It was a sad day for India in general and for the state of Maharashtra in particular. An Additional Collector, Mr. Yeshwant Sonawane, was burnt alive by oil mafia as he tried to stop adulteration. In a separate incident, an RTI worker was assaulted in Thane.

Both these incidents took place just a day or so before the nation celebrated its Republic Day. Makes one wonder if there is anything worth celebrating about :-(

Happy (Banana) Republic Day India!

Wikipedia defines a Banana Republic as follows:

Banana republic is a term that refers to a politically unstable country dependent upon limited agriculture (e.g. bananas), and ruled by a small, self-elected, wealthy, corrupt politico-economic plutocracy

Well, we are almost there, aren't we? Only the part about limited agriculture is missing. But with the land - agricultural or otherwise - being grabbed for constructing sky-scrappers all over the country, unpredictable weather and the farmers committing suicide, I think we will get there sooner rather than later.

As for the rest, there is corruption everywhere you turn. People who were elected to serve the populace are refusing to step down even when there is clear evidence of their wrong-doing. There is no hope that they will ever be punished. People are taking to streets and resorting to destruction of public property at the drop of a hat. Hindus and Muslims are busy fighting each other. And sections in different states are forever on the lookout for a reason to demand a separate state.

Enough of a reason to officially change our motherland's name to "The Banana Republic of India"!

पंडित भीमसेनजी जोशी गेले. :-( खरं तर मला शास्त्रीय संगीताचा कान नाही त्यामुळे गॊडीही नाहीच. पण काही वर्षांपूर्वी षण्मुखानंदमध्ये आषाढी एकादशीच्या निमित्ताने त्यांना ऐकायचा योग आला होता. अगदी पंढरीत असल्यासारखं वाटलं होतं. असा योग पुन्हा येणार नाही ह्याची खंत आयुष्यभर राहिल. कालच iPod विकत घ्यायचा निर्णय घेतलाय. त्यात भजनांचा वेगळा फ़ोल्डर करायचं पक्कं केलंय आता. पंडितजी नाहीत तरी त्यांचा आवाज आपल्यासोबत राहिल ही देवाची कमी कृपा नाही. पुनर्जन्म असलाच तर पंडितजी पुन्हा पंडितजी म्हणूनच भारतात जन्माला यावेत ही देवाकडे प्रार्थना.

किन राहोसे दूर है मंजिल,कौनसा रास्ता आसा है
हम जब थक कर रुक जायेंगे, औरोको समझायेंगे

- निदा फाजली

Ashish Book Center's Exhibition

There is a book exhibition by Ashish Book Center at KamalNayan Bajaj Hall, Nariman Point (in front of INOX) from 11-24 January, 10am-8pm.

Have you seen the latest ad for life insurance by Future Generali? The idea is that if you don't go for an adequate life cover for your family and die early, your soul will remained trapped without any Nirvana forever because you will be always worried about them. :-(

I understand that "Insurance is a subject matter of solicitation" but this is a very sad and very creepy way of soliciting it folks!

Not so "Spotless" after all

Here we go again! Now it is actor Jim Carrey who has infuriated Hindus world over by his antics on the NBC show. Why does an actor of his caliber need to stoop to such low levels to generate publicity is beyond me. Looks like his mind is not so "Spotless" after all!