So the General Elections 2014 for electing the Members to the Parliament are over. As things turned out, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won a simple majority in the Lok Sabha. The interesting aspect of the elections and one that I imagine will be part of future documentaries and analysis was the campaign by the BJP. The Prime Minister elect was nominated by the party well in advance and their campaign was centered around the man, Narendra Modi. There were ads on the TV, in the print media and in the social media. If you were in India during the months of March through May this year, it was near impossible to miss seeing his face or hearing his name being spoken about. There have been references in the media to how this might have been a highly well planned effort by an agency to promote his and the party’s agenda to maximize their chances of success. If true,
Author: mithunhebbar
The Great Debaters
I watched the movie – The Great Debaters (released in 2007), directed by and starring Denzel Washington. In my opinion, he is one of the best actors in the world at the moment. The movie is inspired by a true story that took place in the year 1935 when a small school in Marshall, Texas broke new ground in debating against the top white colleges of the time and won. Like most Denzel Washington movies, the movie was excellent. The actors and the depiction of the time – 1935, is supreme. In the movie, the character Melvin Tolson narrates a story about the origin of the word “lynching”. He says, “Anybody know who Willie Lynch was? Anybody? Raise your hand. No one? He was a vicious slave owner in the West Indies. The slave-masters in the colony of Virginia were having trouble controlling their slaves, so they sent for Mr. Lynch to teach them his methods. The word “lynching” came from his
Visit to a religious place – from the eyes of a 7 year old
I am on my way to a sacred place. My parents tell me that the trip will be enjoyable. I am excited about the drive – they tell me that we will pass through a forest full of animals like the tiger, deer, bears and leopards. I hope we can sight a few of them along the way. We drive through the forest during the day time. It is hot and all we see are more cars coming down the road. The forest looks deserted and dry, very dry. The disappointment apart, we finally reach our destination – this holy place. We alight and are immediately hit with the confusion and the mass of people! There are people every where milling around on the roads. I am submerged in this sea of humanity. I am a little scared but make sure that I am always around my family. Going away for even a second would mean being lost in this
read more Visit to a religious place – from the eyes of a 7 year old
Migration
We have hired a cook who comes in every day. His value to our livelihood is immense – he ensures that the primary requirement in every day life is resolved by cooking our food. He has his quirks, we all do. He goes around to 12 other houses in a single day, repeating the task in a seemingly tireless way. He works hard. He is up from 6:00 a.m in the morning, reporting to his first house at 6:45 a.m, returning home for lunch and a nap in the afternoon before another bout of cooking across multiple houses resumes in the evening. He finishes the day at 10:30 p.m, returning home for dinner and a night’s sleep. He forms part of a large migrant community that moves from a smaller town to a big city in search of opportunities and a better livelihood than the one that they experience back home. The blueprint has remained the same through centuries and
Honor "No"
As a child, the Amar Chitra Katha was a major source of Hindu mythological stories. The stories often dealt with the kings and queens of the years gone by, part mythological and part historical. Now, the kings, being kings, would order things done and voila! there it would be. One such story narrated the happenings – the king would only have to shout, “Who is there?!” and there would be a few courtiers, soldiers that would come running to receive his orders. Nowadays, if I were to shout “Who is there?!” at home, I would hear back: “What is wrong with you? Who else will be here?” Indication enough that I am best off doing what ever task there was to be done, by myself. Move to the office, shouting “Who is there?!” whenever a task needs to be done urgently will return inquisitive looks from all within ear shot. Of course, the source of enormous levity at dinner table
Mithun's Musings 