And by a whopping mandate it has declared the 100+ year old Congress party as capabale enough to manage this great country for the next 5 years. It has done so without ambiguity, and has left no room for shakiness at the centre in the form of volatile driven-by-need coaltions or by power hungry time serving politicians.

The country has also voted succinctly and clearly against the left and has left them stumbling and incapable, even in their own bastions of Kerala and West Bengal. Not to be left behind, the bourses, when they opened on Monday, lauded this decision by two successive upper circuit breakers as the index spiralled up to glory, leaving no one in doubt about their decision to vote.

For me however, this brings in a huge diaspora of mixed emotions. The happy ones have been listed above, as I shared people sentiments of a stable govt, and market sentiments of faith leading to rises in indices. The ones that really irk me as of now are:

1) I see that we are heading back towards a regime where ruling party reins are handed down in the family, irrespective of capability or qualifications. Takes me back to eras where maharajah’s were elected at birth.

2) I see a weak opposition now, a much needed facet of any democracy that prides itself on being driven by mandate. An opposition that risks the danger of standing leaderless, and probably missionless too.

I have also spent the past 3 days skimming over regions, people who won, margins they won by and so on, and I have these points that hit my face when I look at an inch below the surface of this victory.

1) That the Congress has won on a purely minority vote aggregation. Sounds ridiculous ? Check out their strong bastions as of now : Kerala, TN, Andhra, where Xtian conversion activities are gathering force daily, and plague the very fibre of a really ancient culture. Check out UP and other bastions, where the Muslims have voted en masse for the Congress.

How can I really call a party that has focused on pure divisive strategies to polarize communities and win, secular? Just because they keep their minority forces satisfied and leave the rest of the country to its own devices?

2) Hindu (the majority) votes have been divided and dispersed by regional parties, star power, etc, to the point of being absolutely miniscule and unaccountable.

The bastions that remain with the BJP today in the form of states are ones that firmly protect culture by keeping away minority appeasement policies and by keeping conversions at bay. Staunchly, firmly Hindu with no move or trend to garner those “minority votes” through appeasement. (Many may of course choose to view this as “communal.”) But this is the stark reality that stands out today.

That Varun Gandhi would win, I had no doubt of. That he would win by such a whopping margin surprises me, given especially that he made “communal” speeches.

While I welcome this Govt and the immediate sense of stability it brin’gs to the country, I am worried about the long run. Especially given the ruling party’s leanings towards minority appeasement in various forms. And by its approach to define leadership of both the party and country in terms of Family.

I think its time I joined the BJP. If of course, it changes its fence sitting stand and decides to go and proudly label itself a Hindu party without being communal.

I for one would love to live in an India thats HINDU. A country where all religions from time immemorial have been tolerated and encouraged in terms of practice (not in terms of rsions, mind you). A country where I can go to a temple with my head held high, and not be labeled “communal.” A country whose culture I protect by not permitting conversions or allowing appeasements that lead to nothing but polarization.

Sanjeev

So http:/shuttervarsity.com is on the prowl to organize what could probably be India’s FIRST Photography BarCamp … *visit the wiki by clicking on the following image*

Actually not the first, we have heard of such things happening elsewhere. But hey … we’re FOCUSSED on PHOTOGRAPHY. And what’s more, we are Focussed on FREE PHOTOGRAPHY EDUCATION.

May the Shutter be with us

Cheers

Sanjeev Sarma

Yesterday, the playschool that Saakshi goes to celebrated Holi. With water of course. No paints, synthetic colors, etc…

And I was absolutely thrilled when I saw Saakshi jump around as water was being sprinkled on a gaggle of kids she was a part of, and shout enthusiastically “Holi Hai, Holi Hai”…

This post is dedicated to the first Holi celebration that Saakshi really enjoyed, and was a part of.

It also provides links to other interesting Holi-related blogs…

So heres wishing you a happy Holi and I hopeyou enjoy this compilation of blogs as much as I did

1) Anamika wrote this blog about her kid’s first Holi, and how she celebrated Holi with absolutely natural Kid Friendly Colors :

http://yaadein.wordpress.com/2008/03/18/natural-holi/

2) For all those who wish to buy natural colors, here’s a list (found it on Anamika’s blog too) of stores across cities in India that sell colors that don’t play havoc with your skin.

http://www.e-coexist.com/partners/list-of-stores-natural-colours

3) A look at how Bongs (as we in India fondly call Bengalis) in Calcutta celebrate holi.

http://calcuttanow.blogspot.com/2008/03/colours-of-holi.html

4) Holi plans are afoot at University of Alabama, Huntsville, and it promises to be an awesome event, going by the plans they have made:

http://exponent.uah.edu/?p=75

Since I am on this, maybe I’ll also get cracking and provide other perspectives, resources, etc on Holi. Today, I’m happy just presenting these four links

Cheers
Sanjeev Sarma