture. Both the Muslim and Christian follow a collective myth which holds them together because they believe in common scriptures and norms.

When a devotee goes on a pilgrimage to Sabarimala, he like the million others believes in the myth of Lord Ayyappan. Their collective imagination is what gives manna to the deity. They can say that he is a warrior God who resides in that hilly shrine and listens and answers their prayers. They also know that he is an eternal celibate and Lady Malikappuram awaits him in the adjacent temple. The entire fiction even though is as firm as Peter the rock is made of a pack of cards. 

Has anyone actually seen or Jesus rise out of the tomb and have irreproachable evidence for it? No.  Has anyone unquestionably documented Prince Maninaknadan milking a tigress? Also no. Yet these are pillars of his myth just like the virginal birth of Jesus and eternal celibacy of Ayyappan.

If you are a true devotee, you will swallow the myth wholesome and if you would like to ignore a part of it, you are just like a kid reading a comic; enjoying the part you like while skipping the inconvenient pages. The Honorable Supreme Court had thrown open the doors of the shrine to all devotees, ladies included but in turn have created the perfect paradox.

If you are a devotee, you will want to visit Sabarimala, but if you are a lady devotee in the menstrual age, you show your devotion by not visiting Sabarimala.

In conclusion, I need to remind myself that the only thing constant in this world is change and what doesn’t change will soon be forgotten or thrown away. Hundred years is a very small time in the epoch of Hinduism. It had endured both military and ideological invasions in the past from Buddhists, Jains, Ajeevikas, Muslims, and Inquisitors yet it stands strong. This so called revolution too shall pass; the shrine may become accessible to ladies or it may continue as a masculine bastion but Lord Ayyappan will endure and so would Hinduism.

And a word to activists, communists and everything in between, religious systems have been challenged and changed not by court orders, laypeople or by hedonistic atheists but by spiritual truth seekers within the system. It was Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Dayananda Saraswati, Swami Vivekananda and Sree Narayana Guru who stood steadfast on the principles of Hinduism with Arya Samaj, Brahma Samaj, Ramkrishna Mission and Sree Narayana Dharma Parripala Yougam among others who challenged, molded and created the Hinduism we see today and not by some opportunistic activists and their ilk.

True devotion in time of turmoil.

References

1)      https://thewire.in/law/sabarimala-temple-women-entry-supreme-court

2)      https://indianexpress.com/article/india/sabarimala-everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-unique-temple-its-myth-and-pilgrimage-5403757/

3)      https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/sabarimala-legend-women-lord-ayyappa-1351674-2018-09-28

4)      https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31138556-homo-deus

The Perks of Being a Teacher & a Trekker.

Travel has always been a passion for me and like many other passions, it had been on the backburner due to other commitments like work and time constrains. But when a bunch of students approached me to join them for their study trip, I just couldn’t refuse them due to these reasons.

 1)  http://acynictalks.blogspot.com/2016/10/a-throwback-to-college-days.html

2)    http://acynictalks.blogspot.com/2016/10/taming-mustached-leopard-hill.html

The main difference from the previous adventure was that this time I was joined by my colleague Mathew Sir, my wife Mintu ma’am & Sid the kid.

We kicked off on a beautiful evening with 49 screaming students from the college towards our first destination of Chikmagalur in Karnataka. I have heard that the place is a heaven for hikers and looked forward to experience it. The Kerala – Karnataka roads were severely damaged and it took us forever to reach the place. Finally after a quick brunch, we set off to our first destination, a shooting point. Most of the route was covered in jeeps, so we could make time for some other spots also. The place had some spectacular views when we went up the nearest summit. Mintu & Sid stayed at the base and they didn’t want to climb the steep region. 

In my mind I was wondering if they would miss all the places due, but they had different plans! Next we stopped at Honnamma falls, a small cascade upstream to the famed Jhari falls. It was a disappointment at least for me as I subconsciously compare every falls to our beloved Athriapally and Miss Honnamma just didn’t make it. The students enjoyed the place and so did Mintu & Sid. By this time, Sid has started to shed his shyness towards the students and started interacting with them. He found Anitta, a student much to his liking and named her Friend Chechi.

We then drove to a place called ‘Z Point’ and I have no idea why it is called so. The place offered beautiful views and everyone went snapping pictures. Mathew sir had taken up the role of Mr Nishchal with his DSLR. There was a bit of walk to the top point and both Mintu & Sid walked up before I reached there ! On the way back to our jeeps, the driver told us about a sub-terrain cave mosque/temple complex in the area and before I could say anything, half the guys were off to the place. And it would have been a great loss if we missed it. Beautiful relics of the past complete with dripping ceilings and cold floors; with roof so low that I graced my dome a couple times even after bending low. Unfortunately photography was prohibited and I didn’t risk taking any. 

Our final stop was almost an hour’s journey with the last kilometer offering good off-roading. Mullayanagiri, the highest peak in the state welcomed us with a beautiful sunset and there too we had to climb a bit to the summit. On our way back we encountered some cows running up the slope to spend the night on top of the hill where there is a small temple. Not a very pretty experience when you try to go down a slope while cows charge upwards.

The second day was a long bus day. The only thing of note was the food from a Punjabi dhaba. I had a butter roti that actually had butter on it and paneer curry so rich in paneer that there weren’t much curry. We reached the second destination Dandeli, at the northern tip of the state by evening and checked into a jungle resort. I don’t want to waste words on that place as it was so horrible and will not be staying there ever again even if you pay me to do so. Google Dandeli Simba Jungle Resort and check for reviews if you want to know the place.

The third day kicked off by us escaping from that place after a short walk through a plantation and visiting the banks of a river. We then wandered around searching for the Hornbill adventure park where we booked some watersports. The place was on the banks of the mighty, beautiful Kali River and was a well managed place. We did a bit of kayaking (me after a lot of encouragement from the students to conquer my aquaphobia), river rafting and natural Jacuzzi bath. The last thing is just lying on the rocks while white water gushes past you. Wonderful stuff. Mintu & Sid could not join for the rafting as the guides took safety pretty seriously but they were kind enough to arrange a separate free boating for us. The goons at the jungle resort could learn a thing or two from these fellows about hospitality.

In our original plan, we were to proceed to Malpe for a trip to St Mary’s island in the Arabian Sea but we got word that the sea is pretty rough and the boat services are suspended. After a bit of brainstorming, we picked up Kodachadri (Kudajadri), a mountain peak with dense forests in the Western Ghats in Shivamogga Dist. I was a bit worried as the trekking path up the summit is a bit steep and when I visited the place ten years ago as an obese drunk, I couldn’t walk up the entire path. Well here is my shot at redemption.

After a quick morning visit to the famed Mookambika temple with the faithful, we went out for our second jeep ride of the tour. This off-roading is said to be the most thrilling one available in south India and I must say, that statement don’t do justice to the place. As Ashiq put it, travelling in the 4x4 jeeps, it was like being in a grinder on the gravel roads and in a washing machine on the off-roads. Sid was the one who enjoyed the ride most while some of the students threw up and the others teased them for throwing up. Me on the other had was wondering what to do with Mintu and Sid when we start the hike.

We started the hike and Sid simply walked up the peak with his mummy and friend chechis like it was a walk in the park. The place was ethereal with a lovely mist, rolling meowed hills and deep gorges. The cave Ganesh temple and the Sarvajna Peeth, a small temple like structure near the peak where Adi Shankara meditated gave the place a spiritual vibe. The entire route was peppered with wild flowers of all colors and the entire atmosphere was akin to a fairy land. All the students easily climbed up and down the hill with ease and the leeches along the way had their full. Mathew sir had a ball of time clicking all those beautiful views and leading the trek up the hill while I stayed behind to leave none stranded. On the way down we were surprised by the temple people who offered us a stupendous vegetarian meal complete with a delicious paysam.

 The return trip was enjoyed with some raving DJish music & dance, couple movies in the bus and a visit to a mall at Manglore. I must confess that this is the best college tour I have ever gone as a student or as a staff and the memories will stay on for a long time.

PS: I thank all the students for inviting us, taking care of Sid, for the well organized trip and for not making a mess !

PSS: The images are from the collection of students, Mathew sir and mine. Haven’t got the DSLR pictures at the time of writing this blog.

PSSS: Without the wonderfully coordinated trip, the experience would not have been so great. I salute the efforts by Anwar, the tour package man, Ajith & Eldho our drivers and the student organizers Shambu, Ashiq, Umesh, Amal, Gokul, Anandhu.…….. and co; and Manu for dropping us back home.

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A few snaps from the trip, will update when I get more pictures.