It's Valentine's Day. You ask what's the big deal. I ask the same.
What's so big about it that the saffron brigrade goes lengths to make sure all rose shops are closed and all shops selling cards and gifts are vandalised and gives a damn that not all road side vendors are Bill Gates and not all shopkeepers have an insurance.Atleast not one that covers all its losses. They burn and picket whatever they can and in the meanwhile also manage to annihilate, damage and deface a lot of public property which if they looked closer with their "far" sightedness is the people's money.
And all in the name of saving our culture. So who appointed you as the saviour of our culture? And what i pray is Indian culture to you? Is it Godhra or is it Bilkis Bano? Is it Babri Masjid or is it Raj "Thug're"? So Marathis are not Indians and yours truely just landed from Mars. Mumbai still remains my favorite city in India and i can't imagine my Marathi friends shooing me away with a stick and a broom on my next visit to Mumbai. Oh sorry that was a spear wasn't it?
The things we do in the name of culture. The things we say as being Indians.Why are we becoming such an intolerant lot? Do we really have nothing better to do? At a time when we still have poverty, at a time when people still don't get two square meals a day do we really need all the hue and cry from the "who" and "sly"? Why can't we see through the politics of the political ambitions of one man? I seriously have nothing againt Raj Thakre, the bigger Thakre or the biggest Thakre. Morons being morons will be morons.. But what's with our people? The Indians that make India? Are we so foolish? Or has our sense of humour increased so much that we humour people like these? I have nothing against BJP or agaist Shiv Sena or RSS or VHP or any other Sena. We do have our own Kalinga Sena , locally born saviour of India and specifically Orissa and as Indian and Oriya as Ricky Ponting. But i do have a thing or two against my co-patriots who think this will save India. I do have a thing to say to the people who think being Indian means killing people, burning trains, instigating people in the name of region, religion and if nothing better they'll sure invent something sillier and stupider to fight about.
I still am an eternal optimist but pardon me for saying this, with as myopic a view as one we are going ahead with we just might hit a big big wall ahead and then there would be no going ahead.
We already have loads to be ashamed of. Let's not add regionalism, communalism, shamelessness and intolerance to the list.
