I AND MY WORDS

The new states - Telangana and Rayalaseema (Courtesy: The Hindu) I watched a fascinating television feature done by NDTV's Hyderabad resident Journalist Uma Sudhir. Her husband, T S Sudhir, and her have covered Andhra Pradesh and parts of Karnataka in a fascinating manner as TV journalists for NDTV and other channels over the past two decades (pity that such journalists don't become stars, while those lobbying in Delhi for parties do). The show clearly highlighted the churning of the caste-religion cauldron in the new states of Telangana and Seemandhra as it heads towards polls for their respective assemblies and the Lok Sabha polls simultaneously. What fascinated me was the reminder that both regions have seen a domination of the Kammas and Reddy castes in Andhra politics for ages now, even though they constitute merely 10-20% of the total population. This isolation of Backward Classes (BCs), Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs), and minorities to an extent,

ऐ माई आज मेरे लिए एक रज़ाई तुम बुन देना सौ ग्राम रुई डालना सपनों की सौ ग्राम उस में अंगड़ाई भरना चंद धागे भी बुनना तुम प्रेम की मीठी यादों के ताना बाना जो उस में मिली हो तारों की झलकें चंद दुखड़े भी डालना तुम और रंगना मेरे आसुंओ से कोनों की टाँकें जो लगाओ तो पिरोना सुआ मेरे केसुओं से  ये आने वाली रुत बड़ी लम्बी रात लाएगा अतीत के पन्ने फाड़ कर ये मुझे सुनाने आएगा वो किस्से सुन मैं सो जाऊँ बस यही आस उठे मन में तन ढक जग से मैं छुप जाऊँ जब रात पहर मुझ से गुज़रे ऐ माई आज मेरे लिए एक रज़ाई तुम बुन देना सौ ग्राम रुई डालना सपनों की सौ ग्राम उस में अंगड़ाई भरना

आज आँखों के आँसू भी सूख गए पर दिल में बसा ये दुःख कम होने को तैयार न हो पाय  बस एक नासूर बन मन के किसी कोने में ख़ुद  को ऐसा है छुपाए मानो कांटे की फांस पैर में अटक जाए इल्हाम करती है ये रूह तो सिर्फ़ रंजिश-ए-माज़ी का क्या जाने , कोई मोती मिल जाएँ

Source: Totem India Election News 2014 Yes, it's election time 2014. The general elections, coupled with several states like Maharashtra, Seemandhra and Telangana are headed to the polls. While everyone is busy slugging it out, there are several key factors that may be missed out by several people. After all, in the quest for numbers, several people forget that elections are as much about chemistry - with the voters and with the allies apart from the media blitzkreig that serves as propaganda and watchman at the same time. I put forward six things which in my opinion need to be kept an eye on: 1. Decimation of the Left Front - The Left has been one solid unit until now, with the Revolutionary Socialist Party and the Forward Bloc crying foul and leaving the coalition angrily. This will translate into major headaches for the CPI and CPI(M) in particular, since the vote share of this block ensured that they always had respectable number of seats as a combine, in addition to ser

खाड़ी कि पूर्णिमा आज नयनों से ओझल है यूँ तो सदैव ही आकर देख जाती थी मुझे पर आज वो अदृश्य है पूर्णिमा मेघ का घूंघट आज जाने क्यों पहन बैठी है कौन प्रीतम है जिससे वो यूं स्वयं को छुपाये  बैठी है सागर का जल भी आज काली चादर ओढ़े सो गया है ये कैसी विडम्बना है कवी की ये कौन सी अबूझ  पहेली है अंधकार में देखूं तो सब कुछ भावहीन, रंगहीन है स्वप्न भाँति यह मरीचिका सा पल स्मृति में क्यों अंकुरित है खाड़ी कि पूर्णिमा आज नयनों से ओझल है

तुझसे पहले वो जो एक शख्स यहाँ तख्तनशीं था  उसको भी अपने ख़ुदा होने पे इतना ही यकीन था Roughly tanslated, this couplet in Urdu would implore the ruler that the one before him had the same grand delusions about himself . Arvind Kejriwal's full circle by Sudhir Tailang So, the 48 day drama has come to an end. Here was a Chief Minister who was found everywhere but in his office. Much like the principal character of Sanskrit one-act play  Duta-Vakyam by Bhaasa, Sri Krishna, Arvind Kejriwal could he seen here, there everywhere. Only he wasn't interested in issuing any paeans for peace. Instead, sowing the seeds of fiscal impropriety and upholding the unbelievable, he and his party just wrecked havoc in Delhi much like the Communists did in Kerala and West Bengal's early years of dalliance with them. Money that was meant to be given to the municipal bodies for their functioning was diverted towards BSES to 'provide subsidy' on electricity tariffs . Did the

Rahul Gandhi (or his PR team) finally decided that after ten years in Indian politics he could give a one-on-one interview to a news channel. And interview he did give , though it was reduced to the butt of jokes both on the incoherent Rahul Gandhi and the unbelievably restrained Arnab Goswami. To sum up the interview, you need not watch it for the entire one and a half hour of its duration. The chaos that Rahul Gandhi's mind is on display, when he tries to explain himself and whether he fears a certain political unspeakable or not. His faff like responses to questions on Sikh Riots or for that matter on why Gujarat riots were really a blot seemed rote, under-prepared. This was shocking, since it is understood that when people of considerable political importance are interviewed, the questions are usually vetted by a set of people around the person in question. To then have a ramble pass on as an interview was incredible. Even someone as tempestuous as Arnab Goswami, despite his