The fight against corruption has just begun:

Sri Anna Hazare praised Narendra Modi and Nitish kumar for their developmental activities. Notwithstanding his categorical distancing from the communal riot in 2002, a section of the people have already started vilifying Anna for his praising only non-congress state governments.

Without vilifying or parsing Sri Narendra Modi let us accept the reality. Economic statistics- whether by government or independent organizations- show Gujarat as the fastest growing state. For last couple of years Bihar has finished the second, under the leadership of Sri Nitish Kumar, in this race of economic growth among Indian states. The work that Sri Narendra Modi has done for the farmers is phenomenal, asserts Swaminathan A Aiyar- a leading rationalist and perhaps the finest economic analyst of our country.

Darul Uloom vice-chancellor Maulana Ghulam Mohammed Vastanvi, an MBA, said in an interview to TOI that Gujarati Muslims were not discriminated against and that ''all communities'' prosper in the state. He called 2002 Gujarat riots ''a blemish for India'' and asked the community to move on. Source:http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-01-21/india/28370177_1_maulana-ghulam-mohammed-vastanvi-muslim-cleric-gujarat-riots

The above is just to put the debate on an even keel and is no way meant to justify communalism for the sake of development. Yet dividing the united front just for such bye-gone issues and missing the larger issue of checkmating the larger issue of rampant corruption would be simply insane.

In the same vein may I request the Yoga guru Baba Ram dev not to pull out his stock from this common front on the issue of the father son duo- Shanti Bhusan & Prashant Bhushan- being on the committee and also the exclusion of the iconic religious leader from the same. Baba Ramdev would agree, united we stand to gain. Besides any person with intellect can discern that the opposition would love to see the unity dissipate and a gradual crumbling or better still a sudden collapse of the anti-corruption peoples’ front. That such a common front could be fashioned at such a short notice and the entire nation stood behind it is almost like a miracle and now onwards we have to invest more maturity, sagacity and generosity to maintain the bonhomie.
Most humbly, may I also plead with Sri Anna Hazare to weight his utterances and ponder over the likely consequences of those before committing himself to anything. We can ill afford to see he – Mr Hazare-being put to difficult situations for his undiplomatic outbursts.

Very recently Mr Hazare lost his cool and commented that Kapil Sibal should resign from the panel- for drafting the lokpal bill- if he doesn't believe in Lokpal Bill. Mr. Hazare may be right in his outbursts yet we’ve to constantly remind ourselves that people like Mr. Sibal and Mr. Sanghvi are adept at political talks and they would really feel elated if they find that they have ruffled the opponent, for then they know the opponent would start committing mistakes.

Rightly Mr Hazare said- just after ending his fast on 9 April 2011- that the fight has just begun. At any rate it is going to be a long and arduous fight. In the face of duplicity and political back stabbing the Satyagrahi will have to maintain his calm and steel his nerves for the worst and during all these travails must never permit any ill feeling for the opponent! For it believes in “Hrudaya Parivartan”- change of heart!

Rationally thinking, it would take a minimum of one year and in Indian context it would take two years to hammer out the logistics and the water tight mechanisms to set the process rolling. People who want to botch the process would grudgingly agree to all provisions, howsoever lofty, and would arraign to kill it in infancy by choking its finances. So a major battle is going to be fought, over the issue of financing a truly effective “Lokpal Act”, in the near future.

It goes without saying that Gandhian fights are noble, for these are not like vendetta and at every stage the satyagrahi remains ever ready to concede to the demand of the oppressor, if they could further the cause of Truth. A modicum of forgiveness in the form of constituting a “Truth and reconciliation commission” – in line with the one constituted in South Africa- at the end of apartheid- to avoid witch hunting and getting maximum number of people on board should be seriously considered. IMHO such a commission - “Truth and reconciliation commission” – would be a worthy precursor to a full fledged Lokpal Act.

Public nudity, cheer girls and cricket

The precursor:

As Paraguay advanced to the quarterfinals of 2010 soccer world cup, Larissa Riquelme- a 24-year old Paraguayan lingerie model- declared that she would run naked through the streets "her body painted with the colors of Paraguay", if Paraguay Won the soccer World Cup. Just before that the legendary maverick soccer icon and coach of Argentina - Diego Maradona - had also made a similar declaration. Unlike Paraguay, Argentina was among the favorites. Both- Diego Maradona’s and Riquelme's- pledges to bare their bodies ended in heartbreaks, as none of their countries lifted the coveted trophy. If any one of their countries had won, there was a real possibility that the victorious team’s fan would have honored their pledge. It goes without saying that such acts are routine in the west, which is labeled as a more permissive culture.

Advent of a local heroine in India:
This is the age of globalization, so how can India be untouched with such global happenings! Taking a leaf out of the above one of our lesser known local model- Poonam Pandey- made similar declarations.

Justifying it with science:

Like techno savvy IT professionals her approach was more intellectual. On the eve of 2011 Cricket World Cup she wrote to BCCI- Board of cricket controllers of India- and sought their permission to pose in nude before the Indian team- if they won the trophy. Anyone who is at all aware of Indian technicalities knows that this would never be permitted, so at best this was a PR stunt. As soccer or football is to Argentines and Paraguayans so is cricket to India. 

Repeat of 1983 in 2011:

Lo and behold! Under the charismatic leadership of MSD- Mahendra Singh Dhoni- India actually became victorious and lifted the trophy! This was the second time India won the Cricket World cup and the country was on fire! Cricket, which already was the most popular sport in India, became the unofficial religion of the subcontinent!

The entire country went into a high. It also presented another opportunity for Poonam to drag her stunts on and on. Now, Poonam repeated her offer and wanted to go nude before the players so as to keep her promise and also to boost their morale!

Undaunted, Poonam upped the ante!

She sited psychological evidences for the same. She also submitted- through a letter- that if Indian laws are not permitting the same, she would do the exhibition in a foreign country, where such nudity is permitted. She suggested Paris, which is very much suited for this purpose, more so as she proposed to do this in a private lobby or in the players’ dressing room.

Again anyone who knows, what public sentiments are in India and how BBCI has to handle people’s sentiments, would tell that, the board couldn’t accept even such an offer. Poonam and her advisers should also have known the same. So; is Poonam’s posturing only meant for ‘exhibitionism’?

Perhaps not, for it has appeared in the print media that she has already posed in nude for some magazines. Yet, in light of the foregoing discussions it is apparent that publicity is the leitmotif behind these declarations. Even if she cannot be charged for ‘exhibitionism’, it remains to be seen whether she can be persecuted against for ‘indecency’ or ‘vulgarity’. IMHO the best course would have been to deny her any further publicity by simply ignoring her. May be that’s why Ricky Martin said “Ignore the ignorant”.


Poonam would continue to feature in the news papers:


Somebody has filed a case against her. Sometimes it is difficult not to think that she has arranged to file such a case, which in Indian conditions would actually end up giving her further publicity! Politicians and controversy seeking film makers are known to have adopted this route, for publicity, in the past.

A legal wrangling would provide a further excuse for the newspapers- both to prominently flash her more revealing poses and to feed the gossip columns- to increase their circulations! This would only give her and the yellow press a further lease of life in the print and on the net. For, our legal system is already choked and it can not bring her to justice, even if it’s clear that she is only out to garner some publicity for her.




16 May 2012:


As reported in Hindustan Times, Poonam has again offered to stripe for SRK- Saharukh Khan- and his team KKR- Kolkota Knight Riders. Rationale for this offer: to raise the motivation of team KKR after their last two losses in IPL-5. KKR was at the top of the points table up till the two losses. 
Poonam apparently loves to post her with 'bikini' and 'without bikini' pics on Twitter and is so confident of her body that she ridicules Bollywood beauties for not having the perfect body to carry her favorite two-piece outfit!
The starlet-turned-actor and the Kingfisher model is only 20 years old now and hence certainly she is not a spent force. The trends suggest we'd keep on hearing about her rantings on striping in the future also.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/Entertainment/Tabloid/I-will-strip-for-SRK-Poonam-Pandey/Article1-856628.aspx



19 May 2012:

Now Sunny Leone is not an unknown name in India. However for the sake of the general audience, she is an Indian Origin Porn artist who obtained (?) Indian citizenship recently. Sunny Leone  feels herself to be very conservative, considering that she works in hardly 1 adult movie, a year. This gave an opportunity for our local heroine- Poonam Pandey- to take a dig at her and in the process remain in the lime light of media glare. 

These controversies have actually paid off! Now Poonam has an offer to act in a movie! 


Source:
http://tdnpost.com/news/poonam-takes-a-dig-at-sunny-38480.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+tdnpost+%28The+Daily+News+Post+India+-+tdnpost.com%29



What should be the priority for the courts?


Poonam's crime- if at all proven in an Indian court- does not seem so grave compared to the list of endless crimes of mega financial corruptions and cases where state complicity has resulted in denying justice to hundreds of thousands of people. A few such cases are: the Bhopal gas victims’ cases of 1984, the 1984 riot victims’ cases of Delhi, the Bihar Fodder scam, the cases of riot victims of Gujarat in 2002 and very recently those of 2G, Adarsh housing Scam and Mining lease scam, where the state has been defrauded of billions of rupees. When such grave cases can not be adjudicated for years and decades, it’s foolhardy to think that Poonam’s case would be decided, any time sooner.


However this offers an opportunity to examine the case of nudity threadbare! Lets examine what encourages young nubile girls to bare their bodies and what goes behind such exposes:

Nudity in cricket: 

Cricket has truly transformed India. It has already shown that it can bring about what politicians have failed to do for last five decades- peace and bonhomie between India and Pakistan!

It holds a rational mirror in front of the ignorant obscurantist, when he demands male cheer boys instead of cheer girls for male cricketers. The pun is: do such perverts think that a majority of our male cricketers are homosexuals? The recent outbursts of opportunistic politicians have forced many teams to dress their cheer girls from top to toe and some have also gone for a much cheaper alternative of Indian women clad in sari. But when it comes down to performance, the difference in their acrobatic skills clearly separates cheer girls from crooning women!

However, when the first such charge of display of flesh was made against the cheer girls, what came almost involuntarily to my mind was: do we go to see trapeze artistes in circus for their curves or their swings! As beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder, perhaps so does vulgarity.

Last words:

Public debate on nudity and use of women and girls for commercial advertisement is already on. What those cheer girls should or should not wear is being discussed not only in cities but also in the remote places and inaccessible villages of India and abroad. It appears, we are - slowly yet firmly - verging onto the so-called international stand, which can otherwise be termed as the humane stand.

What is heartening in all this is: cricket is really decimating boundaries- both geographical and cultural. Do you need a proof? Well, now it’s only a matter of time when we would resume cricketing ties with Pakistan. The religious fundamentalists- be he a Hindu or a Muslim- would object to that and threaten disruption but the craze for cricket would not listen to any and the brotherhood of humanity would triumph.

Taliban, who are yet to find suitable explanations for those viagra tablets in Osama Bin Laden's hideout, would promptly denounce a resumption of cricketing ties with India as Shiv-sena would in. However, in the depth of their hearts they'd have already started fearing for a public out-lash. So, Taliban be aware of the cheer girls!

(Word count = 1490)