Batmidar, my favourite blog achieved an unusual feat. It attracted fifty thousand hits in a year. A Marathi blog getting such number of visits is no less than a remarkably great job.
As Batmidar successfully carved out some of the best satirical posts and pieces, we the readers also learned differentiating good and non-so-good reading.
I pray you to keep the good work going, albeit with the side note – the axe should never fall on this side.
Nos. matter...really ?
The results are out. Anxiety is over.
Interestingly, for many in Gujrat, where currently I am, there is a success in defeat and defeat in the success.
As the ballot machines began giving out results yesterday, it became evident that country is once again going into the congress party’s hands.
Facing cropper at national level, Gujrat was the one state for BJP to be a face-saver.
Yet at Party’s headquarter in Khanpur area of Ahmedabad, the mood was completely sombre. Party workers came, sat, watched TV and went without much noise. No celebrations, nothing.
The BJP improved the tally by one and put its stamp on the state once again. But prime ministerial ambitions of Advani and Modi received a major jolt. Modi stayed at home, in instead of coming out and flexing muscles while talking to media.
On the other hand, mood was jubilant at Rajiv Gandhi Bhavan, the congress headquarter. Even before the trends were not yet out out, the GPCC president Siddharth Patel in a self-congratulatory mood said, “I am satisfied with the results”.
In fact congress was down by one seat from its previous tally. Yet, every leader wanted to talk to media. Chai, coffee nashta came frequently, giving out the message that when you have no expectations at all, even a single seat is precious.
Interestingly, for many in Gujrat, where currently I am, there is a success in defeat and defeat in the success.
As the ballot machines began giving out results yesterday, it became evident that country is once again going into the congress party’s hands.
Facing cropper at national level, Gujrat was the one state for BJP to be a face-saver.
Yet at Party’s headquarter in Khanpur area of Ahmedabad, the mood was completely sombre. Party workers came, sat, watched TV and went without much noise. No celebrations, nothing.
The BJP improved the tally by one and put its stamp on the state once again. But prime ministerial ambitions of Advani and Modi received a major jolt. Modi stayed at home, in instead of coming out and flexing muscles while talking to media.
On the other hand, mood was jubilant at Rajiv Gandhi Bhavan, the congress headquarter. Even before the trends were not yet out out, the GPCC president Siddharth Patel in a self-congratulatory mood said, “I am satisfied with the results”.
In fact congress was down by one seat from its previous tally. Yet, every leader wanted to talk to media. Chai, coffee nashta came frequently, giving out the message that when you have no expectations at all, even a single seat is precious.
From Gujrat
Precisely a year after, I am once again out of my house, striving hard while churning out the post-verdict stories.
Some 600 km away from the home, in Ahmedabad, the only difference I see from last year’s Karnataka experience is the comfort level is quite high. The hotel room is cozy, traveling has been cool and the food is palatable.
But then, there is irritation at different level. Blogging and television watching is what currently I am involved in. There is fatigue. Inclination to work exists very little.
The counting is few hours away while results may take a day to be out. The actually government may take a week or two to come to the power. But to me, as a common man, the government has already been formed.
The news channels have made the entire post-poll pre-verdict debates highly trivial. Cartel is formed to shape up opinion. Hypothesis is being build without any substance. Theories are running. And finally, few people are discussing and in the process deciding, who will support whom.
HAving seen this, there is little doubt left in my mind. As they say that this election was fought in the media, the next will be in the TV studio only.
Good night
Some 600 km away from the home, in Ahmedabad, the only difference I see from last year’s Karnataka experience is the comfort level is quite high. The hotel room is cozy, traveling has been cool and the food is palatable.
But then, there is irritation at different level. Blogging and television watching is what currently I am involved in. There is fatigue. Inclination to work exists very little.
The counting is few hours away while results may take a day to be out. The actually government may take a week or two to come to the power. But to me, as a common man, the government has already been formed.
The news channels have made the entire post-poll pre-verdict debates highly trivial. Cartel is formed to shape up opinion. Hypothesis is being build without any substance. Theories are running. And finally, few people are discussing and in the process deciding, who will support whom.
HAving seen this, there is little doubt left in my mind. As they say that this election was fought in the media, the next will be in the TV studio only.
Good night
Cellphone, thy name is Individuality
The NYT columnist Anand Giridharadas writes -
In cellphone, India reveals an essence :
…Cellphone appeals deeply to the Indian psychology, to the spreading desire for personal space and voice, not in defiance of the family and tribe but in the chaotic midst of it.
…
Imagine what it was like, back in the Pre-cellular Age, to be young in a traditional household. People are everywhere. Doors are open. Judgments fly. Bedrooms are shared. Phones are centrally located.
…
The cellphone serves, then, as a technology of individuation. On the cellphone, you are your own person. No one answers your calls or reads your messages. Your number is just yours.
…
Imagine the future: A young woman sits on her sofa. With a few taps, she checks that her tax return has been cleared. With a few more, she learns that her local legislator is a criminal, and she switches to the other candidate. She wires a campaign contribution by text. And then she notices on television a debate on her favorite topic, and listens to the arguments and taps hurriedly into her phone words that will soon scroll across the screen.
It is not Athens, but it would be a start: in the world’s largest democracy, government not by passive consent, but by something like a conversation.
____________________________
I think days of imagination have passed. Indians are already living in the new eon.
I know few farmers from Pune and Satara who operate the water pump at farm through cellphone. The technology called ‘nano-ganesh’, invented by a Puneite enable those farmers sit at home, start the pump in the night, and switch it off in the morning by way of just a call. The same farmers sell their produce through cellphone. The text message informs them about prices for produce. The same message also has next day’s weather.
These farmers, who never handled landlines, sends text to ensure only their favourite singers win in the reality show.
In cellphone, India reveals an essence :
…Cellphone appeals deeply to the Indian psychology, to the spreading desire for personal space and voice, not in defiance of the family and tribe but in the chaotic midst of it.
…
Imagine what it was like, back in the Pre-cellular Age, to be young in a traditional household. People are everywhere. Doors are open. Judgments fly. Bedrooms are shared. Phones are centrally located.
…
The cellphone serves, then, as a technology of individuation. On the cellphone, you are your own person. No one answers your calls or reads your messages. Your number is just yours.
…
Imagine the future: A young woman sits on her sofa. With a few taps, she checks that her tax return has been cleared. With a few more, she learns that her local legislator is a criminal, and she switches to the other candidate. She wires a campaign contribution by text. And then she notices on television a debate on her favorite topic, and listens to the arguments and taps hurriedly into her phone words that will soon scroll across the screen.
It is not Athens, but it would be a start: in the world’s largest democracy, government not by passive consent, but by something like a conversation.
____________________________
I think days of imagination have passed. Indians are already living in the new eon.
I know few farmers from Pune and Satara who operate the water pump at farm through cellphone. The technology called ‘nano-ganesh’, invented by a Puneite enable those farmers sit at home, start the pump in the night, and switch it off in the morning by way of just a call. The same farmers sell their produce through cellphone. The text message informs them about prices for produce. The same message also has next day’s weather.
These farmers, who never handled landlines, sends text to ensure only their favourite singers win in the reality show.
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