Know your score, Mr.MP

Dear Member of Parliament ,

As an Indian citizen, I take this opportunity to talk to you and convey what I feel needs to be conveyed to you, especially after the recent wash out of the current Parliament session.

I write to you because I don't see any other means of communicating with you. Not that this method is going to be effective and that you are going to mend your ways but because as an ordinary citizen, I bleed daily to eek out a living and you seek to drink my blood by way of wasting my tax-payer money in Parliament by not conducting any business that is even remotely associated with governance.

Mr.Member, the very fact that you are in Parliament repesents the trust that I, as a Citizen, have on you to ensure that my works are done. You were chosen based on trust based on what you and your political leaders told you would do once elected to Parliament. You and your leaders also swore on all the leaders of the past such as Gandhiji and others.So I trusted you. 

But, you broke my trust.

I want to remind you that you were elected to Parliament not to test your lung power that you often exhibt in shouting down anybody that dares to speak in the hallowed precints but to conduct the business of government that is to frame laws. But that is nowhere to be seen in the recent past.

I agree that it is my bounden duty to bear your expenses such as Telephone bills, Air Fare and your daily allowances. Now that I have paid your expenses and also your salary, what have you done to me, your employer ? Did you do anything that is remotely connected with governance in the parliament ? 

So the moot question is  : why should I continue to employ you ?

Would you employ your servant maid if she doesn't do what you ask her to do ? So, why should I employ you now that you neither do yours nor allow others in the parliament do their duties towards me ? 

Basically, are you serving me as well as I am serving you ? Are you worthy of my trust anymore ?

While it would not be appropriate for me to expect to have known about leaders of the past, I would like to draw your attention to what JFK ( John.F.kennedy ) said in a historical speech dubbed as 'City Upon A Hill " speech. In this he speaks about 4 parameters on which one would be judged as a public servant. 

"For of those to whom much is given, much is required. And when at some future date the high court of history sits in judgment on each one of us—recording whether in our brief span of service we fulfilled our responsibilities to the state—our success or failure, in whatever office we may hold, will be measured by the answers to four questions:

"First, were we truly men of courage—with the courage to stand up to one's enemies—and the courage to stand up, when necessary, to one's associates—the courage to resist public pressure, as well as private greed?

Secondly, were we truly men of judgment—with perceptive judgment of the future as well as the past—of our own mistakes as well as the mistakes of others—with enough wisdom to know that we did not know, and enough candor to admit it?

Third, were we truly men of integrity—men who never ran out on either the principles in which they believed or the people who believed in them—men who believed in us—men whom neither financial gain nor political ambition could ever divert from the fulfillment of our sacred trust?

Finally, were we truly men of dedication—with an honor mortgaged to no single individual or group, and compromised by no private obligation or aim, but devoted solely to serving the public good and the national interest". 

Well Mr.Member of Parliament, it would be too much to expect you to follow what JFK has said. 

You could atleaset consider democracy  not as a blood sport where one side needs to lose and that the result of any democratic activity would need to be bloody with no clear victory to anybody. 

When you didn't allow the parliament to function, not only did you destroy the sanctity of the structure called parliament but also the very spirit of democracy that is embodied in the structure.

So, as per JFK, when a future historian judges your behaviour, do you know what would your score be ? It would be zero out of four ( 0 / 4 ).

Would you want your children and grand children to read about your parliamentary performance scorecard with such a score ?

Regards
A worried Citizen

To Sirs and Madams with love ..

It all started with an FB post by Dhas, my friend of many years ( from my II std ), on the day being Teacher's Day and several follow-up posts by different friends. Thus was unshackled the reservoir of emotions that I have been nurturing over the past many years on my teachers. Out came random thoughts out of nowhere, some in unlikely combinations yet others in sequence that probably resembled the 'Timeline' in FB.

Many a thought was steeped in melancholy that just re-winded the long lost time at school. Apart from the melancholy strain, many such thoughts brought back memories of the exemplary teachers that were virtues personified. No words could properly describe the emotions that welled up my chest. I wouldn't attribute this to paucity of words in the English language but to my rather limited vocabulary of the fantastic language that is English.

Talking of the English language can never be complete without reverential references to the different colossus  that reigned my school in the English language department. A simple listing of the different teachers and their performances at school would be an understatement of their accomplishments as teachers. Let me list down some of them that I am able to recall  :

Mrs.Sridevi Padmanabhan ( Class VI and VII ) :

A motherly figure that inspired an undying love for the language. Her classes were poetry all the time as the eloquence with which she handled prose, poetry and composition seemed to be poetry to the ears. She inspired one to aspire to have a better handwriting. Never one to criticize, she always smiled at my mistakes and corrected me with such dedication that I felt as though I was her child. Still distinctly remember her handling of a lesson on Swami Vivekananda and his achievements in the US. She used to encourage students to deliver speeches in the assembly. A rare soul , once in a blue moon kind of person. Tried today to contact her over phone using an age old BSNL number only to be reminded that the number has not been in use.

Mr.G.Krishnamoorthy ( GK for us ):

The masculine version of Mrs.Sridevi. The dedication and passion that he exhibited while teaching poetry , I have never seen anywhere else excepting for Mrs.Ulagammal about whom we shall see soon. When GK taught Lucy Gray, we saw Lucy in his person. Wordsworth would have cried in joy seeing GK teach Lucy Gray. His handling of 'The solitary reaper' made me see the highland lass murmuring a melancholy strain near the Thiruvalluvar Statue. An episode that I can never forget is his handling of 'The Castle', a poem by Edwin Muir. The emphasis on 'wizened warder' , 'wicked-wicket gate' -- these stand out still. I even now hear GK reading the verses to me when ever I think of his classes. And not the least, he had me in tears when he taught 'To Sir with love' by E.R.Braithwaite as well as 'In celebration of being alive' by Dr.Christian Bernard. The very fact that I am able to recall the authors and the topics and the choicest adjectives stand testimony to the impact that his words have had on me and continue to haunt me ( if I might say so ). My children also know GK though they have never seen him. I would have repeated these to them that many times. Many years later when I read the book 'To Sir with love' and saw the movie by the same name thenceforth, I felt GK standing beside me. Such was the influence that GK exuded by his very thought and action. That much dedication and passion has never been seen until now. Fortunate to have been his student for 2 years.

Mr.T.K.Ramanujam  ( TKR a.k.a. Bahu ) : (Class XI )

This colossus rode the English sphere like Alexander rode all over the earth. His words were measured but authoritative that the very delivery of them would instill a feeling that nothing else could be true but his words. A man of few words, he spoke and taught with compassion. His very short congratulatory speech lasting for 3 minutes on the Principal when the latter won the Best Principal Award was remembered for a very long time. A highly erudite human who put his beliefs into action, he amazed me many a time with his mastery of the language. The only time you could see him not reading a book was probably when he used to cycle to school. I cherish the moments spent with him in class and in the Corporation Library. I learnt that the librarian would lend the new arrivals to TKR even before cataloging them. Such was his appetite for books. Never seen such a voracious reader in life.

Mrs.Ulagammal : ( Class IX & X )

She was the Tamil language in human form. Never one to utter an English word, she used to turn into Mother Theresa whenever she taught the non-detailed section on the Saint of Calcutta. She became the character and was so involved in teaching that she seldom noticed some noise in class. On her class being disturbed once in a while due to our pranks, one could see the Goddess of Fury in her. Even then, not an English word to be uttered. Such a dedication has also not been seen so far.

Mr.K.Venkatesan ( Echo ) : ( Class VIII )

A very versatile and respected person known for his erudition. Handled the Social Sciences for us. He was forced to do that because the Principal had chosen to close down Economics from the curriculum. He handled many a question ranging from the mundane to the esoteric from an inquisitive as well as troublesome class with such ease that we used to be dazed at the brilliance exhibited. While explaining about extremism ( it used to be the sikh extremists then fighting for Khalistan when they had not evolved into terrorists ), the ease with which he elaborated on the Irish Republican Army to the likes of Fidel Castro and the Tamil fighters and drawing parallels as well as distinctions among these groups - the depth of knowledge has inspired me to dwell deep into these issues. Hats off to Echo Sir for the path he has shown that even today serves as a beacon light.

There are a whole lot of other teachers like Mr.Ramachandran ( Rambo ) who simply exuded sincerity in his words and deeds, the Sanskrit teacher Mr.Pattabhiraman who personified simplicity and adherence to tradition, Mrs.Jailani who made the Class X Social Sciences interesting and open to debates, Mrs. Kanchana who was a very decent teacher who was never harsh and a whole list of other luminaries that have inspired and awakened the spirit of inquiry even in the adverse conditions that they were forced to teach and tried to make learning as enjoyable for us as was humanly possible for them to do.

To all the Sir(s) and Madam(s), a very humble and respectful Pranaam. There is nothing I can do more than saluting your sacrifice ( under the then very tyrannical conditions ) and your selfless dedication to your profession, teaching.

And to those teachers who have since passed away ( Mrs.Booma, Mr.Aranganathan, Pulavar Natarajan and Mrs.Muthulakshmi Raman), a very respectful homage.

Dear Teachers, you do not know what you have done to me as a person. Only I know what I used to be and what I am now and it is because of you that I am what I am.

Thank You

A proud Jawahar Product.

Election for Retirement .. ?

Dear Mr.President,

Congratulations on your being elected for retirement !

Well I wouldn't call you by your first name and suffix a 'da', not because I don't want to proclaim my knowledge of Bengali but because 'da' in Tamil is disrespectful. I need to respect you for your age, right ?

Mr.President, you might have to be content with living in the 340 room villa in Delhi ( henceforth called RB aka Rashtrapathi bhavan ). You would not enjoy the power-cuts that a free Indian enjoys as also the water shortage. However you would enjoy the solitude and peace of mind that the position brings you.

Just some pieces of advice to spend your retired life :

1. Go for a walk daily. You could choose to walk inside the villa or outside, in the Moghul gardens. But while walking please remember that the birds on top of the trees in the garden have a place to rest while many thousands of free Indians are free to rest in platforms.
2. Do not hesitate to talk on the phone. But ensure that you don't talk on the same phone everytime. have 4 to 5 mobile connections. You might never know which number Chidambaram has tapped.
3. Do not speak inside the RB.Chidambaram could have bugged the place  Please come out into the garden and speak or better don't speak at all for even if you speak, it wouldn't make any difference to the lives of the millions that are in the platforms.
4. Perform Sandhya -Vandhanam, err... Sonia-Vandhanam three times a day. This will ensure a peaceful retirement for the next 5 years. Your predecessor did that. Her predecessor didn't do that and hence has to spend time lecturing students and foreign universities.
5. Please ensure that you have time for the 'Living Thiruvalluvar' from Tamil Nadu, whenever he visits Delhi on his wheel chair. He would start coming soon once the 2G case is completed, to visit his family in Tihar. Better, spare a room for the old guy in your mansion so that he doesn't have to travel back to Chennai.
6. Keep in mind that the 'Living Thiruvalluvar' has demonstrated his sense of 'social justice' by voting for you and not for the tribal from Meghalaya. I know that you belong to that obnoxious community that should be riled at every opportunity - that is what the Socrates of the South has taught us.
7. Once you rest comfortably in RB, you will develop a deep sense of mercy and compassion. That has got something to do with the architecture of the RB. Hence accumulate all the mercy and compassion till the end of your term so that the same can be used to shower benevolence on the state guests Kasab, Afzal Guru and the Rajiv killers for they know not what they have done.
8. Please engage better speech writers for your annual tryst with the TV (Aug 15,Jan 26 etc ). Your predecessor, the lady who had her office out of the Air India plane, was so woefully pathetic that she didn't even know she was reading the previous years' speech.
9. Please read 'The Hindu' regularly to know about what is happening in the government and also to know what Arundati Roy has to say about the suffering Maoists.
10. Oh yes, beware of the Bengali anchor Barkha Dutt - the one who wears a slawar with a duppata and a 1 Re sized bindi only when ever she interviews Bengalis - she will be soon at your home to interview you. Please accept the interview as she is likely to help Sania Err...Sonia form the next govt.
11. Before I forget, ask your gate keeper to say " Addressee Not Found" for any posts that would come from Gujarat or Tamil Nadu. They would be pestering you for justice. Never mind, they know not that they don't belong to the Indian Union. The two states would automatically fall into the Union once the DMK and the Congress form the govt in Tamil Nadu and Gujarat respectively.
12. Finally, please perform the following  Manthra Japam 1008 times a day 
1. "We need to abolish black money"
2. "Poverty alleviation is our prime concern"
3. "Children are our future leaders"
4. "We will preserve communal harmony"

Before my patience drains out, please declare independence to West Bengal - கொசு தொல்லை தாங்க முடியல