BACKWARD GLANCE

BACKWARD GLANCE

For a nation that has immense problems at hand we are particularly adept at looking backwards and being fixated at the past. It is as if we are looking at the rear view mirror and driving on a highway to nowhere. Just when cool logic is called for , we think with our political eyes on the next election where as always caste will triumph all other considerations.

I was scanning the papers over the last few weeks and found the following issues agitating our leadership

-Whether Mahatma Gandhi said ’Hey Ram’ or ‘Ram Ram’ in his last moments

-whether Netaji Bose is alive or not

--whether the Ram Sethu is man made or not

--whether Aishwayra Rai is in the family way or not

--whether Shah Rukh Khan should be shown smoking on screen or not

The fact is that there are critical issues before the nation .We owe it to our people to lift them out of poverty and cannot afford to waste our time on these relatively trivial issues. The CM of Tamilnadu for example has made Brahmin baiting a life long passion even though the people in his own state cry for amelioration beyond free TV sets and dhotis . But that is not the way he sees things -he has announced that the Tamil new year will not be in April—as it has been for thousands of years –but on a date decided by his government! The obvious purpose is to embarrass Brahmins .Scarcely will he acknowledge that the Indian systems of fixing the new year are based on astronomical considerations and have nothing to do with caste or religion.An insider tells me that the Sethu project is not coming through since the Navy and Cast guard have raised serious objections on grounds of security. This has angered the TN C M who sees in this move another Brahmin /north-Indian plot against ‘ Tamil pride’ Hence the ‘ New year’ proposal which is another ‘ assault’ on this so called nexus. But the shrewd politician that he is he will further consolidate his vote bank on the plank of ‘ wounded pride’ of his core constituency.

He will not talk of the recent PRATHAM report that talks of the decline of education in his state that was once the best In the country. He will of course try to win the next elections with maybe free undergarments for voters!

As for his friend Ambumani Ramdass this Union Health Minister prefers to rebuke Shah Rukh Khan for on- screen smoking even as more and more organ donation rackets surface including one in his home state Tamil Nadu and kids die ot lack of elementary drugs.

Now comes the report that several young NRI Indians in the US are among 40 brightest minds selected for the prestigious INTEL scholarships. These bright kids have no place in India since we have made merit an unparliamentary word .

I have announced a contest on the internet and will reward the best answer to the question—what would have been Mahatma Gandhi’s last words if he had been assassinated today?

K.R.RAVI

USA