Karnataka election: Understanding dance of democracy in regional context

Congress workers led by NSUI staging a protest in Mysuru during election campaign for Karnataka Assembly election. (Photo: NSUIKarnataka)

Electioneering has entered its last lap in Karnataka Assembly election which is all set for a triangular contest between the ruling Congress, lead contender the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Janata Dal (Secular), which is eyeing to play kingmaker after results are declared on May 15. The votes will be cast on May 12 for 224 Assembly seats in Karnataka.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi hit the campaign trail in Karnataka on Tuesday while senior BJP leaders including party president Amit Shah, chief ministerial candidate BS Yeddyurappa and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath have been relentlessly campaigning in the state.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi has already completely seventh leg of election campaign in Karnataka. He is expected to address more rallies in the state beginning Thursday till the campaign ends on May 10.

Karnataka has 30 districts which are geographically divided in six regions on the basis of regional historical similarities. These regions have shown distinctive political and electoral trend in the past elections. The regions are: Hyderabad Karnataka, Bombay Karnataka, Central Karnataka, Coastal Karnataka and Southern Karnataka or Old Mysore (Mysuru) region.

Hyderabad Karnataka

Hyderabad Karnataka is called so because the districts comprising the region were once part of the princely State of Hyderabad. These districts – Bidar, Gulbarg, Yadgir, Raichur and Koppal – have 40 Assembly segments. The region has sizeable population of the Lingayats and OBCs.

Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge is the powerful OBC leader from this region. Before crackdown on mining baron brothers – the Reddys (G Janardhana Reddy, G Karunakara Reddy and G Somashekara Reddy of Bellary) – were also a force to reckon with in this region.

Despite the presence of known BJP supporters in the Lingayats and the Reddy brothers, the entire region has voted favourably for the Congress. In the last Assembly election in 2013, the Congress won 23 seats while the BJP won seven. The Karnataka Janata Paksha (KJP) of BS Yeddyurappa won two. Now the KJP has merged with the BJP. The JDS had won five seats while others secured two seats.

In terms of vote share, the Congress polled 35 per cent votes in 2013 followed by the BJP at 17 per cent and the JD(S) at 16 per cent. The KJP secured 14 per cent votes. The combined vote share of the BJP and KJP stood at 31 per cent in 2013.

The scenario changed dramatically in 2014 Lok Sabha polls, by when BS Yeddyurappa had returned to the BJP fold. In 2014, the BJP secured 47 per cent votes followed by the Congress at 45 per cent while JD(S) got only 2 per cent vote – 14 per cent less than what it polled just a year ago.

If we interpolate the vote share of the Lok Sabha polls on the Karnataka Assembly constituencies, the BJP could have won 23 seats in 2014 with the Congress pocketing the rest 17 segments.

Currently, six Assembly seats in the region are vacant, four of which were won by the JD(S) and one each by the Congress and the BJP.

Bombay Karnataka

Bombay Karnataka region comprises of districts that were carved out from the former State of Bombay. The region has six districts – Bijapur, Bagalkot, Belgaum, Dharwad, Gadag and Haveri – and 50 Assembly seats. Gadag and Haveri were originally part of Dharwad district before they became separate administrative units.

The region has strong presence of the Lingayats and has sent powerful leaders like JH Patel, Ramakrishna Hegde and SR Bommai in the past. It has been a BJP stronghold since 2008 Karnataka election. The BJP performed well in 2009 parliamentary polls and also in 2014 elections. However, the Congress was benefitted the most when Yeddyurappa parted ways with the BJP ahead of 2013 Assembly election.

In 2013, the Congress won 30 seats in the region followed by the BJP which got 15 seats. The JD(S) won just one. Yeddyurappa’s KJP also won only one Assembly segment. Others got three seats. The Congress’ vote share in 2013 was 38 per cent followed by the BJP (27 per cent), the JD(S) – 11 per cent – and the KJP (10 per cent).

In 2014, the BJP regained primacy in the region polling 51 per cent of votes while the Congress got 43 per cent seat. The JD(S) suffered major loss getting only two per cent votes. Going by the vote share of 2014 elections, the BJP was leading in 39 Assembly segments while the Congress was reduced to 11 – down from 30 a year ago.

 Coastal Karnataka

Karnataka has three districts that have direct access to the Arabian Sea. These are Uttar Kannada, Udupi and Dakshin Kannada. The region has 19 seats which have seen electoral tussles fashioned by religious divides.

Coastal region has sizeable population of Christians and Muslims, who are numerically placed to influence election results at many seats in the Coastal Karnataka. The Hindutva agenda of the BJP becomes a talking point during election time here. 

In 2013, when the BJP was smarting under the impact of Yeddyurappa’s revolt, the Congress secured 13 seats in Coastal Karnataka. The BJP won only three seats. In terms of vote share, the Congress polled 43 per cent votes while the BJP got 34 per cent and the JD(S) nine per cent. The KJP had polled three per cent of the votes.

A year later, the BJP secured 55 per cent votes with Congress lost three per cent votes compared to the Assembly election while the JD(S) could get only 0.3 per cent vote. In 2014, the BJP could have won 17 Assembly seats while the Congress led in two constituencies only.

Central Karnataka

The four districts of Chikmaglur, Chitradurga, Davangere and Shimoga form the Central Karnataka region which has 26 seats. Both the Congress and the BJP claim equal dominance in the region that has been a witness to many close contests in the past.

In 2014, the BJP secured 46 per cent votes comfortably ahead of Congress’ 37 per cent. The performance was better than the combined vote share of the BJP and KJP in 2013 Karnataka Assembly polls when they polled 33 per cent (15+18) votes.

The Congress won 15 seats in 2013 followed by JD(S) that won six seats and the BJP which pocketed four seats. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah hopes to keep Congress’ lead in the region with his government’s proposal for according minority status to the Lingayats.

The Central Karnataka has strong presence of Veershaivas and Lingayats. While Veershaivas don’t consider Lingayats as a separate sect, the latter have harboured an ambition of a being recognised as a distinct religious denomination. They have had long historical connect. With Siddaramaiah playing to the gallery by sending Karnataka government’s recommendation to the Centre, the Congress is likely to gain from a possible split in the Lingayat votes.

Southern Karnataka or Old Mysore (Mysuru) region

The Mysore region is electorally the most significant part of Karnataka. It comprises of nine districts – Tumkur, Chikkaballapura, Kolar, Ramanagar, Chamarajnagar, Mandya, Hassan, Kodagu and Mysore or Mysuru - and has 57 Assembly segments.

This region has strong presence of Vokkaligas making Deve Gowda’s JD(S) a force in Karnataka politics. The Congress has done well in the past in this region which gave the party a leader like SM Krishna, who is now with the BJP. He had quit the Congress saying that he had been sidelined but in the BJP, he is not seen campaigning anywhere for the party in Karnataka Assembly election.

In 2013, the Congress got 26 of 57 seats in Old Mysore region followed by 25 won by the JD(S) and three by the BJP. In terms of vote share, the Congress got 38 per cent votes while the JD(S) polled 34 per cent and the BJP secured eight per cent. The KJP got nine per cent vote here.

In 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the Congress retained its superiority by securing 42 per cent votes that could have translated into victory at 34 Assembly seats. The JD(S) won 29 per cent votes leading in 15 Assembly segments while the BJP got 24 per cent votes securing lead on 10 seats. Currently five Assembly seats are vacant in the Mysore region.

Bangalore region

Bangalore is the heart of political activities in Karnataka. Though it is geographically part of the Mysore region, it is treated as a separate regional political entity which has 32 seats across five districts – Bengaluru Urban, Bengaluru Rural, Brihan Bengaluru Metropolitan (BBMP) North, BBMP South and BBMP Central.

The Congress and the BJP have been in close electoral fight in Bangalore region in the past. In 2013, the Congress won 15 seats while the BJP pocketed 12 and the JD(S) five, two of which are currently vacant. The Congress polled 41 per cent votes in 2013 followed by the BJP at 32 per cent (plus two per cent by the KJP) while the JD(S) secured 19 per cent votes.

In 2014 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP saw a surge polling 53 per cent of the votes that could have translated into victory at 24 Assembly seats. The Congress got 37 per cent or 8 Assembly seats if the Lok Sabha election votes are taken into account. The JD(S) got only six per cent votes in 2014.

Overall, the Congress had won 37 per cent votes in 2013 for 122 seats and the BJP and the JD(S) 20 per cent each for winning equal number of 40 seats.  In 2014 elections, the Congress polled 41.2 per cent votes while the BJP got 43.4 per cent votes.

If 2014 vote share was interpolated on the Assembly segments, the BJP would have won 132 seats followed by the Congress at 77 and the JD(S) at 15.

(A part of write up appeared on indiatoday.in) 

Prabhash's Videos

Atal Bihari Vajpayee, BJP's master politician who profoundly admired Jawaharlal Nehru 😊😊

Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (Photo: @AJnKyaG

It is nothing short of a sin for a BJP leader to speak good of the Congress and particularly of the party leaders from Nehru-Gandhi family. It is, however, a totally different matter that the BJP has appropriated half of the Nehru-Gandhi lineage - those who survived Sanjay Gandhi, the most controversial politician from the family.

Nevertheless, the BJP threw up a prime minister, who is accorded the status of a deity in the Sangh family's political extension, and who respected Congress's patron ideologue Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru immensely.

Atal Bihari Vajpayee, 93 now, formed the first BJP-led government at the Centre. Over a period of six years, Vajpayee held the prime minister's post and was the most glowing man from the Sangh Parivar until Shining India campaign took his lustre out in 2004. Vajpayee is reportedly in an almost vegetative state and following the diktat of providence.

On the basis of whatever I could gather about him, I can't say that I know enough about him to describe his persona. But a few things stand out about him.

Vajpayee was a core believer in Hindutva as defined in Sangh's own dictionary. The literal meaning of Sangh's Hindutva overlaps with Hinduism as religion. But going by Sangh's lexicon, Hindutva is an umbrella concept for all the people whose forefathers had roots in India. 

This is a very confusing concept because no one knows what the cutoff date is for demarcating the founding of roots. And, what if someone came to India just after the cutoff date. Fixing a date is troublesome and discriminatory. The men and women who came here and adopted India as their home, and became Indians are long gone. Their progeny is here. 

None can differentiate today between the children from the two or more stocks. They have become one. And, even if one can distinguish and define them as separate from one another, can that be the basis for hailing one group as Hindu and rejecting the other as non-Hindu if both practice and follow the same culture?

Compare this with what is happening in Assam or for that matter in Jharkhand. If some groups want 1971 as the cut off date in Assam or a few others even an early date, in Jharkhand there is a demand for and protest against making 1931 as the cut off date for recognising a person as domiciled. Who is true Assamese or Jharkhandian? How is someone born before 1931 a greater Jharkhandian than someone born in 1991 or 2011 for that matter?

Given that major anthropological and historical view (whether one accepts or not) is that the humans evolved in East Africa around Ethiopia and travelled to different parts of the world in successive millennia, who can claim to be a true Hindu? If someone or the other settled on some piece of land first, can s/he be the sole claimant of that land? It is no fault of others if they were born years or millennia later.

Coming back to Sangh and Vajpayee, they have not made it clear if there is any cut off date. But a large number of their supporters and followers thrive on religious Hindutva and give the entire academic discourse a communal fodder to fight for in politics and society.

Secondly, Vajpayee was a fierce nationalist. An incident from mid-late 1990s shows his concern for national interests. At one point in the 1990s, three governments came and went in super quick succession. Vajpayee was so worried - with economies in the South East Asia floundering - that he sent an emissary to Manmohan Singh with a proposal that if Congress could make the latter the prime minister, the BJP would support a Congress government from outside. He had secured the support of LK Advani for the same. This is unthinkable today whatever the cause may be.

Thirdly, though Vajpayee supported, with brains the least if not browns, demolition of Babri mosque at what is believed to be the birthplace of Lord Rama - his speech given on December 5, 1992 is a testimony to that, he was not a leader to advocate discrimination against Muslims on the ground of religion. His poetry on the partition of India is living evidence. It is reproduced here under:

पंद्रह अगस्त की पुकार

पंद्रह अगस्त का दिन कहता --
आज़ादी अभी अधूरी है।
सपने सच होने बाक़ी हैं,
रावी की शपथ न पूरी है।।
जिनकी लाशों पर पग धर कर
आज़ादी भारत में आई।
वे अब तक हैं ख़ानाबदोश
ग़म की काली बदली छाई।।
कलकत्ते के फ़ुटपाथों पर
जो आँधी-पानी सहते हैं।
उनसे पूछो, पंद्रह अगस्त के
बारे में क्या कहते हैं।।
हिंदू के नाते उनका दु:ख
सुनते यदि तुम्हें लाज आती।
तो सीमा के उस पार चलो
सभ्यता जहाँ कुचली जाती।।
इंसान जहाँ बेचा जाता,
ईमान ख़रीदा जाता है।
इस्लाम सिसकियाँ भरता है,
डॉलर मन में मुस्काता है।।
भूखों को गोली, नंगों को
हथियार पिन्हाए जाते हैं।
सूखे कंठों से जेहादी
नारे लगवाए जाते हैं।।
लाहौर, कराची, ढाका पर
मातम की है काली छाया।
पख़्तूनों पर, गिलगित पर है
ग़मगीन ग़ुलामी का साया।।
बस इसीलिए तो कहता हूँ
आज़ादी अभी अधूरी है।
कैसे उल्लास मनाऊँ मैं?
थोड़े दिन की मजबूरी है।।
दिन दूर नहीं खंडित भारत को
पुन: अखंड बनाएँगे।
गिलगित से गारो पर्वत तक
आज़ादी पर्व मनाएँगे।।
उस स्वर्ण दिवस के लिए आज से
कमर कसें, बलिदान करें।
जो पाया उसमें खो न जाएँ,
जो खोया उसका ध्यान करें।।


This poem also tells that Vajpayee was a romantic poet. Ironically, he did not marry because, to use his own words, he did not get time to marry.

In 2003, current Union minister Vijay Goel had compiled some interesting facts about Vajpayee's life as the former prime minister turned 78. According to Goel's compilation Jawaharlal Nehru was his fovourite political leader. The BJP leaders, right from LK Advani and Narendra Modi have blamed Nehru for all the ills but Vajpayee admired him for whatever he was.

Informed people say that after Vajpayee first became the external affairs minister and entered his office, he immediately noticed a blank spot on the wall. He had been to the MEA office earlier as well. With the defeat of Indira Gandhi's Congress government in 1977, the Janata Party had come to power. As all the ministry offices were getting new look in anticipation that the new ministers would not like any reminiscences of the past regime, all such signs and symbols were being removed. The same had happened with Atal Bihari Vajpayee's office.

But as they say, Vajpayee was a little different. He immediately noticed that the photograph of the man who held the MEA office for the longest period of 17 years was missing. He asked the secretary about the blank spot on the wall saying, "Panditji's photograph was here. Where has it gone? I want it back."

This seems improbable to have happened over four decades ago. Vajpayee had more than one reason to hate Nehru. He had trained in the RSS, where Nehru was and continues to be the mother of all ills afflicting India. He had partitioned the country, in RSS's book, and allowed Pakistan and China to take half of Kashmir. 

Vajpayee had just been sent to jail by a repressive (Sanjay Gandhi-controlled) Indira Gandhi government. But Vajpayee did not hate Nehru. He got the photograph back to its original spot. It was also a sign that he believed that governance was a continuous process.

How much Vajpayee admired Nehru is also evident from his glowing tribute to the first prime minister of India on the floor of the Lok Sabha on latter's demise in 1964. But that tale in some other tale.

Sridevi: Chandni meets her creator leaving contemporaries in Sadma

Thousands came out on streets in Mumbai to witness Sridevi's last journey

At an informal lunch party that former Union minister Jaipal Reddy had organized at his Delhi residence in 2007 for journalists and some other people, he said that 1990 was the transformational year with which the Age of Innocence ended in India. 

Through silver screen, Sridevi led Indians from that Age of Innocence into the Age of Smartness.

Sridevi was the reigning queen of 1980s and the first female superstar of Indian film industry. She was unparalleled during those days in beauty, elegance and style in the film industry. Sridevi had the innocence of a child and sex appeal of a diva. She effervesced super hotness and coolness of a persona that charmed her in all roles that she played in a career spanning over 40 years.

Having played the role of child Lord Murugan at the age of 4, Sridevi was perhaps destined to be a superstar and darling of the Indian masses. She made her first adult debut when she was only 13 in a Tamil film, Moondru Mudichu meaning three knots. A year ago, she had debuted in Hindi films as a child actor in Julie that came out in 1975 half of India was yet to be born.

She made her debut in Bollywood as lead actress in Solva Sawan. She struck chords with the Hindi masses immediately. She cast a spell on the masses Hindi audience of 1980s films who not accustomed to such grace and sex appeal in one package, especially among the lead female actors.

When Solva Sawan came out in 1979, Sridevi was only 16. It was a remake of a Tamil film in which she had acted along with Kamal Haasan and Rajinikanth, two other superstars from the south. A couple of songs from the film are still among favourites of FM radio stations. 

pic.twitter.com/VNgw7FY9rF

— SRIDEVI BONEY KAPOOR (@SrideviBKapoor) February 28, 2018

Sridevi sent movie buffs in a frenzy with her dance sequences pairing with Jeetendra in film Himmatwala in 1983. With Mawali and Tohfa, Jeetendra and Sridevi became the most sought-after pair in Hindi cinema. And, Jaya Prada, now a politician, emerged as her rival.

Rivalry between Sridevi and Jaya Prada was such that despite giving superhit films together, they were not on talking terms.

The open cold war was so intense that even the opposite actors felt uncomfortable. With hope that Sridevi and Jaya Prada would end their fight, Rajesh Khanna and Jeetendra once locked them in the make-up room while shooting for film, Maqsad. But the ice was too thick to break. Sridevi and Jaya Prada didn't talk.

Sridevi's presence in films was a guarantee of success during the mid and late 1980s. She was credited for the super success of Nagina, Nigahen and Chandni even though these were multi-starrer films.

She played opposite Dharmendra, his son Sunny, Amitabh Bachchan, Kamal Haasan, Rajinikanth, Anil Kapoor, Mithun Chakravarty, Akshay Kumar and all the top stars of her heyday.

She had a special relation with Mithun Chakravarty. It was rumoured (there are reports suggesting it to be true) that Mithun and Sridevi secretly married but somehow things did not take the shape they wanted.

Sridevi married Boney Kapoor in the late 1990s. In one of the interviews, Boney Kapoor said that he approached Sridevi for Mr India only because he wanted to get close to her. Sridevi's mother quoted an exorbitant fee of Rs 10 lakh for those days. Boney agreed to pay Rs 11 lakh.

There are several characters that Sridevi will be remembered for. But those played in Sadma, Mr India, Chaalbaaz, Chandni, Nagina, Judaai, English Winglish and MOM may actually never be erased from the memories of her contemporaries.

Today as she was consigned to flames and mingled with the mother earth, Judaai of Chandni, who tried to be the biggest Chaalbaaz, delivering dialogues mixing English Winglish, with the cutest shrill voice, left every Mr India in the gravest Sadma. Sridevi was a true Nagina of Bollywood.

#WATCH Mumbai: Mortal remains of #Sridevi wrapped in tricolour, accorded state honours. pic.twitter.com/jhvC9pjLMp

— ANI (@ANI) February 28, 2018

Corrupt the corruption

Picture for representation. (Photo credit: @ACA_India https://twitter.com/ACA_India)

Corruption is the order of the day. Linguists say that the use of word “corruption” has gained momentum since 1985. The usage graph shows an accelerating trend worldwide.

Corruption simply means decay or deviation from what it ought to be. Certain words, concepts and thoughts undergo corruption through ages. But, such corruption does not bother living of humans. When corruption is effected by humans deliberately for personal gains through misuse or abuse of her/his official position, such a conduct is worrisome for the entire nation.

Mahatma Gandhi once said, “I will not let anyone walk through my mind with their dirty feet.” He believed corruption begins in mind. My vision of a ‘Corruption-free India’ is an endorsement of Mahatma Gandhi’s thought. Such an India will not be governed by people, who would justify corrupt conduct in the name of “need of the family” or with answers like, “everyone does it”.

Schools and parents have the biggest role to play in building a corruption-free India. Parents and people in parenting positions are the first teachers of all individuals. They ensure continuity not only of the genes but also of societal behaviour.

"I will not let anyone walk through my mind with their dirty feet." 

Mahatma Gandhi 

If a child sees parents telling a lie to evade some uneasy questions or to escape a situation what they perceive as embarrassing, she learns the same pattern of behaviour and thus gets her first training in corruption. This training may come from watching parents asking the kids to tell a visitor that “papa is not home” or when she sees them saying no to her demands on the pretext of having no money but buying groceries or vegetables the same evening for household.

The young ones are too immature to differentiate the value of money against basic needs like vegetables and a toy. She may grow up to learn the difference, but enroute she also got the training of how to feign corruption for a lifetime. Unfortunately, India is parenting millions of children for corruption.

An Indian poet-sage said that a fish should not be trained to climb a tree...

Schools are not designed to nurture talent of children. The curriculum is same for all children of different inclinations, interests and abilities. It is only in high school education, children are given some sort of freedom to choose subjects in bunches.

An Indian poet-sage said that a fish should not be trained to climb a tree and judged on the basis of its performance to climb the tallest vegetation.

...change will come through reverse-corruption...

Since kids are different but are asked to perform the same task, a majority of them turn to tweak the rules of the game called education to attain the desirable results. After all, no one loves embarrassment. Corruption saves them from it in schools and they don’t see using the same technique to succeed rest of their lives.

Corruption as a value system must change. This change will come through reverse-corruption. If corruption is the order of the day, this order needs to be corrupted by all – the parents, the teachers, the government, the politician, the bankers, the traders and most of all I.

I am a stranger here, I am what I am. RIP Shashi Kapoor

And, there lived one and only Shashi Kapoor. (Photo credit: Twitter)

Unlike his more illustrious elder brother and more popular co-artists like Amitabh Bachchan, Shashi Kapoor did not own an era of Hindi film industry. Yet, he surpassed many of his generation and generations after him in many respects.

Born - barely a month after Subhas Chandra Bose brought a new energy in the Indian freedom movement when he got elected as Congress president at Haripura session- on March 18, 1938, Shashi Kapoor brought freshness in Hindi cinema with his carefree gait, relaxed dialogue delivery, effortless acting and mesmerising smile.

He was the youngest of the sons of Prithviraj Kapoor, the legendary theatre personality. His mother Ramsarni Kapoor named him Shashi, thus unknowingly created father-son pair of Earth (Prithvi) and Moon (Shashi). 

Defying the laws of gravity and nature as explained by greats like Newton and Einstein, romantic poets dream of an unseen love between the moon and the earth. That unseen love was the glue that bound Shashi to Prithvi.

It was Shashi Kapoor and not his elder brothers Raj and Shammi, who would fulfill Prithviraj's dream after he was done in by illness. Shashi was fiercely involved with the theatre group of Prithviraj Kapoor. 

Started in 1942, the Prithvi Theatre was a moving troupe of artists which Prithviraj wished to station at some place. Shashi Kapoor realised his father's dream in 1978 when Prithvi Theatre opened at Juhu in Mumbai, six years after Prithviraj's death.

Like many Kapoors, Shashi too began acting in films as a child artist. The most memorable of performances of Shashiraj (as Shashi Kapoor was cast as child actor to avoid confusion with another child actor named Shashi) include that in Aag, a film exploring a man's love for theatre since childhood. This was also the first film in which Raj Kapoor and Nargis appeared together. 

Shashi Kapoor played the child, Kewal, who was madly in love with theatre and Nirmala. The story, in flashback, resembles the story of Shashi Kapoor, who loved only acting/theatres and Jennifer Kendal. No other vice in life.

At the age of 23, having already assisted directors in a few films including Sunil Dutt's debut movie Post Box 999, Shashi Kapoor made his entry to Hindi films as Dharmaputra. Soon, he would go international with English films like The Householder and Shakespeare Wallah.

But, when India and Pakistan fought over land and in skies in 1965, Shashi Kapoor returned with Jab Jab Phool Khile to remove the gloom that the war brought to the country. It was the time, when India faced severe food crisis. 

Only a year later, India would agree to humiliating terms of the US for import of foodgrains before green revolution came calling. At that time, with over half-a-dozen melodies, Shashi Kapoor, paring with Nanda, gave romantic solace to the distraught commoner on the street. 

Shashi Kapoor would go on to act in more than 100 films after that and give memorable performances in Neend Hamari Khwab Tumhare, Sharmilee, Trishna, Aa Gale Lag Ja, Satyam Shivam Sundaram, Chor Machaye Shor and lot more. 

He teamed up with Amitabh Bachchan to give hits like Kabhie Kabhie, make Deewar memorable with dialogues like Mere Paas Maa Hai, leave audiences in bursts of laughter in Do Aur Do Paanch and do a balancing act in Kala Patthar emerging as the only bright character in a film that portrayed dark shades of coal business.

Despite all hits and critical acclaim, there is one song from Jab Jab Phool Khile that defines Shashi Kapoor; he effortlessly screenplayed the melody as a Kashmiri boy to caress the strings of emotion in every Indian: Yahaan Main Ajnabee Hoon, Main Jo Hoon Bas Wahi Hoon (I am a stranger here, I am what I am). That stranger is now back in his own country.

(An edited version of this write up was published by the India Today Movies earlier today)

Narendra Modi's Independence Day 2017 speech: PM is either ignorant or incorrigibly optimistic

Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Red Fort during his Independence Day speech today. (Screengrab: DD Live Stream)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivered his fourth speech from the Red Fort on the Independence Day 2017 today. Historically, the Independence Day speeches have been considered as occasions to showcase the policies of the government.

PM Narendra Modi took the occasion this year to enumerate the achievements of his government. He talked about reforms including demonetisation and GST. But, it looked a bit immature to take credit for launching Mars Mission in nine months. The programme had taken shape during the previous government led by Manmohan Singh.

Narendra Modi also talked about GST but it was also a work in continuation. Demonetisation and surgical strikes were his own completely. Though, many may point that surgical strikes had been conducted in the past as well. But, then no one ever offered any proof before. Narendra Modi government made a bold move not to just own a surgical strike but to shout it aloud so that the message is heard clear and straight both within and without.

Former Prime Ministers HD Deve Gowda and Manmohan Singh at Independence Day celebrations at the Red Fort in New Delhi. (Screengrab: DD Live Streaming)

Narendra Modi talked about ushering a new India by 2022. His new India to have jobs, double income than the present for farmers - which would translate into at least twice as much earning for others as well given the nature and system of our economy, total sanitation, no corruption, no hatred, no filthy competition and almost everything that would make India an ideal nation and society.

Mahatma Buddha and Lord Rama also conceptualised such a society and nation respectively. No one is sure about Lord Rama's period but Mahatma Buddha tried this some 2,500 years ago in Bihar, where only recently a chief minister resigned from the post of chief minister to become the chief minister joining hands with a former chief minister with whom he fought an almost meaningless ego battle.

Even Mahatma Gandhi envisioned an India of his dream. He saw his dream shattering but still had hopes that it would not resurrect once the 'mad nations' woke from their slumber and stopped human slaughter. The Mahatma could not live long enough to endure the pain of his dream being crushed, trampled and consigned to garbage mounds by his own proteges.

Union Minister Smriti Irani at the Independence Day celebration at the Red Fort in New Delhhi. (Screengrab: DD Live Streaming)

For the New India of PM Narendra Modi's vision, his government needs to create 1.3 crore full time employment every year, healthcare facilities need to be modernised and made available 24x7 all the 365 days of the year, burden of judiciary should reduce so that the cases could be disposed in six months after filing, police should be able to complete investigation of a case in two-three months, more than 35 crore people need to get literate and educated, government schools should deliver high quality education across language barrier in every village and ward, Parliament should be debating in five years if the country needed a law dealing with rape as it would vanish from the face of India, women should face no discrimination in homes, at work and public places.

In 1947, a section of people thought with freedom their homes will become happy, corruption would end, police would behave, nepotism would end and suraj would come. BR Ambedkar thought after 15 years of quota, the Dalits would be able to cast away the burden of centuries. In 1974-75, a group of enthusiasts sought if the first freedom failed them another would not as it would be total revolution. In 2011, a handful Indians and TV channel studios made us believe that corruption would be the last things India and Indians want. Next year, similar bunch of street troopers tried to convince India that Indians won't stare at, stalk, harass, molest, sodomise, rape or brutalise a soul in future. So on and so forth. And, here 125 crore people stand waiting for another suraj, the New India. Prime Minister Narendra Modi deserves a salute for believing that India and Indians would bring in an India of his vision in next five years. Either he does not know his 125 crore people or his optimism has turned into an obsession without any cure.

PS: Do I need to underscore here that this blog is only a reflection of one of my brainwave?