Partly Yours, Partly Lost

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Some places stay with you long after life has moved elsewhere. There is something strange about destiny. You just cannot overcome it, but at the same time, you cannot simply do nothing because something is destined to happen. In India, it is not uncommon to have your horoscope charted about a year after birth. Grandparents wait with bated breath to hear how well the stars were aligned, and what remedies might be needed to appease the Gods. So when I was a year old, my grandmother took my birth date and time to Dharmaraja Ghanapadigal, one of the most revered astrologers in Pudukkottai. He apparently told her that I would do reasonably well in studies, travel to multiple countries, and eventually live abroad. Here was an old lady asking about her grandson from a small town. My parents were then living in Gobichettipalayam. This was the eighties, long before economic reforms had changed the country. My grandmother thanked him politely, but quietly wondere...
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NatWAR in(out of) Congress

It is disgusting to see that one of the cabinet ministers, Mr. Natwar Singh along with his son was involved in the Oil for food program in Iraq. The Congress party wanted to be absolved of all charges. It was surprising to see that the Congress was not getting behind Natwar in the whole issue. Obviously it is clear now. The Congress had to protect its leader and supremo, Ms. Sonia Gandhi as she was clearly at the receiving end. She had supposedly sent letters through Natwar to procure oil contracts in Iraq. Now, this looks like the plot has been lifted directly from a Bollywood flick right. Absolutely filmy! But, then when was politics in India without all the surpise elements. There are so many things going behind the scenes that it becomes virtually impossible to figure out what is happening. We just know of pre-poll alliances and post poll alliances coupled with totally flawed and broken vows, but we have absolutely no clue of the intricacies interwoven in complexities that goes on in the political areana.

Congress was looking at an appropriate opportunity to expel Natwar from the party. Natwar too was making things easy for Congress to come to this decision. He went ahead and moved a privilege motion against Dr. Manmohan Singh, our honourable Prime Minister on the issue of the leakage of Justice Pathak report on the Volcker Commision report. This issue has put Natwar in the limelight as far as other parties are concerned. BJP, JD(U) and Samajwadi Party have made it very clear that they are supporting Natwar and have already begun to portray him as a national hero who was made into a scapegoat. Politics show the true colour in people, but the sad part is people do not have a choice, as the same set of leaders have to come back to power.

This issue has blown up in such a way that it is really going to be interesting to see how this issue shapes up in the coming weeks.

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