The ubiquitous red beacon (lal batti), the oppressive symbol of the paternalistic Indian state (mai-baap sarkar if you will), will be history in a few days time on the streets of the nation's capital.  The Prime Minister should have done this a lot sooner.  But better late than never and for doing this at all, he needs to be complimented.  Now the respective state governments should follow suit.  At the same time, it should also be kept in mind that this is at best a symbolic act in the direction of a more democratic and egalitarian political culture.  The real change will come about only when people are able to erase the mindset which breeds this feudal and ugly culture of privilege and an arrogant sense of entitlement.

As far as I am concerned, both Aazan and Hari-kirtan played on loudspeaker are equally intolerable.  They not only annoy the hell out of me, I feel a sort of panic attack coming over me.  If at all I am forced to choose, I would say that aazan lasts for not more than 2 minutes, so, I can manage that.  But what about the endless hours of torture having to endure the loud blaring of kirtans, satsang, bhagwat puran not to mention mata ki chowki, which is so much in fashion these days among a section of the Hindu middle class.  Sometimes, I do get the feeling that it's a deliberate assertion of religiosity in your face.  Your right to play your devotional music ends exactly where my right to have some peace and quiet begins.  India is already a hot and crowded place at the best of times.  By displaying this overt fondness for different religion in public sphere, they are unleashing hell, not heaven.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan is a power hungry maniac, who is never satisfied.  I am quite baffled how the good people of Turkey such an overwhelming power to decide their fate on a platter.  Now, he can use Parliament as a rubber stamp in order to curb even more freedom and also he can enact laws by decree.  This is one of the most significant changes this country has witnessed in many decades.

We were promised minimum government, maximum governance. But things are disconcertingly moving in the other direction. From what to eat, to what to drink, from what to wear, to what movie to watch not to mention who do we love and how. This ridiculous playing of the national anthem in theaters and forcing you to stand up, to 'aadhar' being rammed down the throat of even small children, the heavy hand of the state is getting heavier by the day. I think it would be a mistake to call it a mischief of the nanny state, rather, it's the arrogance of the 'mother-in-law' state. Unappealing, unreasonable and bloody control freak, like most of the Indian mothers-in-law, tend to be.

I have always maintained that Mr. Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, MP BJP is a sad caricature of a token Muslim presence in an otherwise Hindu party.  But even then, it was quite a surreal experience to see this pathetic buffoon completely denying that the horrible incident in Alwar, where a man was fatally lynched for a mistaken belief that he was transporting cows to the slaughterhouse, took place at all.  Despite extensive coverage in the media and the actual video footage of the ghastly act, this mealy-mouthed joker who also happens to be a minister, kept lying through his teeth in the parliament that nothing of the sort ever happened!  He should apologize period.  Of course, the dead man, who was a dairy farmer and also happened to me Muslim, is a matter of minor irritating detail for these murderous vigilante mobs, who are killing human beings in the name of protecting cows.  Ever since their spiritual/ideological mentors BJP/RSS have come to power at the center and in many states, these self-appointed militias, the so called protectors of 'Hindu culture', clearly feel emboldened that they can get away with anything, even murder.  Maybe, next time the 'Great leader' will enlighten us in his next mann ki baat as to how is the government is going to deal with the supposed cow slaughter from the actual manslaughter.

People ask you, how are you and you say I'm fine.  But really, that's just a formal answer in a polite society.  What is exactly fine?  Nothing if you ask me.  Speaking from my perspective, there is the same anxiety, the same confusion and the daily grind to keep the wolf at the doorstep.  They say that if you share your sorrow with someone, the thing lessens in its intensity.  But the human reality is that nobody really wants to take additional burden of what is it that's eating you, and who could blame them for you friends and family are bearing their own crosses.  I am a great believer in not making a spectacle of my troubles.  When I hear how somebody got upset because some friends and acquaintances did not come to see them while they were really sick, it never ceases to amaze me.  Why would you want anybody to intrude into your private grief!  If I have a happy moment in my life, I would let everyone in.  I would like to have a carnival.  But I would like to be alone in my anguish, I will not have a spectacle.  The joy and the happiness, no matter how great, can be taken away from you by somebody.  The only thing that is truly and solely yours is your own suffering.

I am not an enthusiastic consumer of Indian news channels.  But whenever I do watch them, I invariably tune into NDTV (English).  Because firstly, their anchors still deliver the news in a calm and sober tone.  They don't hyperventilate in the name of national interests, which is clearly crass and offensive on other channels, especially the Hindi ones.  NDTV tends to be as fair and objective as it is possible to be in this day and age.