Good bye to PDP is an opportunity of a life time !

Nation building was the core objective of elected leaders of the state but with time, vote ban replaced the nation. With good bye to PDP, BJP has an opportunity of a life time in Kashmir to do something for the nation. Kashmir is an integral part of this nation and by breaking an alliance with PDP, Govt of India must cease the opportunity to remove the devils of peace from this ‘Jannat’.

PDP was opposed to Central government’s decision of ending ceasefire in Kashmir after Eid and this opposition was the last straw in an already strained relationship between the two alliance partners.

Mehbooba Mufti’s soft corner for the trouble makers only added to the prevailing chaos in the state. Common man in the valley became victim of the Stone-pelters  and they also obstructed the operations of security forces against the terrorists. As per Chief Minister's reply in the assembly in January this year about 3773 FIRs were registered against the stone-pelters in last two years and all the 11290 person arrested were later released on bail. It is incomprehensible how thousands of law breakers were left

unpunished to fearlessly destroy the peace and property of the state. Now compare this with the operations of security forces in J&K. From 2016 till writing of this post about 211 security personnel have laid down their lives and killed 869 dreaded terrorists, with civilian casualties numbering to 109.

Before sowing a new seeds it is important to remove the weeds and decoupling with PDP is beginning of that process. BJP must cease this moment and

1. Reign in the stone pelters. They need to be dealt with an Iron fist, they obstruct the operations of security forces and are fast becoming the first line of defence for the terrorists hiding in the houses of locals.
2. Make ‘Operation All Out’ more penetrative and punitive. Neither the terrorists nor their shields deserve any human rights, late KPS Gill used this rule to clean terrorism from Punjab.
3. Uproot the Hurriyat Conference from Kashmir. This group is scarred to fight elections in the state but run a parallel govt. Pak sponsored Hurriyat Conference can never be loyal to India so they don’t deserve a place in the state so important to India.
4. Rehabilitate the Kashmiri Pandits. They were deserve to get back what only belongs to them, and if BJP govt with an absolute majority in the centre can not do this then who will?
5. Countdown for Article 370. As promised BJP must take steps to ensure the removal of Article 370. If Kashmir survives on tax payers money from citizens of every part of India then Indians can not be treated as foreigners in Kashmir.

Kashmir can be a model for BJP in 2019 Lok Sabha elections but for it the Central government must be ready to take tough calls and also remember the promises it has been making for years in its manifesto on Kashmir.

Dalit killed in Bengal, but being a BJP supporter made him untouchable ?

Hypocrisy probably is the other side of politics. For politicians it is their vote bank, their cadre & their supporters that matter. So its no surprise that the politicians known for midnight candle march against the attrocities on dalits, preferred to stay back in their cosy homes when a dalit was killed and then hanged in West Bengal few days ago. This dalit boy was a BJP supporter.
On May 29th, 18 year old Trilochan Mahato had gone out to buy provisions for his house in Balarampur in Purulia district of West Bengal but in the same evening his family received a phone call from his mobile phone and Trilochan was crying for help on the phone. Next morning his body was found hanging from the tree, just 200 metres away his home. 

Trilochan's father is a BJP leader from Balarampur and his murder was a warning to everyone who supported BJP. The message written in Bengali on Trilochan's white tshirt was.. ' this for supporting BJP'.

Other than BJP no political party raised a voice against this cold blooded killing of a dalit youth. Being a supporter of BJP made this dalit youth untouchable. BJP has alleged that rulling party TMC's was behind this killing.

Also proved is the truth that Mamta is didi only for her own supporters and cadre. Her party takes pride in the slogan of 'Ma Mati Manush' but her government did nothing to protect the 18 year young 'Manush' of a 'Ma' from the 'Mati' of West Bengal. As I write this article there is one more murder of a BJP suporter being reported in Purulia, he too was found hanging from a pole. Finally the state government has ordered a CID inquiry. 

Governance in West Bengal is being questioned by all and chief minister Mamata Banerjee must reign in some 'Manush' who are going wild in the game of politics, as seen by all in recently concluded panchayat elections. 

Compare the above incident with the recent incident in Rajkot district of Gujarat, where a dalit ragpicker Mukesh Vaniya was killed after being brutally beaten up a factory owner and few of his staff for picking up the waste material outside the factory. The very next day everyone involved in the assault was arrested and the family members of Mukesh were handed over the compensation by the state government. Do note that the ragpicker was not killed because he was a dalit but the opposition leaders were quick to label BJP as 'Dalit Virodhi' and even 'Loktantra bhi khatre mein aa gaya'. 

Hypocrisy probably is the other side of politics as the same politicians sit quietly on the murder of dalit BJP worker Trilochan Mahato in West Bengal.

Nationalist CBSE topper but a warning of brain drain?

Prakhar Mittal, 10th CBSE topper

Wow 10th board CBSE results are out and four students managed to score 499 marks out of 500. I'm sure you will think this is not possible but in India anything is possible because this country has given birth to geniuses like Aryabhata, Chanakya, Swami Vivekanand, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, Brahmagupta, Srinivasa Ramanujan and many others.

Can Prakhar Mittal be part of the same galaxy as the ones mentioned above? Prakhar scored 499 marks out of 500 in this year's 10th board CBSE exams. I spoke to him to find out the reasons for his success, his future plans, his apprehensions and his expectations, yes after this amazing result he has the right to expect from our institutions and from the state.

Isn't it funny that somehow we only expect students to perform but after they do well, we take their achievements for granted! Is it not the responsibility of the state to take care of these best performing assets? As a country don't we owe to invest more in them? They have proved their intent and worth, now the nation needs to prove if we deserve these stars!

Prakhar's family was contemplating his future plan for last 5 to 6 month, if he should be going abroad after 10th class, 12th class or after his graduation. When I spoke to him he was clear that he wants to pursue 'Robotics' and after 10th class he is not keen to go abroad because as per him post class 10^th, the educational institutes in the west emphasise more on leadership, community and managerial skills but he yearns for more academically driven approach, which is there in Indian educational system. But the warning ‘brain drain’ call was when he mentioned that for his post-graduation he might go abroad.

To my surprise his father's reply made me think, what is the state doing to save, nourish and use this bright talent? Prakhar's father Mr Nitin Agarwal said “we don't want our son to go abroad, the entire world is turning introvert, we are nationalist, we want our son to serve the country, we want his talent to be used for the country but what can we do when there are only few stereotype career options in this country, there is nobody to guide us beyond those options”.

This is exactly where the educational system and the state structure in western countries score above us. Young talent is picked up from a tender age and then groomed to serve the country. There are multiple examples in the field of sports & academics where kids with special talents become the responsibility of the state. No wonder they end up winning laurels at Olympics, Nobel Prize & Oscars to name a few.


I hope and pray that this country keeps track and nourish Prakhar's brilliance, and treats him like an asset for this country’s growth and development. 

Also click this link:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVTFL6FIL_M

Usain, Bolt your libido!

He is a champion, who has taken perfection on tracks to a level, which will take generations for any human to achieve. 

Now some questions, that may raise some eyebrows.

Is he a legend? Is he someone to whom children should look up? Is he a personality every mother would want her child to be like? Can he be an ambassador for humanity? Can we really idealize him as a role model? 

These questions are suddenly clouding the mind of people, his fans in particular, after Bolt was in headlines for:

1.     One night stand with a Brazilian student in Rio after making world record in 4*100 meter relay.

2.     For having South London girls for roucous party at his London hotel. 

3.     Handing out his Rio medals to girls who flashed their assets to him in London.

So, is Usain Bolt affected by Tiger Woods or Charlie Sheen syndrome? Well... the signs are evident, the testosterone that led to record-breaking feat on-tracks is now on the other record-breaking spree off the tracks. 

No wonder, Usain's off-field antics are bolt out of the blue for his fans and family. His sister Christine and his girlfriend Kasi are upset with his notorious captures. 

Family, friends & fans love Usain for what he has achieved but the problem begins when one thinks that they can get away with anything after these achievements. 

Sexcapades of sport stars like golf prodigy Tiger Woods, Brazilian soccer sensation Ronaldo, champion athlete Edvin Moses led to their fall from greatness.

Bolt is the greatest but is he a legend?  Only the greatest can triumph in three consecutive Olympics with 9 gold medals in the same three events but to be a legend requires a character that can digest success and set an example for the generations to follow and talk even after you are long gone.

Such are the traits of legends that greats like Sir Don Bradman, Jack Nicklaus, Michael Schumacher, Dhyan Chand are still remembered, revered and idolized. The present crop of sports icons like Roger Federer, Lionel Messi, Visawanathan Anand and few more have the groundings of a future legend.

It is Usain Bolt, who has to decide if he wants to fade away as being once the greatest or he wished to be a role model, whose name gets engraved in the list of legends.

Population of 1.25 billion & just 2 medals in Rio Olympics! India introspect!

With Yogeshwar Dutt being knocked out in the first round of 65 kgs freestyle wrestling, team India lost its hope of bringing home third medal from Rio Olympics. Yes; ironically we had high hopes for third medal for India from the Olympic 2016 from Yogeshwar Dutt, the other two medals brought in are silver by PV Sindhu for Badminton and bronze by Sakshi Malik for freestyle wrestling. 

What an irony! In Rio 2016, we have the largest ever delegation of 117 athletes and we could win only two medals. Now, compare this with countries like Iran; a delegation of 63 athletes won 8 medals including 3 gold medals, Thailand; a delegation of 55 athletes won 6 medals that include 2 gold medals, Azarbaijan; a delegation of 55 athletes won 18 medals, including 1 gold medal. 

Something that will take you by surprise is the stark difference in population count of these countries when compared to India. The combined population of Iran, Thailand and Azarbaijan is still lesser than that of Uttar Pradesh. The population of Azarbaijan is approx 9.5 million, which is far lesser than National Capital New Delhi. 

So the big question is why world's second most populous country with 1.25 billion people can produce meager 117 athletes of Olympic standard and these could only get 2 medals, that too with no gold.

Also, we need to introspect, why in last 116 years of India's Olympic journey, we have won just 28 medals with only 9 gold medals that too 8  golds in Hockey and only 1 in the individual event of shooting by Abhinav Bindra in 2008 Beijing Olympics. What can be inferred from these glaring statistics?

1.      Sports other than Cricket are not given much weightage as a career option by people because neither they appear financially lucrative nor glamorous as cricket.

2.      More than the government, it's the apathy of corporates & the wealthy individuals towards other sports that has to change. Imagine badminton coach P Gopichand had to mortgage his house to build his badminton academy in Hyderabad, which finally gave a silver & a bronze in badminton in two consecutive Olympics i.e in 2012 & 2016.

3.      At the grass root level schools and colleges lack the basic infrastructure that can encourage other sports, so even if someone is god-gifted with a natural talent then it gets crushed at the school level, itself.

4.      The concept of sports school or college is still not seen as an option in India's education system.

5.      In the last 116 years of our Olympic exposure, we have not been able to produce many Olympians of international class, therefore, we also lack coaches, who can nurture and groom the talent for the international level.

6.      Other than hockey, that too only till 1980, India has not done well in team events in Olympics and no wonder, this is a poor reflection of our esprit de corps.

7.      Finally... However, we may criticise Shobha De's comment on Twitter but as a country we only celebrate individual brilliance, rather than taking Olympics seriously . Hence, the popular lingo 'kaun sa Olympic mein medal jeetna hai' needs to vacate our mind. 

India has shown the globalised world that from information technology to beauty peagents, from cricket to yoga, we can be the world leaders and world beaters, so why not show the same spirit in Olympics? Olympics is a platform that has inspired generations, it is a sea that carries the waves of excellence of human spirit and endurance, so why shouldn't we be touched by it?