Mood: Outraged
Song: Salaam BOMBAY
'Mumbai ka don kaun?' growled Biku Mhatre in the movie Satya. But sometimes the problem is that, an ant living in a mountain hole forgets what it really is – a tiny ant. When people give it undue importance, the ant starts growing in arrogance and mistakenly assumes that it can represent the whole mountain itself..
Komal Johar recently apologized to me and other residents of Mumbai because he agreed it was criminal to call my city ‘Bombay’. KJo showed the world that even he can be ‘straight’ sometimes by saying “I have genuinely committed a mistake. I apologize for it.” Bravo KJo, it indeed takes courage to stoop like this.
Being straight was never his/her (still confused) cuppa tea. Dobby Barling recently suffered a broken heart. No, it was not coz Akshay Kumar refused to star opposite him/her, but coz his/her new found love interest was not returning his/her calls and messages. Who? Munaf Patel. All doubts about Love being blind are cleared now! Ewww…
Taj Rhackeray has upturned the politics of Maharashtra recently. Everyone awaits his next circus with bated breath, be it his followers or his adversaries. Nobody wants to upset him; a post-poll alliance with him might work wonders for self. Such love is of course enviable, only that Nazism also appealed to the Germans back then.
Coming back to ants, did you know the Queen Ant mates with several males at one go and then uses the stored sperm at her own will, throughout her lifetime! It’s tough being a male in this world; only one babe and then you die after the first hit. Thankfully humans don’t work that way!
The phenomenon called RT has managed to draw so much media attention to himself in the past several months, that he’s now got the ultimate coverage – He’s on Harryfication now! Successful leaders have always been great manipulators. They conduct a thorough SWOT analysis of the situation and act accordingly. Much like Hitler, RT manages to provoke his audience through his carefully worded speeches. He instigates the natives of this state who have been left behind in the progress of the past decade. Quite simply, it is a brain wash that captures the imagination of the less-educated, deprived and thus a violent class of residents. It often works wonders coz the target population can not think for itself.
The ruling DF Govt. has been woefully pathetic in addressing issues related to industry, agriculture, farmer suicides, etc. The Sena-BJP opposition has been equally spineless. With the Sena being weakened with an ailing mass leader, the charismatic RT has managed to rise over his rather subdued cousin. People like him are opportunistic by-products of a collapsing system in which there is just no development for majority of the local population. People from outside have come, seen and conquered, while a few natives have been left behind in the process of watching others. When a channelized route appears for this discontent, it simply spills over.
Though I would prefer Mumbai, if calling this city ‘Bombay’ can be an insult to ‘Marathi pride’, it indicates a fractured line of thinking. Marathi pride goes much deeper than merely spelling out names. It can be truly experienced in the way the state remembers its heroes, the way it celebrates its zillion festivals throughout the year, the way it honors its artists, poets, etc. Native Maharashtrians have given this city the spirit of tolerance and resilience which is unparalleled in any other city (read my next blog!). Therein lies the uniqueness and true pride of Maharashtra. I don't need authoritarians to tell me what my state is all about.
If RT was genuinely interested in the welfare of the people here, he would have been fighting for the rights of suicide-ridden farmers in Vidarbha, not ransacking movie halls or beating helpless daily wage workers. Shake Up & Wake Up Raj!
Quick Note: If anyone doubted my capability of writing short posts, the first 5 stanzas are 55 word fictions by themselves. Just did it. Tick!
