Another Letter to the CM

To
Chief Minister
Maharashtra State

Dear Sir,
Firstly, congratulations on your trip to Davos to participate in the world economic forum as ‘chosen’ by the Prime Minister of India. I understand that you are trying hard to woo businessmen and investors to invest in Maharashtra. The task is not a mean one. Apart from other states who are spreading a red carpet for businesses, you have to compete with Gujarat which is backed by ‘High Command’. (Understanding that you have soft corner for Vidharbha, the fight is three cornered depending on the way one looks at it).  I thought of writing this letter, with the intention of helping you bring (back) business to Maharashtra.
There are number of compelling reasons why businesses should invest in Maharashtra. More particularly, vis-à-vis Gujarat. Allow me to list a few of them along with a few suggestions that would help you to woo investors.

1. The most notable and visible opposition in the state is now part of government and hence there is no threat from them. 
2. The second most influential political party has offered ‘unconditional’ support to the government and even otherwise can be ‘managed’. Hence no threat from them as well.
3. Since ‘you’ are closer to the command and control center at Nagpur, any possible threat emanating can be neutralized.
4. Maharashtra has the highest number of engineering graduates who are not willing to leave the comfort of their homes. So you get extra-qualified talent at lower cost.
5. Maharashtrians are brave and known for their ‘fighting spirit’. They carry a legacy of 700 years (well, at least 400). This will help businesses when they have to fight (and I mean literally) competitors for market share and closing their units etc.  Though Maharashtra has tough competition in this regard from Haryana, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu etc.; it’s comparatively much better than Gujarat. Additionally, Maharashtra still has strong unions which will come handy in ‘crisis’ situations for businesses when they have to sabotage competitors. 
6. Maharashtra is not a ‘dry state’ unlike Gujarat. So businessmen and executives can party hard, besides helping the laborers and the work force.  Please highlight this as the most important distinction.
7. Unlike Gujarat, Maharashtra has a large population (and legacy) of non-vegetarians. Please invite businessmen to try ‘tambda rassa’, ‘pandhra rassa’ and other delicious recipes to prove a point. I am sure you would have to woo no more! 
8. There are a lot of businesses who have left the state in recent past (well, to Gujarat). The talent and infrastructure they left behind can be used effectively. 
9. Maharashtrians, by nature are not good businessmen. Gujarathis are. So businesses do not run a risk of creating competitors over period of time as unlike Gujarat. 
10. Industrial progress in Maharashtra has happened in spite of political patronage, unlike Gujarat. So the fundamentals are strong and political push will help it grow. 
11. Lastly, Mumbai is (still) in Maharashtra!

I hope, these and other points will help you bring more businesses to the state. The only dilemma I have is – If you genuinely play your cards, will you continue to remain the CM? :). Especially when it looks to be a ‘fixed’ match!

Jai Maharashtra.

Je suis Sakharam

Reprinted as is. Spelling mistakes intentional.
To,
Chip Minishter Maharashtra and Vidharbha
Near Fulora phountan, Mumbai Maharashtra
Copy:
Prime Minishter India, Gujrat and some other countries
Near Sonia Gandhi house
New Delhi, India
Copy: 
Sharad Pawar Saheb
Baramati

Regarding taking back police cases against me and Pharmer sucide in our Vidharbha and discussing with Mister Obama about the cost of BT cotton sheeds.

Dear Sir,
I am Sakharam Devidas Malgunde, residing Tondgaon, Amravati district, Vidharbha. I am living here with my wife Lata and my son and daughter.  As you know, our Vidharbha is facing drought for many years. Every year pharmer do sucide. This year it was my turn.  What happen is - My phader die in 1994 when I was 12 year old. That time pharmer sucide was not famous. So nobody come to our house to ask us. My mai (mother) grow us by washing utensils at other people houses and doing some pharming in half acer land we have. She die 5 year back. I promised her I will not shell the land. So I grow crop and go for Dam work after that. The Dam work going on for 10 years still no water.No rain in my village for 3 years. So my crop dry and my loan from Bhima Shet grow to 1 lac. He ask for my land. But I promise my mother not to shell it. Also, the dam work stop because Ajit ji Pawar not the minishter.  I have no option other than sucide.
  But my friend Ganya tell me that sucide not fashionable. Not much money. I believe him because I did not get money for my phader sucide till now. Ganya tell that you need to be phamous to get more money. So I was thinking. I read in Dainik Bhadaka (our village paper) that somebody kill in France. So I got the idea. I write dirty about Mohammad at our village bus stand. I wrote my name below so that people know who write.  Next Day Mohammad Kaskar – khatik came to my house and beat me black and blue. He thought I write about him.I thought, his jamaat will kill me. But they file police case on me. I spend 250 rupee on doctor and 2000 to get bail.  I decide Muslim in my village not good to kill.
I also read in Bhadaka about PK picture.  So next day, I write good about PK at the bus stand. Nobody come to my house because everybody busy blaming me on facebook. But police file case on me. So I now get cases on 308,398,420,481 and many other kalam.  I angry with Ganya. If I had done sucide, Lata would have given money to Bhima shet. But now, no money and I go to court at the taluka place. I cannot do sucide because police not call it pharmer sucide now. They say, I fed up of police case.I feel bad. That France guy became phamous by writing about Mohammad. I am beaten black and blue and also police case. I know that is because I am poor and from village.
Saheb, I know you are from Vidharbha. So I request you to take away police cases against me. I will once again try sucide and try to give money to Bhima shet.  Also request you to start work on the Dam so that Lata can work.
Prime Minishter Saheb – I read that Mister Obama come to talk with you.  Please request him to reduce cost of BT cotton seeds and phartilizer.  If you request now, my son doesnot need to do sucide later.

Your Sincerely
Sakharam Devidas Malgunde.
Tondgaon, Amravati

Note – Please send this letter via Ahmadabad to Mumbai. I hear, it reach faster.

Bullet and Ballot

    While the world seems to be grappled in the news of terrorist acts from Australia to Pakistan to France –well not to exclude India, for it has always been an ‘integral’ part! , couple of events in the past one month certainly deserve mention – and applause. I am talking about the elections in Jammu & Kashmir, and Sri Lanka. While they are seemingly unrelated outwardly, they communicate a message together, if you look closely.  The dissimilarities being –one is a state under the Indian Federation (well, it is!!!) and other is a sovereign nation. So otherwise, there could have been no comparison, but for the overwhelming similarities. For one, both have been affected by one of the most violent conflicts in the world. Both have significant minority population, the origin of conflicts in both the places is the failure of ballot and lastly, both are of significant geo-strategic importance to India.
    Let’s look at each of them.
    Jammu & Kashmir recorded one of the highest voter turnout in its history (and I am sure it must be in the top 10 of all the states in India) for the assembly polls. It was almost twice the numbers in last elections.  In fact, J&K polling percentage is significantly higher than Maharashtra, the most ‘advanced’ state in the country!  The reasons are varied. Some voted for development, some for Modi. Some to bring the ‘Hindu’ BJP in power, while some to keep the same ‘Hindu’ BJP out of power! Irrespective of the reasons, it is significant that the people of a state that was marred in conflicts and violence have chosen the path of ‘ballot’ to convey their message.  The Hurriyat or other separatist groups, though opposing the election process outwardly, encouraged people to vote in numbers, just to keep the BJP out of power! Well unknowingly (or out of compulsion of the Modi juggernaut) they have accepted the validity of the electoral process in J&K! There is no going back on that, for sure! Incidentally it was the failure of the same ‘ballot’ that led to the bullet culture in J&K, apart from the instrumental role played by Pakistan. The results have been even more interesting. The BJP which wanted to form a government on its own, cannot do so without the support of one of the regional parties. PDP possibly can. But is toothless without the central ‘cooperation’, which obviously will depend on BJP’s inclusion in the government. Irrespective of ‘how’ the government is formed, there are 2 takeaways. One, the minority (Kashmiri Pundits here) have spoken – and spoken in a manner that not only has made their representation in the government necessary, but forced the valley to accept the validity of the electoral process! Second – Pakistan has been left with a role of a mere ‘observer’ in this process! Irrespective of the ‘government’ that is formed, the voices of the majority and the minority are heard and define the way they are governed. Conclusively, for its own reasons, Ballot has won over bullets.
    Sri Lankan elections are a little different. It was the first election after the fall of LTTE and the end to the violent conflict. Summarily speaking, the power has transferred from one party to another, both ‘pro Sinhalese’. But the statistics show that the Tamil votes have been a significant game changer. So the ethnic minority that has been at loggerheads with the government has facilitated a political change. The new government and all subsequent ones will have to take the ‘minority’ factor into consideration going forward. Incidentally it was the LTTE call for boycott that enabled Rajapaksa to win by slender margin in the last elections. How this positively affects the Tamil population, remains to be seen. But a change has been affected for sure, again underlining the importance of ballot over bullet. And of course, the elements that supported bullet, have been left to the fringe as mere ‘observers’.
    Not to mention, India is ‘positively’ affected by both the developments. While J&K was an Indian territory that was being troubled by pro-Pakistan elements, Sri Lanka holds geo-strategic importance. Peace and stability at both the places is of pivotal importance to India. The outcome in Kashmir can help contain the ‘Pakistani’ influence in the state ,while that in Sri Lanka can help us limit the Chinese ( and to an extent Pakistani) involvement. But irrespective of these, the most important outcome is the realization by the populace that they can positively affect change without the need of ‘bullets’.
    This is a message to all those involved in violent conflicts around the world- the separatists in Kashmir, Palestinians, the Jihadist, and ISIS, IRS, Maoists in India and others across the globe. Ballots can make a difference-sooner or later. The question is – Do you really want the change.

Legacy

    One of my forefathers nine generations ago was a great holy man. Well this is not a belief but documented fact by conventional standards. I do believe it, sans the ‘miracles’ that he did! Seems he mesmerized even the Islamic rulers of the region in his times. I am certainly proud of the lineage, to the extent I believe is true and not the exaggeration as is usually associated with great men and saints. But the question really is – What does it mean for me?  I am a product of the positive and/or negative influences on the subsequent generations which were either the result of the society/times they lived in or their own creation. Most importantly, I am result of my own karma! So really speaking, apart from being ‘proud’ of the lineage, I have no right to derive any further benefits from a great lineage.  I can probably tread a path to propagate the ‘teachings’ of my forefather. But again that would be my karma. Essentially there is nothing that I should morally proclaim as my ‘greatness’ based on my forefather’s achievements. If at all, it belonged certainly to him, his parents probably, his family and the society at large, in those times which enabled him to be what he was.
    I am overwhelmed by the ‘new’ discoveries that we have come to realize since past few years and prominently since past few weeks. Seems ‘our’ (and we will deal with ‘our’ later) forefathers had invented and discovered everything from the most advanced weapons, nuclear technologies, aircraft, surgical procedures and advanced medical practices, economics, interplanetary motions and what not !. You speak of it and seems, you supposedly have got the answer in the ancient history of Bharat! The references given in most of the cases are ancient documents written in Sanskrit, the original versions of which most of us are not privy to read or incapable of doing so.  So the source of all the information for common man (who is not illiterate but ‘ill’ literate) really is the statements given by some ‘scholars’ or the posts in social media. Given the ‘credibility’ of both, a layman like me would certainly have questions. Is all that true? If yes, why is all the information lost? Is it something that can stand the test of today’s times? And most importantly, what does it mean for me today? Interestingly the outcome of this discussion is not a function of any one of the questions, but a sum average of all of them combined.
    Let’s start with the first one. Is it true? Well it certainly has not been proved false! But does that mean everything is true? Going by the hypothesis that humans were like, what they are today (well not everyone was god!)  , would somebody have written about the ‘fascinating’ things unless they existed? Or had a reason to imagine so?  Unless it’s a recent interpretation that intends to map modern inventions/discoveries to co-related mention of events in ancient history (some prefer to call it mythology…either ways). But even if you assume that to be mythology, the authors were indeed real figures. So either they had fertile brains which could imagine of things thousands of years before time or those things existed. However, assuming, or knowing that there have been some specific mention about events/ machines the question is – Do I believe that it all existed to be true based on what is mentioned?  Also –And this is more interesting, if couple of claims are indeed proven to be true, does it mean that all of them are?   Hard to tell.  The other obvious question would be where is the information lost? We hear that it was lost during the ‘foreign rule’ for almost thousand years. But then India has a fairly documented history of around 1000-1500 years before that. Don’t see mention of many of these things then. Was the information encoded and hidden? What may have been the objective? We need to find this Holy Grail to conclusively say anything further.
    The other question is more relevant. What does it mean to the present and future generations? For one, if true, it certainly gives you the sense of pride in being Indian/Hindu (whichever way you look at it). But what beyond that? Does it, in current state materially help change the direction of our scientific journey?  Probably not, since that would have been already taken care of, by now. The obvious answer is the ‘softer ‘aspect of this information which is of more value to the creators of this information. Few objectives that I can think of are
    1.    Help branding of ‘Bharat’ internationally. This is less likely in absence of concrete proof since there     are/would be similar claims by different cultures and civilizations worldwide which have to go through the scrutiny     of the scientific community. Besides, by the same analogy that we reject western claims, why would we expect them     to accept ours in absence of a documentary proof and chain of evidence which is their method of evaluation?
    2.    Internal Branding – This certainly seems to be the case. Already, Indians (and by that I mean resident,     NRI, PIO etc. etc.) are exuberant with the idea. As I said, it always feels great to cherish the accomplishment of one’s forefathers.
    3.    Promoting the idea to future generations- That seems to be the next step.
    4.    The ultimate goal being the socio-political leverage arising out of the mass hysteria.
   
    We have to tread very carefully on these matters. While a sense of elated national/religious pride may help us to some extent in terms generating positivity, it definitely will not solve our long term problems. Kids are the most vulnerable. I still remember being proud in my school days, knowing the fact that Aryabhata invented zero. I still am. However, the experience of realizing what you studied earlier to be untrue (or not an established and acceptable fact- I am being technically correct here!) is a difficult one. I have been there, when quite a few of my school concepts where changed later on. I am sure many of us have been there too. In the process of undoing Macaulayism, we need to be careful that we are not replacing it with an indigenous version! Because the impact would be equally bad in either case.
    So what you may ask? Should we just disregard all the historic /mythological information as junk? Certainly not.  That information is certainly invaluable from historic and scientific perspective.  We should certainly not be disregarding it because it’s not proven. There have to be efforts made in the right direction to unearth more facts. However, claiming these as facts should be avoided unless they go through the right tests of reasoning and science.  And there is no harm in telling kids that XYZ is mentioned in our ancient scriptures and we are still ascertaining the facts. So yes, bringing forth ‘facts’ about the past which are hitherto not known- yes we need to do that. But glorifying the past based on untenable information- to be avoided.
    Lastly, do we need all these things to be ‘more’ proud of? Speaking for me, I am proud of being a Bharatiya/ Indian/Hindu irrespective of these steroids. One doesn’t love his or her parents any more based on their achievements! Throughout human history, there have been multiple cultures that have reached the zenith of glory at different times. We are one of them. And they have achieved the glory based on their hard work and perseverance.  We have no claim on what is rightfully theirs. Neither do we need their crutches to build a strong and glorious India. We can!

    A nation that forgets its past doesn’t have a future. Well, a nation that distorts its past is called Pakistan.

Jai Hind