The Misconstrued Patriots: The Everyday Changing Definition of Patriotism

Patriotism, like religion, is a phenomenon that harbours on the highest order of conviction of the practitioner. However, like religion, it has started deriving its belief not from convictions but from conveniences. While they may sound similar, their connotation is as different as chalk and cheese. One derives its strength from unshakable belief while the other does it from opportunism. One goes beyond a person’s physical being while the other is very much confined to physical and mental conditioning. One hardly ever changes while the other can be as fickle as the weather.

 

Living In The Absolutes: The Modern Day Phenomenon of Doing Everything Extreme

‘Democracy should be absolute.’

‘Criminalisation of Article 377.’

‘Freedom of press is sacrosanct.’

‘Ban on the consumption of liquor.’

‘Criminal charges on the consumption of beef.’

 

Kapoor & Sons – A Rarity In Bollywood!

All I wanted to do was post – ‘Please go and watch Kapoor and Sons. Highly recommended!!!’

Fortunately or unfortunately, I felt that it didn’t do justice to this gem of a movie and also its creator, who I believe is one of the finest storytellers we have in our country presently (no, I am not referring to Karan Johar). And so, this is what I ended up writing.

 

We, the Tolerant; Now Lets Crucify the Fellow for Sharing his Opinion

We live in an amazing country. Even before one controversy is brought to its logical conclusion , thanks to our media, we are engulfed into another one, the latter being as ridiculous, if not more, as the former.

Even before the controversy surrounding Lalu’s 9th pass son making it to the post of deputy CM of Bihar or his 12th pass son being made a cabinet minister could  die its natural death, the media took one statement out of almost an half an hour long interview of Aamir Khan (the irony being that it was at an award function meant to felicitate outstanding practices in journalism), ran it as their headlines 24×7 and managed to make it into a national issue. This, at a time, when majority of Tamil Nadu is engulfed in floods, farmer suicide is on the rise and major parts of the world are on red alert. So much for the journalistic ethos!

 

Why the Modi-wave became a National Phenomenon!

Even the staunchest of critic of Narendra Modi will agree to one thing- the Modi-wave is very much real and has captured the imagination of the nation like no other in the recent past (I might be jumping the gun here as AAP did create quite a bit of stir but it now seems too obsolete to be mentioned).

 

2014 – Why I Prefer NaMo over RaGa?

Scams, corruption, blasts, terror, riots, traffic, inflation, unemployment are some of the words that have become the daily fodder for most average Indian stomachs. Progress, growth, development, evolution are part of the rich man’s buffet that is unaffordable to 90% of the country’s population.

Hi there! Meet me, an average, frustrated young Indian. With high hopes and aspirations to make it big, every day I wake up with this unrelenting vigor to go out there and conquer the world. But by the time the day dawns on me and I come back home and crash on my bed, more often than not, I am left pondering over the question – ‘Does this country have the capability to be able to harness and develop my dreams within its realms?’

 

A Letter to Shah Rukh Khan

Shah Rukh Khan says – “I sometimes become the inadvertent object of political leaders who choose to make me a symbol of all that they think is wrong and unpatriotic about Muslims in India.”

“There have been occasions when I have been accused of bearing allegiance to our neighbouring nation rather than my own country – this even though I am an Indian, whose father fought for the freedom of India. Rallies have been held where leaders have exhorted me to leave and return what they refer to my original homeland.”

He goes on to say that he became so sick of being mistaken for some crazed terrorist, “who co-incidentally carries the same name as mine that I made a film subtly titled ‘My Name Is Khan’ (and I am not a terrorist) to prove a point”.