KAHIHI

I do not understand whether to cry or enjoy since the day Sachin Tendulkar (ST) declared that he would be spending 30 hundred thousand rupees on Satya Sai Baba (SSB) statue.
Sachin Tendulkar might be sitting on billions earned by his hard work and genius. However, considering the billions spent on offering completely free cardiac and neurological treatment or on cancer heart ailments that SSB’s trust offered to the aam aadmi, despite the few fragile blocks at the foundation, nowhere brings ST close to SSB.
In this opportunistic world where it has been impossible to have treatment on serious ailments, SSB can be called as a philanthropist of philanthropists. However, the stigma remains irrevocable, wherein his initial cheap hand tricks publicized as miracles thereby assuming the disciples to be idiots, one and all.
ST is a good boy with inexhaustible stamina on the ground and parallel patience in life out of the ground, until recently. But I think he is overburdened of the inertia of the goodness.
Who made him to make a statement that Mumbai belongs to everyone? He was never a politician neither did he exhibit an inclination to be one in the future. Why then should he make such senseless utterance? Or has this apparently patient looking lad come under the spell of an impatient political bigwig? A general doubt!
The examples are aplenty, fresh and stale, that the famous figures in art and sports fields have entered the political field to get mud-slinged and eat dust subsequently; nothing else. Or is there no more place left on the top and the downslide has started?
These two actions of ST have brought him to a level below. It was a matter of a few seconds. Look at the sky, regain patience and keep quiet, exhibiting a masterly “well left” at the question. Absolutely nothing more than what he does on the pitch.
A Don Bradman comparative, who could hide his expressions, cries on internationally televised channels is near to getting comparable with the gaudy heroines of Hindi movies of 70s. Let the tears flow. But to wipe them in such a situation is tantamount to acting. The rudalis and the adivasis who never inhaled the polluted weather of so-called civilized cities crying over the dead body of their near or far people seem more grief stricken though for completely different reasons.
One prima facie obvious shortfall of this public figure is he doesn’t refuse offers. May it be the exemption from customs duty or Bharat Ratna honour. It would cost him nothing much to refuse. In fact it would enhance his image. But no, his close friends think him to be a generous fellow who offers help to a few. They never quote it. They whisper as if involved in a whisper campaign.
Whisper campaigns bear no more value than the gossips, they do not understand. And such examples take away one from the image of model citizenry.
How can a man express a desire to make a statue of the so-called god who has built state-of-the-art hospitals, railway stations, and private airports, with a paltry sum of 30 hundred thousand rupees? Isn’t it ascetically ridiculous? Are there no other prestigious ways like adding this sum to SSBs foundation or helping poor patients with this poor sum?
Or are his advisors overbearing and sullied and decided to belittle him?
Recently I read unbelievable news that he wouldn’t have to pay tax on certain amount of his earnings. In fact he should show the willingness to pay the full amount and set an example of an ideal citizen. From the recent actions of him it doesn’t seem a possibility.
For certain his think tank has started leaking. The advisers are going berserk. They may be legal or accounting experts. But there is always a conscience keeper built in you. It seems to be on the back foot.
ShivSena Supremo, other day warned him on Times Now channel to play on his pitch and not on the political pitch, very aptly. When such interviews (about ShivSena) happen, the chain reaction follows faster than the nuclear process. The media always hungry like Bakasur pounces to get fed by such news.
Loksatta, a Marathi morninger is found playing second fiddle unconditionally (!) to Congress in recent times. The intentions of the erstwhile editor unwritten like British Constitution were known to any Tom, Dick and Harry. He would be the first to fire its flickering salvo against ShivSena. The short sighted writer would search for his thick glasses to reminisce and visualise the handshakes ShivSena made with other party leaders, deliberately forgetting the strange bedfellows of Congress.
The new editor of Loksatta, in his new avatar, is blaming ShivSena for the closure of Marathi schools in the area of its Central office forgetting that the main responsibility being that of ruling state coalition! What a silly statement? May be due to the jaundiced vision.
Had ShivSena been in power, the learned man would have held them doubly responsible and not the opposition then. They need a reason, no reasoning for anything to draw such illogical inferences.
Maid servants’ children are sent to English medium schools. As municipality is ruled by SS, it is their responsibility, the state policy has nothing to participate in the matter; the learned man might be thinking in the manner of Prime Minister. The PM’s perception that economic side is his liability, and the political and administrative liability is hers, might be created due to the haughty thinking, discarding tendency or simply submissiveness. The editorial brain follows the path of the non corrupt, self-effacing man at the helm. Who cares for the corruption that has brought the country on the brink when I am clean, is the silent message that has already reached the billion minds.
Also they insist the children of the leaders of the Marathi cause should attend Marathi medium schools. Why? Shouldn’t they insist for Marathi at par with English and other European languages to attain individual as well as national progress?
What exactly they think is their duty? They are the front runners in the field of improving and raising the standard of Marathi, if not to the international level at least to the national level. What’s their participation? I’ve seen many of them plagiarizing cheap phrases from Hindi movies like “All is well”, a popular phrase from a hit movie by Aamir Khan pronounced in slang, proudly.
Surprisingly psychiatrist like Rajendra Barve too uses the phrase. He may give 112 onionskin reasons for that. But what about vitiating the language? This is no promoting for certain.
The early 20th century thinkers and linguist and editors like Tilak, Agarkar and likes modified Sanskrit and English phrases and words to suit in Marathi (like say, fraction of a second in kshanardha, which is more appropriate than the original) what these Lilliputian editors are contributing? Sycophancy?
In the state where the education ministers didn’t know Marathi, the language of medium of the state, forget objecting to this dire situation, the newspapers sat like ostrich dipping its beak in the burning sand and as a hobby continued printing the interviews of dumb newcomers on the screen and the reviews of who necessarily second or third rate books written by their near ones don’t feel that this situation of language of the medium of education is their prime duty. One can’t expect more than the head-in-the-clouds thoughts from the editors.
I congratulate the new editor for repeating the act of his predecessor, as mostly the editors of Marathi newspapers are just a gloss and not mettle. The newer one too seems to be on his way of proving a flash in the pan. After all we all are traditionalists by lineage and maintain the conservatism till the last drop of our blood is dried or burned.
As he momentarily seems to have fallen in love with the word pitch let me remind that he is playing on the erstwhile pitch of Ramnath Goenka from where many others were pitched out but only Arun Shouri was called back again.
So was it written. But shall so be done?

It was the Christmas time and Santa was bound to be around the corner. It was the time to go wishing for gifts from the white-bearded man. But we have to behave good for that.

Perhaps, the name at the bottom in Santa’s list might be that of Julian Assange, co-founder of the whistle-blower website Wikileaks. A man cursed upon right from the most powerful man on earth, the President of America, protested against by those fighting for privacy rights, branded as a terrorist by Sarah Palin, and still among the most admired men. He is a dark knight, the people’s choice for the Times Person of the Year, the messenger.

Standing for all that is good in the world, and hunted down by half the governments, he is a man we were waiting for, a man who stands up for the underdogs. Built on principles and ethics, an intriguing personality with a great philosophy behind his mottos, this man is courage personified.

A young Julian Assange was a part of a hacker group that had one of its mottos as share information. Perhaps a little inquisitiveness, personal experience and a strong sense of right and wrong has made this man we know today. Being one of the winners of Amnesty award and “one of the most influential person” he is still humble. A brain of unparalleled genius is transforming the now rotten field of journalism.

Greenday, the punk rock band asked the world, “Do you know your enemy?” and we didn’t till then. But today when the very basis of democracy is shattered by the bulk of secrets kept from the public we do realize who the enemy is. It is the regime, the very government that we elect and today Wikileaks has called for a change in this regime. The regime which wants to stay by covering their schemes, the wars they got into, the loss in those wars, is brought to open by these messengers. Julian Assange and his people revolted against the honor to obey, they brought down the silence which had been our enemy for so long. The new era for internet freedom has begun and this massive power of the internet is taming all those power-hungry politicos and bringing to the public all the dirty little secrets. 

This simple man, with very simple and straight philosophy, has showed to us the real face of the world’s most powerful democracy and the notorious secrets of other countries. A self-taught hacking expert and a computer-whiz, he is a revolution in the field of journalism, the press. The fourth pillar of democracy which sways public opinion in any direction, was till now a tool used by the governments to mould facts the way they want. We knew, the facts that we saw were not true, we knew there was also the “Other Side of the Story” but we stood silent. When incidents like 26/11 happened we thought we had enough of this silence. We rose up in violence and brought this government to senses that not always would we accept your facts. And this violence is the energy we seek now to bring reform. Wikileaks gave us channel to let this violence flow, a way to ask the government “what’s the truth?”

News supported with documents and material to prove the truth, is the new face of journalism. The sources are hidden but the documents echo the truth. The methods to acquire the documents are known yet “fool-proof”. And all this is the genius of one simple man. The power will now move in our hands when the foreman of control will be brought down, when his effigy will be burned.

But still one question lingers in the mind. Is it ethical?

Is it ok to steal the secrets of a government? And the answer lies in the fact, if we elect the people up there, we give them our trust votes then they should be entrust us about the annual spending, the wars and the losses suffered, the schemes carried out at international level. If not then the Heroes are waiting to spill the beans. It’s a choice upon the regime up there to decide. Either trust us with every step you take or acknowledge the fact that we do know who our enemy is.