My brother Rahul,

My brother Rahul,

You may not know but my sister is a great fan of yours! To me, you are my brother by virtue of being Rajiv uncle’s son. And, therefore, both of us – like millions all across the country, and the world – wish a lot for you! And, expect a lot from you – and rightly so.

Thus, when my sister made a comment on my previous piece “Why is India incredibly helpless, always?” on the recent Bombay serial blasts and in reference to your reaction in same regard that “Rahul should know better what that 1% failure of the government means in tackling terrorism as he has himself suffered a lot because of this 1% lapse in security by losing his father”, I thought you must pay attention to her and amend the things required to be at your end at the earliest.

Rahul, you are destined to become the next prime minister of the country if the Congress / UPA manages to retain power at the Center, which it will in all likelihood. And prime ministership, as you too know well – is not a position; it is a responsibility – lots of that, in fact! Those monumental responsibilities – coupled with accountability – will be towards the country and its citizens and also towards your own party and coalition. As you know, Prime Minister is The Leader of a country, and the “buck stops with him/her”.

Now, Rahul, imagine that you have become the prime minister and are faced with a similar – may be worse – situation of terror attacks on India. (No one believes that 13/7 was the last in sequence of attempts of terrorists.) Even then will you try to defend intelligence failure by making such remarks? And will that not amount to admitting the failure of your government in utilizing the mammoth infrastructure built to deal with all such eventualities? Moreover, do you believe that only admittance will suffice and exonerate you of your accountability towards maintaining peace and security in the nation? And, will the world not wonder at you and your government’s credibility to govern?

On the contrary, Rahul, I am sure that you will beforehand itself ensure that an effective anti-terror mechanism is functional and India is safe and secure and peaceful. Because, you very well realize that tackling terror is a “zero-error” and zero-tolerance” business.

So, Rahul, would you now care to “clarify” your statement in the press and let people know that you did not mean to disrespect the victims and their families and certainly did not try to defend the indefensible intelligence and administrative failure of the government in preventing the always-anticipated terror attacks?... Do it; you will benefit immensely in the long run by regaining whatever respect you have lost in public eyes, and hearts.

Rahul, as I said, India has lot of expectations from you – and rightly so. You have the fortune of inheriting the political gene pool of Nehru-Gandhi families and are all set to become the next prime minister of the country, as important in the global arena as India. But for this almost certain dream to come true, you will have to demonstrate to the nation and the world that you truly deserve the top post. Not that you have not already done so; however, you need to do more – much more.

You should start, Rahul, by strengthening Congress’ foundation in the political field and regaining its national party identity. Congress’ national base has got eroded badly. Reclaiming it would be a huge challenge. To make it happen you have to have dedicated politicians with high degree of integrity and support at state headquarters who would in turn work at the grassroots level and organize the party and make it strong enough to stand – and win – on its own. Congress cannot claim to be a national party by walking on coalition crutches – and being in coalition clutches, therefore! “Coalition compulsions” will otherwise keep pulling down the Congress and it will never be able to reclaim its foothold in the national political landscape.

Rahul, for this huge task, you need credible and able people – politicians. Politicians who are young, educated, clean, and have a dream and ambition for India – and not for their own self. As you too know, India is at the cusp of great things in the world. Being touted as one of the major powers of the world is a great responsibility as well as we will be required to live upto that image. By being seen as an utterly corrupt and chaotic country, a country which lacks courage to defend itself is going to be hugely detrimental in the progress of our country, both economically and politically. India will never be regarded as a “developed” and powerful nation – forget about the global leadership role that it envisages for itself - in the foreseeable future and that would be a big setback to all our global aspirations.

At the micro-level, Rahul, i.e., at the public level, the single most important expectation from any government at the helm is good governance. A government which is capable of delivering on its promises and needs of the people and society. A government which is courageous enough to maintain country’s dignity and security amidst growing fundamentalism and extremism. A government which will reverse India’s impression of being a “soft target” and will showcase to the evil elements that India will not tolerate any breach in its safety, security and peace and will not suffer losing even a single life to terrorism. A government which will exhibit “zero-tolerance” towards sinister plans of terror forces and will ensure a “zero-error” anti-terror mechanism to prevent even that 1% attack chance.

Rahul, I don’t have to tell you the obvious things that you are in a position even without being the prime minister today to actualize all the necessary things – for the Congress and the country, and in the process, enhance you worthiness as the future prime ministerial candidate of the country.

India is a young country and a young prime minister like you, Rahul, will do wonders, about which I do not have even 1% doubt! But you need to prepare yourself, sincerely and seriously…Rajiv uncle, and Sonia aunty & Priyanka, of course, besides my sister and I would be very proud of you J

Why is India incredibly helpless, always?

Terror has struck India again, Bombay to be precise. (Bal Thackeray would want to impose his diktat even today that I say Mumbai instead of Bombay!) And the spectacle in India is absolutely on the expected lines: serial blasts, people killed, chaos all around, victims shifted to hospitals, media frenzy, 24x7 coverage, news headlines screaming “Resilient Mumbai” / “Life goes on in Mumbai” / “Mumbai back at work” / “Indomitable Spirit of Mumbai lives on” / etc. etc., condolences expressed by political leaders in the same words as used post every such previous terror attacks, candle light homage by people, anger and frustration of population – Bombayiites in the current case, again – aired on news channels non-stop, press briefing by security agencies, PM’s “stern” statement that “perpetrators of terror should (?!) be brought to justice”, international condemnation – especially by the US and the UN, visit to hospitals and blast sites by top political leaders, criticism of Pakistan and our own country’s Pak-policy by the Opposition, … and the life will go on, as always, till yet another terror attack strikes Bombay or any other part of India…

This is India. Incredible, isn’t it?

The sequence of events post a terror strike is almost same in any other nation on this earth. The difference, however, lies in the fact that elsewhere such attacks is followed by actions by the government - unlike in India.

In India, on the contrary, crores of taxpayers’ money is being spent to protect the biggest terrorist caught on the Indian soil so far. That is Ajmal Kasab for the world, the terrorist whose remorseless acts of massacres on the night of 26/11 in 2008 is still fresh in mind of public, but our esteem judiciary fails to get convinced that the evidence caught on close circuit cameras are adequate to fast track his verdict and his hanging. It is shocking to see that instead of punishing the perpetrator, our country is hell bent on showcasing its “top of the world” criminal justice system to the world by protecting a terrorist! So what if in the process India has managed to throw away its responsibilities towards protection of its citizens and delivering justice to victims’ families? So what if in the process India has succeeded in sending a strong signal to terrorists all across the world the it is okay to target the country at will because our nation lacks courage to safeguard itself?

This is India. Incredible, isn’t it?

What perplexes me the most is India’s utter helplessness in all such situations!

Why cannot we act tough? Why cannot we tell the terrorists that “enough is enough” and that they stay clear of India? Why cannot we crackdown on terror outfits, within our boundaries and beyond if need be? Why cannot we let our neighbors – Pakistan and other surrounding nations - know that they “behave”? Why cannot we bolster our intelligence systems further? Why cannot we use “actionable” intelligence to fend off any probable attack? Why cannot we work in a coordinated manner to safeguard India? Why cannot we put a functional anti-terror mechanism in place? Why cannot we put adequate pressure on the US to stop supporting – using - Pakistan to suit its narrow global aspirations and in turn turn almost a blind eye to its terror activities? Why cannot we tell the US to stop funding Pakistan till it aborts its terror exports? Why cannot we relook at our foreign policies and forge strong alliances with other important nations and take their support on issues concerning global terrorism, affecting India the most? Why cannot we use the UN platform to put our case strongly in front of the world? Why …???

The swiftness we exhibit in naming all such attack dates as 26/11, 13/7 now – obviously inspired by 9/11 – and then conveniently forgetting about it a few days later to everybody’s bliss is the most disgusting aspect of our dealing with terror attacks.

There are numerous “whys” but before we get answers to all these and more, we will have to demonstrate to the world – and terrorists in particular – that we value an Indian’s life! That we will not tolerate loss of even a single life in hands of a terrorist! That if any terrorist tries to act funny, we will crush the entire terror infrastructure! That we will not permit any breach of our security and safety and peace and that anybody indulging into it will face severe consequences!

But most importantly, we will have to show to the world – and the terrorists in particular – that we will not hide behind the “resilience” curtains anymore! That we will act and act tough!

Ok, all these sound pretty politically patriotic rhetoric; and that is precisely what we have to avoid. We have to act!

By the way, what are all these talks of “resilience” and “spirit of Mumbai”? What do we expect the Mumbaikars to do the day after? Sit at home and watch endless coverage on television? For how long? Is there any other option than going to work the next day? Wouldn’t all of us if caught in a similar situation do the same? Have we not witnessed a similar response in other Indian cities as well? Or, seen people reacting in similar fashion in terror-struck international cities for that matter?

Let us stop indulging into such mindless discussions and even thoughts of “resilience” and “spirit”.

Let us not act victim anymore; instead, let us show courage and act tough against terrorism.

Let us start by hanging Ajmal Kasab and Afzal Guru immediately. I am sure that if the government is trying to play minority appeasement political card here by putting both of these hardcore terrorists in death “row” - and that is what the GOI is doing exactly - then the Supreme Court should intervene. It is high time. India needs to see justice delivered; and, a closure to 26/11.

I hate seeing India act “helpless” …

You would have been 66 today, Rajiv uncle :)

Rajiv uncle, I became your fan on the 31^st day of October in 1984. The character exhibited by you on that day while taking over the prime ministership of India attracted me towards you. I felt I have found my “Hero”! On one side you looked completely composed, showing no signs of extreme personal trauma with your mother’s assassination – every bit a national leader at that young age – and on the other side you seemed to be absolutely apolitical. Yes, you not looking like an average Indian politician appealed to me the most!

Rajiv uncle, as you were the first person I had become a fan of, I started behaving like one! If you would have met my parents they would have told you how annoyed they used to get seeing “windows” in newspapers even before the day was over! Even repeated scolding could not deter me from cutting out your photographs from newspapers everyday! Magazines were also routinely subjected to same brutal scissor treatment by me! Diamond Comics series dedicated to you was soon bought by me. The result of this hobby which I was pursuing religiously was that soon I had built a beautiful collection of your photographs – of all possible sizes - which gradually grew into uncountable numbers and a precious possession! (I still indulge into this habit.)

Rajiv uncle, today I will confess about my “chori”, the only one so far! – of my life. I had accompanied my parents to a doctor’s chamber where I saw November’84 – perhaps – issue of Frontline magazine dedicated to you. It was, as guessed by you rightly, full of your pictures. I politely requested the aged physician to give that magazine to me and he refused flatly. I acted like a “true” fan and resorted to the best technique I thought appropriate at that time: I filched the magazine! You should have seen the anger followed by resignation on my mother’s face later! But I still believe that “effort”, howsoever “illegal”, was worth it!

And, I was always thankful to our good old Doordarshan for giving adequate airspace to you, which ensured I could see you speak regularly.

Rajiv uncle, your becoming the prime minister also initiated me into the world of “current affairs” – politics – of India and the world as well. From Day1 of your assuming office I started maintaining a “Diary” in which I used to note down in brief your daily itinerary. Soon the ambit of my notings enlarged to sports – tennis and soccer in particular, and cricket in general – in separate diaries. (Soccer and F1 diaries are still being filled in regularly.)

Rajiv uncle, your becoming the PM also put me on the path of communication with a person whom I had never met. Yes, of course, I am taking about you. I treasure all your letters – replies – and cards – and your autographed photograph - which I can never exchange even for the entire wealth of this world! Thanking you for taking time out from your extremely busy schedule to reply – timely – to a young fan would not be adequate. I really do not know the right expression for this grand gesture of yours. But to say that I enjoyed exchanging views on the then prevailing political situations with you would be an understatement. In fact, the day I would post a letter or a card I would start waiting anxiously for your response! Initially you used to acknowledge my letter in a few words but gradually those grew into 2-pages long detailed discussions. I sometimes read them to relive those days!

Rajiv uncle, here I would like to confess about one of my biggest mistakes which I committed under the influence of my young age. I still hate myself for stopping writing to you after the Bofors scandal. To tell you honestly, my immature mind and heart were absolutely shattered at the alleged involvement of yours in the whole corruption scam. “Even Rajiv uncle? …” And I foolishly decided not to pursue my communication with you any further.

Rajiv uncle, I know that the world is not going to believe me if I tell them that after 8 months of hiatus, you wrote to me without waiting for a letter from me. And I felt ashamed till my core. I cannot thank you enough for ensuring our favourite-fan relationship continued till you lived. I have lived with enormous guilt since then because soon I came to know that I will never ever get the chance to “undo” it in this lifetime. I am saying sorry today, which I know I must have said then. I am sorry, Rajiv uncle.

Rajiv uncle, I remember receiving your last letter dated 21^st April on 3^rd of May to which I couldn’t send a reply as the next day only I had to travel to Bombay for academic pursuit. Little did I know then that I will never ever get the chance to reply to your letter in this life of mine. Your mindlessly brutal killing on 21^st May’91 shattered me immensely. I went numb. My family and close friends called me to inquire as they all knew how deeply attached I was to you. Watching your body being consigned to fire made me cry in public for the first time. Those sacred flames seemed to be taking away my Hero – my most favourite personality ever! – forever…

Rajiv uncle, I hugely regret not getting the opportunity to meet you in person. It was of course my biggest dream - to meet you and talk to you and discuss the entire world with you! But what I regret even more is the cruel cutting short of your life at a young age of 46. The closest I could get to you was when I met Sonia aunty at your home on 31st May'06 on her invitation.

Rajiv uncle, I felt intensely connected with you also because of our shared date of birth. You know that your untimely demise has never let me enjoy my birthday in real sense as every year on 20^th August, the date of my birth – our DOB – I start the day with moist eyes. I simply cannot help crying seeing your photographs in newspapers.

Today is 20^th August. You would have been 66 today. I know you are not alive in the worldly sense but you are - will be - alive - living - in my memory, forever. I miss you, nevertheless.

Happy Birthday, Rajiv uncle :)

Wake up, Mr. Prime Minister! (Jago, PM, jago!)

I say for the Nth time: Wake up, Mr. Prime Minister!

India says for the Nth time: Wake up, Mr. Prime Minister!

Tell us, Mr. Prime Minister, till how long will you continue to sleep? The entire nation awaits to hear your voice. There are myriad matters requiring your immediate intervention. India needs assurance from you, the prime minister of India, that all will be well soon. You simply cannot afford to keep silent. (“Silence of the Lamb”?!) As the head of state it is your primary responsibility to ensure that India keeps its commitments honourably. Of course, I am talking about the ongoing crises in the Commonwealth Games.

Mr. Prime Minister, the Indian Media – particularly Times Now - has done its job, though belatedly. Now it is your turn to act. Frankly, no other (developed) country would have let its Media do its work – of exposing the colossal levels of corruption in preparations of the CGW. And yet we are not prepared!

Yes, Mr. Prime Minister, though thousands of crores of tax payers’ money have been spent – criminally wasted – in the name of the Games, yet India is not prepared to host the Games. And you continue to be silent – almost appearing asleep. You cannot absolve yourself of your accountability.

Mr. Prime Minister, as the head of the state of India, it is your responsibility to show to the world that we are not a country with hollow global aspirations; that we as a nation are quite capable of delivering on our promises of holding a international stature event – howsoever irrelevant it may be for the global sporting community. And if today the whole world is casting serious doubts over preparedness of India for the forthcoming Commonwealth Games – besides India’s image suffering a further beating with surrounding corruption – you as the prime minister needs to address the nation and all those CW countries which are going to participate and assure them that the Games will be held as promised. You have to uphold India’s honour in the international arena.

Mr. Prime Minister, you are an incredibly honest politician with impeccable integrity and India owes majorly to you for its economic prosperity. Nevertheless, your position as the prime minister of India does not leave you with the option of sleep and silence over issues of immense importance. Please act and fast as time is less.

Mr. Prime Minister, immediately sack all members of the Organising Committee of the CWG – including Suresh Kalmadi and his cronies. Remove Sheila Dixit right away who as the chief minister of Delhi has failed miserably in delivering on required infrastructure in time. Straight away fire all corrupt officials and parliamentarians – including the useless sports minister M.S. Gill - involved in the preparations of the Games who have made fortunes by stashing away millions in their Swiss accounts. You should not only sack all of them but make sure that each one of the culprits is punished adequately as per laws.

Mr. Prime Minister, please take charge of the CWG directly and immediately by involving qualified and capable people. And if you feel the paucity of time will make it difficult for you to deliver as promised then simply scrap this unnecessary sporting extravaganza. Believe me, no one, absolutely no one, not even a single nation, India included, will miss the otherwise no-purpose Commonwealth Games.

Yes, Mr. Prime Minister, you need to break your silence and speak; not only speak but act swiftly. I am sure no other head of state of a developed nation would have allowed this to happen in his/her country. And even if things would have gone horribly wrong and mammoth corruption would have surfaced, each one of them would have acted instantaneously. Barack Obama, David Cameron, Angela Merkel, Dmitry Medvedev / Vladimir Putin, Nicolas Sarkozy, you name any, all would have acted and owned the accountability completely – and timely.

Mr. Prime Minister, sadly we have not seen you ever speak or act when required. Whether it was 26/11 then (you had taken 3-4 days to face the nation on television to read from a typed script; I don’t think it should have been too difficult for you to speak without an aid on the issue) or the deep crises plaguing the forthcoming Commonwealth Games now.

Prime ministership is not a position; it is a serious responsibility; prime minister is not a ceremonial head but leader of its people. Mr. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, either act like a prime minister or step down. This way you will sustain your honour and respect in hearts and minds of Indians.