Must See India: Sangam Near Kaas Plateau, Satara, Maharashtra

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What Jayalalitha’s Conviction Can Mean

J Jayalalitha is doubtlessly one of the most powerful politicians in India. This was proved by her jaw-droppingly stupendous performance in the General Elections of 2014. Jayalalitha’s AIADMK, a local Tamilnadu party ended up the third largest vote-getter – just seven seats less than Congress which had formed the government for a decade before the elections.

J Jayalalitha is also rumoured to be amongst the most corrupt politicians in the country. This has been proved by the long-standing charges and cases she has had in the courts of the country. In the past she has even lost Assembly Elections because of the rumours of her devastating corruption.

Now there is no doubt that the rumours were true. She was convicted by a High Court in Bangalore. Her bail application was also rejected. Next step: a re-appeal in the Supreme Court.

 

Jayalalitha is possibly the second prominent politician to be convicted while she was in office. When the judgement of her conviction came, Jayalalitha was the Chief Minister of Tamilnadu. The first, of course, was Indira Gandhi who was found guilty while she was the Prime Minister of the country. This was 39 to 40 years ago. In a drastic reaction to the judgement against her, Indira Gandhi declared Emergency, often referred to the darkest period of post-Independence India.

This judgement against a politician in power, an incumbent Chief Minister no less, brings a ray of hope for a nation beleaguered by corrupt politicians beggaring the people. The last decade was a decade of scams. A decade when everyone in politics grew rich while inflation sky-rocketed and people became poorer.

If the judgement is upheld by the Supreme Court, it can mean that the other looters of the nation can also be brought to book. It can go a very, very long way in decreasing (if not totally rooting out) the greatest malaise that India suffers from: corruption. If this judgement is upheld by the Supreme Court, it can mean the return of the missing billions of dollars back into the country and the conviction of the thieves. If this conviction is upheld by the Supreme Court, it can mean a resurgence of the sadly eroded and depleted democratic rights of the people in the world’s largest democracy. If this conviction is upheld by the Supreme Court, it can establish the independence of the judiciary from the deathly strangle of the Legislature that is in.

Must See India: Ankapalle, Andhra Pradesh

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Review of Mary Kom

Mangte Chungneijang, famous as just Mary Kom or MC Mary Kom is a five times World Champion, an Olympic Bronze medallist, and recipient of Padma Shri, Arjun Award and Padma Bhushan. From a small village (Kangathei) in the much-neglected Manipur, Mary Kom achievements go far beyond her village, State and even country. She is indisputably India’s biggest sportsperson. A biopic on this wonderful daughter of India is much appreciated, thank you.

Produced by Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Viacom 18, Priyanka Chopra plays Mary Kom in the movie. Priyanka is a very talented actress and one of her greatest abilities is to become the character rather than remain an actress play a character, or worse just remain herself in every role. As Mary Kom, Priyanka does a sincere job. But alas! The script let’s down both, the athlete and the actress.  

Mary Kom’s is an inspiring story indeed. It has courage and struggle. It has tears and victories. It is rich, ready material for a scriptwriter...but in this case the scriptwriter fails stupendously. The scriptwriter is unable to capture the trials, tribulations and triumphs of Mary Kom. The scriptwriter completely fails to make Mary Kom a person for whom the audience feels or connects with. If you remember Chak De India, by the time the girls of Team India get their act together and start winning, the audience is clapping with each choreographed move and goal. The audience is involved with the game, the players and the outcome. In Mary Kom, the boxer’s story is easily more fraught with drama than the fictional girls of Chak De India but the audience is not drawn into it.

If the scriptwriter failed to do justice to Mary Kom, the director matches him in very poorly executed sequences and narration. This movie could have so done without the Bollywood-type melodrama (Like the scene where her father has a sudden change of heart and encourages a losing Mary Kom on TV and suddenly, in some other country, Mary Kom turns around her match. Or the other instance where Mary Kom is practically knocked-out and her son’s heartbeat stops and then miraculously both come roaring back and Mary Kom wins her fourth World Championship).

The only person who does justice to the boxer is the actress. Priyanka tries hard and manages to hold the sorry movie together but she has very little support from the backend. Mary Kom surely deserved a better tribute. She deserved a movie that made her as proud as she has made India.

However, do see this movie as a tribute to the legend (Mary Kom is probably the only boxer in the world who returned to the sport after becoming a mother and then winning the World Championship and also an Olympic medal). Do see the movie in appreciation for Priyanka Chopra’s effort.

Must Watch: Mary Kom

Mangte Chungneijang Mary Kom, known to the world as just Mary Kom is arguably India’s most successful athlete. Wold Championships, Olympic medals, Padmashri, Padma Bhushan, Arjun award...the list of her awards and achievements is very, very long. Her autobiography, Unbreakable, was published by Harper Collins in late 2013. So far, Mary Kom has received seasonal celebrations each time she has won on the international stage. But the celebrations get over rather quickly because, let’s face it, India seems incapable of sustained celebration of any athlete other than cricketers.

But Bollywood is giving cheer to neglected sports and ignored sports people of the country. First Chak De India did a great deal for the sport which is the official national game: hockey. Then, the biopic, Bhaag Milkha Bhaag brought the story of the Flying Sardar to all of us. Both these films were massive box-office successes. Both have been declared blockbusters based on their total revenues. In 2007, Chak De India was the third highest grosser with domestic revenues of 676.9 million. Bhaag Milha Bhaag became the fifth highest grossing Bollywood film worldwide in 2013, besides winning almost all film awards in the country.

Now Sanjay Leela Bhansali has turned the spotlight on Mary Kom with her biopic which is scheduled for release on September 5^th.  The trailers really draw focus on the struggles that this gild from a village in Manipur must have faced to slowly climb her way into a sport which is not particularly encouraged as a career choice for girls.

Request everyone to see the movie – not for the producer, not for the actress (Priyanka Chopra) – but for the athlete, Mary Kom.

A Firm Message To The International Community: We Will Deal with Pakistan About Kashmir Ourselves

Ever since the swearing-in ceremony and Narendra Modi’s firm conversation with his Pakistani counterpart, Nawaz Sharif, there is a whiff of hope that the insidious infiltration by Pakistan into Indian Territory will finally stop. One conversation may not put an end to an imbroglio spanning decades but it is a start.

Most new maps of India released by different parts of the world (particularly USA and China) show a country that is quite different than what it is taught in schools (http://www.mapsofindia.com/maps/india/large-color.html). Also compare 1882 http://images.nationmaster.com/images/motw/historical/india_1882.jpg with 2012 http://www.rediff.com/news/report/pic-new-india-map-on-us-website-sparks-controversy/20120103.htm). Not a year goes by without “friendly firing” (what does this phrase mean, anyway?) or “skirmishes” which claim the lives of Indian jawans. Not a year goes by without bickering over the changed borders of Kashmir.

The international community has been involved in the Kashmir dispute ever since the British left the sub-continent but apart from saying, “You guys need to sort this out,” they have done precious little.  When there is infiltration, they say, “Both countries need to abide by the Shimla Accord.” When Pakistani terrorists attack India and are caught (Bombay attacks and Kasab’s capture being a landmark case to prove this point), the international community wags its finger at both countries and said, “Listen up both of you, this cannot go on.” (At times, USA has also followed this up with offering Pakistan various subsidies, grants and funds). This cannot go on, even we know that, thank you very much. In fact we know that better than anyone else in the world because it is our country that is steadily being truncated.

July 11^th saw a quiet little news item from Associated Press: India asks UN Military Observer group to vacate Delhi office. This was thrilling to read. It meant that India is gently but firmly taking charge of diplomacy that has been a spectacular failure. Basically for 40 years, this UN Mission was occupying a bungalow in prime Delhi locality (around the corner from the Supreme Court – where the cases of Kasab and other Pakistan bred terrorists like Afzal Guru and Gilani, responsible for the 2001 attacks on the Indian Parliament, were heard – free of rent.  The mission in Delhi is supposed to represent the group in India and Pakistan. They also have an office in Srinagar.  As the name indicates, this group merely “observes”. Seriously, what good is such a mission doing? In what way is it contributing to maintaining peace? Over the years it has surely “observed” the infiltration that is altering India’s map. It must have “observed” terrorist attacks in India that are gleefully claimed by outfits like  Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed based in Pakistan. It must have “observed” that the most wanted home grown terrorist of India, Dawood Ibrahim, lives life king style in Pakistan. In any case, being merely a body that observes, recommends or issues directive guidelines, the UN is a magnificent failure in terms of real effect or action (George W Bush’s attack of Iraq despite UN’s best efforts is a blot that the agency will never be able to remove. It conclusively proved that the UN was useless in such matters and should stick to social service activities.)

For a long time now India has disapproved of international interventions in the Kashmir problem but has never taken any steps to actively discourage the interference. This is the first time that an official action has been taken to express India’s displeasure albeit it rests on a fairly tepid excuse that the mission has no right to occupy rent-free premises. Though the mission is seeking to retain its presence in Delhi and looking for alternative space that they can rent, this is a firm message sent out by India. The beauty of this action is that it is assertive without being aggressive.

So far Pakistan maintains that as far as Kashmir’s status is concerned, the move to ask the UN observers to move out is inconsequential adding that as long as the dispute over Kashmir between India and Pakistan is not resolved, the UN Security Council mandate stays in force.

The last time India had a Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) led government, Atal Bihari Vajpayee had taken the bold step of making India a nuclear power despite international pressure against the move. It had led to “sanctions” being placed on Indian by the United States of America (the self-appointed conscience of the world which has caused more devastation around the globe than any other country – Iraq being its latest victim). The sanctions notwithstanding, that was the time of Vibrant India. A decade thence India once again has a BJP governing the country. If this government is able to end the stand-off with Pakistan and contain constant attacks from this troublesome neighbour, it will be a monumental achievement indeed.