Dear Mr. Aiyar, your choice of words and the scornful smirk on your face force me to write this today and not on May 16th, when my country, India, would celebrate its second Independence Day !!
You are on all channels with the serene blue/green Buddha and the beatific visage of late Shri Rajiv Gandhi…. And what wonderful choice of words. You said the difference between Indira Gandhi and Narendra Modi’s leadership styles is the difference between the sublime and the ridiculous …oooohhh, am sure Pandit Nehru’s ashes floated to the top of the ground to hear you speak so well in English.
It is indeed the difference between the sublime and the ridiculous – the ridiculous sycophancy versus the sublime leadership, the ridiculous denigration of the PM’s position versus the sublime respect towards the constitution of this country, the ridiculous appeasement of sections of society in the hope of winning votes versus the sublime convincing of all the voters with powerful performance, the ridiculous misuse of public funds versus the sublime accountability, the ridiculous manipulation of facts against one man versus the sublime clean chit by the courts to the same man, the ridiculous authoritarian ways of wresting power during the Emergency versus your sublime explanation of the propriety of staying within the constitution (unable to get over this one), …. It is indeed the difference between the sublime and the ridiculous, the sublime Indian voter and his ability to see through the ridiculous claims of sycophants like you !!
Mr. Aiyar, are you giving up drinking tea ? Because the tea seller is now going to be PM and even if he isn’t, your friend’s twit of a son hasn’t got the remotest of chances to get anywhere close to the PM’s post, so who will make tea for you ? The twit probably wouldn’t know the difference between tea and coffee and everytime you drink tea, be careful, the scorn on your face comes from the depths of your heart and as the tea and your scorn meet, the acid may burn through your throat. Enjoy the last few minutes of being asked to speak on television and develop the taste for dust, because for a really long time, till your breath stops and you return to the Earth, the dust of failure and the sycophancy will fill your mouth. It’s an acquired taste for spineless creatures like you.
Enough said … Am glad that neither you nor the family you serve, will malign the history of my country because you won’t even be a footnote or an afterthought in the sublime or the ridiculous eras of India’s history. I do wish you a long life with all your faculties intact, so you can live in “India” not the idea of India and let the Congress live in your memories because history is important, to remind us that we shouldn’t repeat our mistakes. Jai Hind !
P.s – Hinduism is a way of life that accepts all creation (including the odious you) as divine. That is as secular as it gets.
This is too much for Mr Iyer to digest. . . ! Well done
While most of your blogs are interesting and you have a very captivating style of writing ,you can be vitriolic ad nauseam. This article falls into that category.
I would like you to consider the following:
All the countries which achieved progress in the last 300 years ( mostly western democracies ) have a few common trends. They segregated religion from the state, which encouraged free thinking and pursuit of science. These countries proceeded to utilize said scientific knowledge to eradicate many of the diseases that used to ravage society on a regular basis. These same secular trends also resulted in the implementation of laws that protected ownership of lands held by the common man and afforded him with civil rights through democratic progress aNd enSured an efficient and speedy legal system; critical steps to forming a modern free market economy.
India shares many of the traits that advanced nations did prior to their rise. However it remain too religious and prone to dogma to to achieve real progress. Secular thought grounded in logic, humanism and common sense is rare. In addition, said advanced nations became less retrospective and worshipful of many parts of their past. They were willing to venture outside and embrace new ideas. We still gloat a lot about our past whether it be hiduvata or indian way of life and refuse to consider anything else. We claim to have discovered zero . But we stopped at zero . I would like to recommend a great book dwelling on the above ideas “civilization ” by nail ferguson – an expert on economic history and a Harvard professor. If you do read it , pl write about it in your blog .
I think secularism is a practice ( rather than a subject matter for preaching) and very individual one at that. We are still evolving and as you rightly said logic, humanism and common sense are rare. I would add that it is spread abundantly and evenly all across the sections. I definitely think that people overplay Hindutva. It is also true that people over play secularism. Where the debate lost credibility, and hence the trust, is when secularism was used to obfuscate the truth. Rahul Gandhi and his ilk wanted India to shun Modi because he is not secular. That is only half of the story. The so called secularists are no less communal ( remember that Muzaffarnagar was fanned by a very ‘secular’ party that left the minority victims to fend for themselves). Secularism is handy tool to hide inept, corrupt deeds. This is why Congress lost- no governance and all hope on pinning the opponent to something that will distract people from issues. It is up to each individual to discern falsehoods and half truths that one is consistently being fed with. The moral of the story is – one who says others are communal, need not be secular and one who says others are corrupt, need not be clean!
Despite what the preamble to the Constitution says, India has never been a Secular country. A Secular State has no religion – I surely does not mean that the State is against Religion; religion is a personal matter of the individual. In India, Secularism has been turned on its head. Instead of avoiding religious considerations in matters of State (as Secularism demands), Indian Governments have all along patronized ALL religions. That is not secularism. At best it can be described as Equitable Communalism. Government tries to patronize all religions but no religion is satisfied with the ‘patronage’ it gets from the Government. This leads to competitive lobbying by religious groups and Government tries to balance the patronage. One clear example is Rajiv Gandhi’s over-turning of Supreme Court judgment in the Shah Bano case to appease Muslim clerics (not necessarily in the interest of Muslims) and to balance that outrageous indulgence in religious affairs, he allowed Shila Nyas at the Babri Masjid Site in 1987 to appease Hindu orthodoxy. The result is communal polarization that will be hard to reverse. This is just one example of several one can cite. So let us stop claiming that India is a secular country. IT IS NOT.
Bindu…your letter to Mr. Aiyar was apt and appropriate. You wrote my mind. Thanks
No doubt, your letter is a fitting reply to Mr Aiyar. The earlier blog relating to “chai wala” remark was fantastic.
However, I don’t think he really deserves any mention. Ignore such people whose sole claim to fame is being a vassal to a family, and only assets in life are a twisted brain and filthy tongue.
MS Aiyar is successful in what he wants to do – get attention. On that note, should we really give him the attention he wants, but does not deserve?
That apart, someone needs tell him stuff like this.
hard-hitting note – if only someone will take it to his attention.
If only Mr.Aiyar could read what you wrote….. he would gv up drinking tea and also using remote controls … especially those made in ITALY…..(wink)!!!!
I liked what you’ve written. Just notice a small error though, which if it happens really I will not feel sorry. You say, “You are on all channels with the serene blue/green Buddha and the beatific visage of late Shri Rahul Gandhi…. And what wonderful choice of words.” Perhaps you meant Rajeev Gandhi, but in retrospect the sycophancy of not only Mr. Iyer, but the entire gang of cronies – Manish Tiwari, Kapil Sibal, Anand Sharma, Abishek Manusinghvi, Kamalnath, Renuka Choudury, Sanjay Jha, Ranjeet Surjewala, Keshavan, … the list goes on, is equally bad and at times obnoxious,
Yes, I meant Late Shri Rajiv Gandhi. Rectified it. :(.
Bindu-ji
Have you wondered why this former (un)civil servant carries his caste name while professing to be secular? Have you stopped to think if it is even worth your time writing about such hypocritical sycophantic scum? Ma’am please resume your travelogues ! Jai Hind !
Dear Bindu. This Aiyar fellow has written yet another letter on 17th May 2014. He will never change. This time the letter appers as inciting violence. I wish you would address a befitting reply with your incomparable style of narration. Plase do….
Don’t waste time on Mani Sankar Iyer. He will be belong to the vanishing breed of archaic relics of sycophancy and consigned to the dustbins of history.
Bindu Well said. I also saw the T.V. Interview of Aiyar and oMG what a Body language. He has said with contempt that Modi is HITLER. Even with very strong dose of medicines for digestion, i am unable to digest his comments. What level he can stoop to… Cannot fathom that an IFS calbere man can spit venom like this….
IAs Modi said I am also optimistic ( I am 75 now ) that my country is going to shine against all accusation of the so called Secular custodians.
Well said Bindu. My heartiest thanks.