Perfectspeak - Volume 2

[Habitual Perfectionist]

A letter to Bhootpoorva Pradhaan Mantri Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee ji.



Dear Vajpayeeji,



I first heard your name when I was a three year old kid. I remember the gigantic National radio we had at home, on which my dad used to diet on his daily dose of news. You were the external affairs minister at the centre then. After a few years, when I started getting into reading newspapers, following news etc., I came to know more about you and started respecting you as an experienced parliamentarian, a good orator and someone with PM potential.



1989-90 was a watershed period in my life as well as for the country. I saw my parents shifting from the north to what was to become the Hindutva Laboratory in times to come. I was following your progress then as an able member of the opposition. I listened to your speeches then and saw you as a moderate holding out to the aggressive forces of Hindutva. I called you the right man in the wrong place. Time morphed itself to 1996 very fast and I finally saw you where I had always wanted to see you. As the Prime Minister of India. A bitter first experience of coalition politics didn't deter you and you went on to lead your party to a prominent position in the following elections.



The National Democratic Alliance came to power with a lot of promise. They delivered too. Its an accepted fact (though not a digestable one) that politicians do indulge in games of money and sleaze. But you were always above that. You were slowly emerging as one of the biggest statesmen India had ever seen. You were Mr.Clean. You were the Vikas Purush. You were Atal. And I was finally happy that the country was in responsible hands.



But then, Gujarat happened. And I saw it all with my own eyes. So many lives; so much of property; all lost for no reason. I had seen hatred in people's minds. This time, unfortunately, it came out on the roads. I saw the madness and cried. But in those tears, I had a firm hope that all is not lost. We still have Vajpayeeji at the helm and he'll be just. That was when you came to Ahmedabad and chided the CM for not having observed Rajdharma. And barely a few days later, you gave a clean chit to all the perpetrators of mass hatred by saying that it was a fallout of Godhra. This came as a shock to me and I truly believed that you were misquoted by the media and held them guilty for the mess.



But things got worse from there. Every now and then, there were statements and contradictions, flowing free like an army of ants moving towards a lump of sugar, from you. My idol was razed to the ground. Looking back, I feel bettrayed. And many sane heads in the nation did likewise. The final icing on this cake came during the sari stampede case in Lucknow, where you reeked of overconfidence too, along with your now-familiar air of uncertainity about yourself.



The reason for you and your party having lost the last elections is not Modi, but you yourself, Mr.Vajpayee. It pains me to see one of my idols having been reduced to a sorry picture of his old self. You lost the elections because people saw through your indecisiveness and your weakness in front of the Sangh Parivar. Today, you stand isolated in your own party. The very people, who called you their undisputed leader barely a month ago, are now shying away from you as if you have communicated a contagious infection. This again, has happened because your own partymen saw you as a weak person with a fantastic brand appeal. So they used the appeal when they needed it, and when they felt they didn't need it anymore, they just took you out and placed you on the sidelines.



Learn Mr.Vajpayee. Learn from this setback. Come out from this like the phoenix rose from its ashes. We have a lot of raw talent waiting to be tapped. Who better than someone with your exposure, experience and vision to mould this young and inexperienced crowd into leaders we will look up to. But mind you, the road ahead is bumpy. You'll have to make sure you set an example to the youth on being Atal. Show them the way to lead this country to an era of greatness.



Thanks,



With regards,



A Hopeful Indian.

[Stingrae]

FIRST POST HONOURS!!!



yaar ..sorry no time to read...dis was not to boost me PC...

....i jus hav a fetish for first posts...:D:D



my apologies again!!

my bad!!



will put in useful comments later...incase any1 wants to hear me out...



Peace!

Sting was here

[The Rainmaker]

great first post stingrae...



atal already took the blame for losing the elections! but he's too old to wait for 5 years and contest again.



hmmm.. there's light at the end of the tunnel.... hopefully someone will pull down the Communist-Congress alliance by the end of this year, so we wont have to wait long.

[Habitual Perfectionist]

great first post stingrae...

atal already took the blame for losing the elections! but he's too old to wait for 5 years and contest again.

hmmm.. there's light at the end of the tunnel.... hopefully someone will pull down the Communist-Congress alliance by the end of this year, so we wont have to wait long.

I didn't want him to wait till the next term. What I requested of him was to guide the younger generation of parliamentarians. Without his trademark doublespeak though.



And IMO, there is not much wrong with the govt. at the centre right now. Do you think the communists can really throw their weight around so much? Don't get misled by current occurences. What's happening right now is that a new government has come into power when they were not prepared for it. And things are just sinking in. Give it some gestation period. And the commies would be put in place.

[The Rainmaker]

the govt at the cenre has plenty of shortcomings...



howmuchever u deny it, the actual power lies in sonia's hands -- manmohan is a puppet PM.



the communists will influence foreign policy and the budget. the commies openly chided natwar singh for his recent statement in the US!!



you obviously dont need to be reminded about the number of tainted ministers the new govt has. do you beam with pride when u see laloo prasad yadav at the helm of affairs?

[Habitual Perfectionist]

the govt at the cenre has plenty of shortcomings...

Notice the third paragraph of my column where I say that its an accepted but undigestable fact that politicians would be corrupt. This is one notion that needs to change...and the best way to change it would be setting examples.

howmuchever u deny it, the actual power lies in sonia's hands -- manmohan is a puppet PM.

Not a new phenomenon. Its no hidden fact as to how much power the Sangh Parivar wielded when the NDA was in power. And as long as things keep happening right, how does it matter who wields the power?

the communists will influence foreign policy and the budget. the commies openly chided natwar singh for his recent statement in the US!!

Again...not a new phenomenon. You can never keep all members of a coalition satisfied at all the times. Chidings will keep happening. The budget. Do you think the new government would risk alienating the urban voter completely? not possible. They have come to power after a lot of struggle and they would never take any steps to jeopardise their new found power.

you obviously dont need to be reminded about the number of tainted ministers the new govt has. do you beam with pride when u see laloo prasad yadav at the helm of affairs?

Do you need to be reminded how many tainted ministers we've had ever since 1947? And Laloo, unfortunately, is being victimised way too much. Agreed, he's been corrupt...but then, so many others have too. Forget Advani's involvement in the Havala scam? Laloo's initial policies have had a positive impact. Stations are cleaner now. Employee morale in teh railways is high.



All I'm saying is that this is too early to make judgements about the new government. Give them some time and then decide.

[The Rainmaker]

defend the congress government, but dont defend Laloo and Communists!! they'll always remain what they are ..... bad for the country

[Habitual Perfectionist]

I'm defending Laloo here as till now, his policies as Railway Minister have been good. And I'm never one to keep biased opinions. I'm very objective with my judgements.

[The Rainmaker]

me too. im not biased against laloo. i followed laloo's fodder scandal very closely, and i watch him make comments on tv. as for the scheme of using kulhads in the railways, it was suggested by the erstwhile railways minister way back in '97.

[Habitual Perfectionist]

me too. im not biased against laloo. i followed laloo's fodder scandal very closely, and i watch him make comments on tv. as for the scheme of using kulhads in the railways, it was suggested by the erstwhile railways minister way back in '97.

Right. The fodder scam is history. And suggestions don't really change our lives. Actions do. That's why I said that Laloo's stint as the Railway minister has been good till now.

[The Rainmaker]

he installed Rabri devi as the CM of bihar, that itself was a farce. isnt it understood that the housewife wld be a puppet? the RJD has turned bihar into a lawless land. all the elections there are rigged too. (not just his constituency).



a guy like that... we'll see where he goes as railway min.

[Habitual Perfectionist]

he installed Rabri devi as the CM of bihar, that itself was a farce. isnt it understood that the housewife wld be a puppet? the RJD has turned bihar into a lawless land. all the elections there are rigged too. (not just his constituency).

a guy like that... we'll see where he goes as railway min.

Rigging & lawlessness are not new to Bihar. They've been there way before RJD or Laloo entered the scene. As for Rabri...yes...this was a very obvious attempt to install a puppet CM..and a successful one too...but again...how many governments do you think run with the CM's absolute power? Its always the party that rules. And the party ruling behind the scenes is just an extension of the puppet theory.

[The Rainmaker]

HP, both of us are hoping for Idealism. you want atal to rise from the ashes of doublspeak; and i want these vandals out. but neither of us is going to have our way.... coz the electorate doesnt give a unified mandate. kya karein, har praanth ki janta alag tarah se sochti hai!

[Habitual Perfectionist]

Sadly, the second volume of Perfectspeak ended up being a one on one between me and the rainmaker. This clearly shows how apathetic the urban youth is to politics today. And on top of this, we all have so much to expect from our politicians. Look at the threads wanting to know who is pro and anti telangana; the threads on Sonia Gandhi's foreign origin; the ones about MMS being a puppet PM and the ones on Naidu & YSR's policies.



Is discussing politics a seasonal hobby that we start pursuing a little before campaining starts and end it with the results and formation of new governments? Is it a status symbol that we use to show off that we know and we matter?



Governments today, take the urban youth for granted just because of this apathy. They know that we are a big and potent strength but lying dormant and consumed by a lot of inertia. We had loads of posts discussing violence and non-violence. We have such a powerful weapon at our disposal - The Internet. We can make a grand use of it to keep the government under a constant pressure to perform.



Revolutions don't happen with words. They demand action. And its high time we acted.

[The Rainmaker]

that was well written, HP!



yeah not many of us participate in political discussions. even movies that have student politics at its base don't perform (yuva).



hopefully your third volume will have at least ten people exchanging their opinions.

[CtrlAltDel]

Sadly, the second volume of Perfectspeak ended up being a one on one between me and the rainmaker. This clearly shows how apathetic the urban youth is to politics today.

i dont call this apathy. its more of disillussionment. abt me, the hardcore discussions of past 2 months has left me weary of this subject. anyway u've been saying what all i wanted to say. so i just contented myself reading this thread

Governments today, take the urban youth for granted just because of this apathy. They know that we are a big and potent strength but lying dormant and consumed by a lot of inertia. We had loads of posts discussing violence and non-violence. We have such a powerful weapon at our disposal - The Internet. We can make a grand use of it to keep the government under a constant pressure to perform.

true but the fact is most of us are busy with our own matters, earning our salary etc. most of us feel our responsibilty ends after coming out of the polling booth, proudly displaying our ink stained fingers. damn bad attitude, but thats the truth.

what we need is a weed killer to remove the old fossils from parliament. as long as they are around, we have not much hope. if youngsters make it to the LS, the only worry wud be that they shudn't turn corrupt....

[Habitual Perfectionist]

Hausla Afzai ke liye shukriya!!