In 1992, i travelled by the Udyan Express from Pune to Bangalore. As some of you may know, this is an overnight journey. I was a young man of 23, travelling to join a newly acquired job with one of the first multi-nationals to set up shop in Bangalore as a software export unit.
I was in a regular III tier coach. Amongst other occupants, there was a middle-aged Tamil spinster, and a young Malayali family (a man, his wife & a child.)
What i remember vividly (after nearly 16 years) is very little, but for one thing - toward the evening, without much provocation, the Tamil lady started spewing verbal venom against the Keralite family. For someone like me who had grown up west, most of it was education (but shockingly so) - the Tamil lady used choice invectives & said some uncharitable things about Keralites - such as how they are good for nothing but the worst jobs (nurses, and so on), and how they cheat, lie, steal .. and are unclean etc.,
It was my first exposure to the prejudices that most Indians form and carry around!
I am afraid the long Ramayana of the author on Shasi tharoor's entry in politics is silent on the real issue of 'money power' required for contesting electios.This gentleman spent best part of his life earning dollars serving 'west' and now 'parajumps' on its strength into INC 'power centre' leaving the local party cadres who toiled for decades high and dry . No wonder the National party is not taking roots in states.Given the mood for 'change' in Kerala , he should sail through but it seems even this favourable conditions are not conducive to his win. By the way what was his contribution for the country as no2. in the U.N. ? Not much to brag about. And what will he do, once he becomes MP ? Become External Affairs Minister for sure. Perhaps he may take the first flight to Washington and ask for autographed souvenir for his kids from the Obamas & Clintons .
All the past racist European countries are boycotting the conference. Israel is afraid all the Islamic countries are going to bash it. Islamic countries dont want discussion and criticisnm of Sharia law and Islam. European countries are guilty as hell about racism. Pope thinks it was a shame European countries are avoiding it. If India goes it will unite everybody and they will discuss HIndu caste system saving the face of all racist offenders.I wonder what MMS will do?
Re: Did you guys hear about Racist day tamasha in the UN
by piri on Apr 23, 2009 11:13 AM
And that is not to suggest for a moment that the noxious stink that emanates in perpetuity from the reality of the caste system in India (which is truly our homegrown variety of the most vile among racist enterprises in history) will in anyway be reduced if the racist offenders of Europe are not given a chance to 'discuss the Hindu caste system and save their faces' !!!
Re: Re: Did you guys hear about Racist day tamasha in the UN
by Guest on Apr 23, 2009 11:30 AM
And that is not to suggest for a moment that the noxious stink that emanates in perpetuity from the reality of apartheid, slavery, racism and pogroms against Jews, Gypsies, etc., which are some of the greatest ' 'achievements' of white European Christians will in any way be reduced by them constantly screaming about the alleged inequities of the caste system, which are mostly imaginary and fabricated by motivated church people.
Re: Re: Re: Did you guys hear about Racist day tamasha in the UN
by piri on Apr 26, 2009 04:10 PM
By stating that the 'inequities of the caste system' are 'mostly imaginary and fabricated by church people', you are attempting a Quixotic run at the wind mills, ain't you ???
Do get around rural India a little more and try to see for yourself whether the 'inequities' you refer to are really imaginary. Or, read from varied sources (not just RSS propaganda pieces) about the reality that faces nearly half the Indian population !
Re: Re: Re: Re: Did you guys hear about Racist day tamasha in the
by Ritesh Tandon on May 06, 2009 05:44 AM
i have been to rural india rather than from rural india in u.p and u open ur eyes to see that it is imaginary. rather same caste system has been spread in christianity , converted christian are treated differently then while , another racist social conditioning. church pastor doing unethical, illegal activities to convert. I would also suggest you that you also see reality rather than relying on supporting ur dogmas and beleive that could solve problem for half a million indians in ur terms. first caste system is imaginary and have been used as a tool for conversion nothing else. secondly by conversion also it will not be solved as it will be controlled by racist ideology.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Did you guys hear about Racist day tamasha in
by Aravind on May 13, 2009 08:15 PM
They have been placing crosses allover the place(Even in Coins) here in the rural belt in Trivandrum particularly near temples. Bandicos guys will open their loud peakers nearing Vishu or Onam or Deepavali or Adjacent to a temple Festival. If someone questions the logic behind this he is communal,BJP,rss etc... Poor an old man near my house compalined about this and the so called local self styled secularists was immediate to dismiss & dishonour him as RSS. Think of it....
The average Mallu is a cynic. He resents anyone more successful than he is. He is adept at finding things against anyone that is better than him. He mostly uses slander and gossip to pull down those he envies or does not like. That is why many Mallus shine in journalism.
Taroor is better than most Mallus, definitely better than the voters in his constituency. Having disgorged all their envy, TVM voters are now most concerned about Palestine and Taroor's views on Israel. They are not concerned about lack of drinking water. They know that if they defeat Taroor, Israel would get afraid and stop killing Palestinis. So, the TVM voter would now defeat Taroor not because of envy, but because Israel needs to be taught a lesson.
While the State average was 70%, Trivandrum Corporation area which constitutes the most educated voters of Trivandrum polled only 37%. This is the segment that Taroor was banking on. The result is imaginable.
Re: Taroor will lose!
by Calspadeaspade on Apr 20, 2009 03:02 AM
You are assuming Tarror is going to bring drinking water to India. But his goal is to bash Hindus more and be in the good books of leftist world organizations and get a Nobel prize like Amartya SEn one day. Mani shanker Iyer another guy of his ilk after winning he never set foot at his constituency. They were suffering with huge floods and famine. He was pissed off when people who voted him stopped his car to take a look at wha is going on. White collar paper pushers or pen warriors can not do anything practical. Only people like Modi, jagmohan, JJ(if she wills), Nitish kumar are capable of doing anything constructive.
Re: Re: Taroor will lose!
by piri on Apr 23, 2009 11:28 AM
Psst...
'Hindus', 'Muslims', 'Christians'......????
To the Kerala voter in general, the divisions that are much more important are 'Rich', 'Middle class', 'Poor', 'Educated', 'Semi-illiterate', 'Lanlessness', 'Landed'......
'Hindus', 'Muslims'....., though present in the Kerala psyche too, do not crowd the kerala voter's consciousness to the exclusion of everything else to the same degree as is the case with the north Indian voter.
The result is that Kerala has remained the most socially developed state in India for decades now and no other state looks remotely likely to approach it in the near future in terms of social development indices.
So, the 'one size fits all' approach of Sanghis (and to a lesser extent of the 'Leagueis') to talk about every issue in a manner that hopefully will make the the voter forget about life and death issues and focus only on 'Hindus', 'Muslims'.... exposes their severely limited powers of understanding.
Re: Re: Re: Taroor will lose!
by piriloose on Apr 23, 2009 02:35 PM
The church with its extremely biased approach is fast turning this relatively quiet state into a cradle of seething resentment. The bishops interfere in everything, including the selection of candidates. Besides, the church has quietly stolen most of the public lands in the state by planting crosses all over the forests and then claiming them as belonging to Christians.
Now the Muslims are challenging the Christians for the coast. Traditionally Christian fishermen have owned the coast, but Muslims want to take over the coast. This is leading to religious strife between them.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Taroor will lose!
by piri on Apr 26, 2009 03:48 PM
I would agree with you that the Church (especially the Catholic church) has lately been displaying an increased touchiness to any venture of the govt. that it assumes is 'against' it's interests. This tendency gets heightened everytime the left front comes to power perhaps because the Church has never reconciled itself to having to co-habit with an idealogy that it has a history of confronting all across the world.
But I am not sure of the extent of truth in your statement that the Church has been 'stealing' public land 'all over the forests'. Perhaps you might have seen such a report somewhere. I would be interested to know which report that is.
However, I will vociferously agree that Christian politicians such as K.M Mani are as equally guilty of grabbing land in forest areas (including reserve forest and tribal areas) as some politicians that they have been loudly criticising. Mr.Mani (along with Mr. T.M Jacob) is one of the most corrupt Christian politicians of Kerala and it is testimony to his immense skill at managing public and media opinion that his corrupt ways are not talked about in Kerala at all !
Otherwise, why would the media in general collude with the opposition politicians (among whom Mr.Mani has been the most shrill) in haranguing Mr.Atchudanandan's heroic initiative of trying to bring the land grabbers of Munnar to book ??
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Taroor will lose!
by piri on Apr 28, 2009 12:34 AM
Vivek
I guess you are a non-keralite who chanced upon this term that appeared to you as 'kurishimala'.
The correct name is 'kurishumala' (even if it is a typo error on your part, the very fact that you have proffered the name of this place to support the argument that 'forest land is being grabbed' by the church makes you either a blatant liar or one who knows little about the affairs of kerala).
Now, it has never been my brief to argue in a way that is primarily intended to support the cause of the church in Kerala; I am myself a very sarcastic critic of the tendency of the Kerala church (especially the Catholic church) to cry in chorus against any move coming from the left front govt., even moves that are very palpably designed for the common good. The church has a big stake in the education sector in the state; and it sees imaginary demons in any policy initiative by the left govt. that pertains to this sector.
However, that still will not prevent me from calling the bluff of anyone who attempts to vend lies or half-truths in their endeavour to pin all blame on selected communities.
For your information, Kurishumala is the name of a hillock situated to the east of Aluva and is perhaps the most important pilgrimage centre for a section of Kerala christians known as Syrian christians. These christians believe that it is the place where St.Thomas, disciple of Christ, spent a good part of his days in Kerala (in the first century A.D) preaching christianity.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Taroor will lose!
by piri on Apr 28, 2009 12:40 AM
There are no historical records available today that conclusively prove the arrival and mission of St.Thomas in Kerala or in TN (where he is supposed to have been martyred).
However, the place called 'kurishumala' has been in Christian hands since ancient days and this tradition is a very hoary one just like the traditions of a majority of the famous relgious places in India and abroad.
Therefore, to try and make it appear that this place has been grabbed from forest land only smacks of naivety borne of ignorance.
Re: Re: Re: Taroor will lose!
by Vivek on Apr 27, 2009 09:26 PM
I agree. The sentiment by a hindu mallu for his muslim or christian fellowmen is far greater than to a non mallu hindu.
There were many aspirants for the Thiruvananthapuram Congress -I ticket. But Shashi got it. All were surprised how he managed it. The reason told that he was personally selected by the Signorina. Why? Simple. Shashi's spouse is from Europe. He is a typical product of Macaulay's system of education. He is a perfect 'brown sahib' . I usually endorse all of Rajeev Srinivasan's view points- lock stock and barrel. But with regard to Shashi- Rajeev might wish Sahshi well and might be "delighted about his candidacy". But not me. I wish Shashi all the worst and hope that he loses his deposit too.
Re: Why is Shashi the favourite of 10Janpath ?
by varghese on Apr 17, 2009 06:05 PM
Sashi Tharoor is Prime Minister stuff..most people in India are brought up thinking that only film actors,rich businessmen,banias,criminals,sons of Mps have an right to become an Neta..most Indians cannot even dream to accept that educated people can lead this nation...what an sad state of mind..
Re: Re: Why is Shashi the favourite of 10Janpath ?
by Calspadeaspade on Apr 20, 2009 03:09 AM
God save India if Sashi is our PM. We have seen one intellectual MMS. Rich business men and Baniyas are capable people. We had another intellectual fro Kerala MR. Krishna Menon. He sold the country to China. these guys are pompous and arrogant and they must need to be writing or pushing paper. Not fit for ruling. Ruling requires some cunning minds that has the interest of the nation.
I wondered why Shashi is not in BJP. But then BJP itself is aware and does not want all great people on its side. Thats the beauty of this party. It knows given a state where Congress need to rule then it ought to have good,honest and like-minded professionals. So let Sashi remain in Congress. He should win the seat this time. He should set an example of being a Nation loyalist at heart, Congress party from a MP perspective and not be slaved to the dynasty. Who knows perhaps he can even be a future President one day. But as Rajeev has put it, it all depends on how much Sashi wants to play to the gallery in ridiculing Hindus.
Re: Wonderfully written Rajeev....
by Govind Lal on Apr 17, 2009 03:17 PM
How do we expect patriotism (to India)from a person who keep a green card with him. Just a doubt
Re: Re: Wonderfully written Rajeev....
by varghese on Apr 17, 2009 06:01 PM
If anyone of ur parents were from America does it mean ur an anti-national..remember there are many parties other than congress in India who would if given an chance break up India into 20 pieces on the name of caste,creed,and a host of other reasons..even some clowns consider our our Prime Minister to be an anti-national..what an characterless people
Re: Wonderfully written Rajeev....
by varghese on Apr 17, 2009 06:14 PM
Sashi isnt an Bania..like the BJP would have wanted..he doesnt fit into the BJP picture of Akhand Bharath..shashi isnt an Hindu fundamentalist or even an remote chaddiwalla..religion for sashi is an personal matter..and men of character and intelligence do not join BJP...only those who hate India to be secular and dream of making India same like Pakisthan love BJP..Sashi Tharror doesnt fit in this at all...
Re: Re: Wonderfully written Rajeev....
by Vivek on Apr 17, 2009 09:01 PM
The fact that all the mighty church and the ummah were given refuge,sheltered and cultivated even before such a thing as India or Congress ever existed is conveniently supressed.In fact the so called caste factor was fully exploited by both institutions to keep the hindus divided.Control of the media and education institutions plus collaboration with foreign governments (teesta for one)to feign persecution is a typical classic anti-national disguise.Though fortunately they are still a minority. No hindu will touch another soul over religious differences unlike Catholic Ireland against Anglican British or Sunni versus Shites. Imagine the Vatican going to Saudi and declaring of harvesting lost souls.India can withstand such calumny but against organised foreign fund backed viruses it is going to be a long battle.
Re: Re: Wonderfully written Rajeev....
by Mak Kumar on Apr 18, 2009 03:30 AM
varghese you are lucky that you are in a Hindu majority state and you can feel like saying anything and say it, were you in Pakistan or Iran, you would not have even got voting rights and heaven forbid had you written like this, the religious police would already have been at your door. As the article right says don't try to cut the branch you are sitting on
Re: Re: Re: Wonderfully written Rajeev....
by hanif mohammed on Apr 20, 2009 04:46 PM
You said it mate !! that's the beauty of INDIA ..... India is unique, and do not compare with banana republics !!
Re: Re: Re: Re: Wonderfully written Rajeev....
by Sanjay Chetty on Apr 22, 2009 06:13 PM
Ya you can say that because it is convenient for you. At least accept that the minority appeasement should stop in this country.
Rajeev puts the facts as they are. This is a problem for the self marked secularists. If the Hindus in India do not realize that their freedom and prosperity is short lived with the way in which secularism is interpreted, their children will pay the same price as their brothers and sisters who were hounded in Pak, Bangala and Kashmir. If they think, that putting Hindus down and ignoring their holocaust in areas where they are a minority is the exhibition of generosity and secularism, they are in for a surprise slaughter. Congrats Rajeev. Coming from a family which gave everything for Indian independence, I feel sorry that my forefathers fought to deliver the power from Master to slave.
Rajeev, even if you ignore Dehradun saying that Uttarakhand is a new state, Bhopal is a major state capital that does not have a high court bench. The Jabalpur High Court has benches in Gwalior and Indore and not in Bhopal.
