A Glass of Water

When the train stopped on a railway platform,  a boy, who was selling water, passed by.
 
A man sitting by a window called him, "Come here boy."
 
The boy came running.
 
He filled a glass from crock, served it to the man. The man asked," What is the price?"
 
"25 paisa", the boy replied.
 
The man inquired, "Will you give it to me in 15 paisa?
 
Listening to this, the boy smiled lightly, poured water back into his crock and walked away.
 
A saint, observing this incident was perturbed by the boy's enigmatic smile. He was rattled and felt rustled. He got down and started walking towards the boy.
He asked, “Hey boy! Wait. Tell me why did you smile?”
The boy replied," That man was not thirsty. He just wanted to know the price of one glass water. I couldn't suppress my smile"
 
"But what makes you say so that he wasn't.”
 
The boy calmly replied, “O sire, those who are thirsty don't negotiate for rate. They take glass first, drink water and later ask how much to pay? If they ask rate first, they aren't thirsty."
 
Those who are thirsty don't fall prey to negativity or absurd questions. If you don't trust something don't talk about it. And if you trust it, there is no reason for absurdity.

Why has INDIA become so "Intolerant" ?

I'm clueless why all I read these days is about India becoming intolerant.

My India…

A country that till 18 months ago, was blessed with perfect communal harmony, the country that enjoyed an absolute freedom of expression, the country that had not banned a single book, movie or play. 

No one had heard of the word ‘caste’ in my India and the word ‘religion’ either. There was no hunger, nor there was poverty. All the farmers were billionaires so no one ever committed suicide. It was a wonderful country where people could eat as much beef they wanted, anywhere they wanted. There were no laws banning cow slaughter in any state. No one had heard of words like corruption, murders and rape. 

Communal violence and riots were unheard of. The years 1947 and 1984 skipped India, therefore there were no such things as partition riots and anti-Sikh riots. The year 2002 however did happen in a terrible place called Gujarat, the single stain on the spotless secular fabric of India! Kashmiri Pandits lived in the valley in peace and harmony with their neighbours. The ethnic cleansing of the valley never happened. Serial bomb blasts and terrorist attacks were also terms that did not exist. 

Indians did not know what unhappiness or poverty or suffering meant. If they wanted to experience it, they would go on a conducted tour to Sudan or Palestine!

Such was the paradise that was my India!

Unfortunately, the good run did not last. 

16th May 2014, I still remember that dark day - the day Fascist Patriarchal Hindu Male Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister! 

That was the day India saw poverty, communal violence, law and order issues, farmer suicides, caste discrimination, gender discrimination, murders, rape, tax avoidance, spitting on the roads, litter in the streets, road rage and every other social evil that you can think of, for the very first time!! 

Thanks to this evil guy Modi, communal violence has crossed all limits. Every day millions of people are being massacred in India. At this rate, there will be no voters left to cast their vote in 2019! 

Some eminent historians and liberal thinkers have compared this regime to the Taliban - that social organisation formed by terrorists with no religion. The Taliban however is so hurt with this comparison that it wants Arvind Kejriwal to hold a dharna on its behalf!

We enlightened citizens know that oPM Modi is PERSONALLY responsible for everything from our constipation to clogged toilets at a railway station. I am upset that Modi has NOT issued a statement yet on why there are paan stains on the staircase leading to my building. Everything that is wrong in this country is the PM’s fault. NO ONE else is to be blamed. 

Oh my poor poor India! What have you done to deserve this? I need to find a suitable award to return to protest against this. 

I hope this Modi resigns soon and we liberal intellectuals can return to the perfect Utopian paradise that was India under the great leadership of intellectual icon, Rahul Gandhi! 


(It was a sarcastic post incase u didn't get it already)

The result of Bihar is a loss of Modi or the Bihari people?

It is a not loss for either Modi nor the Bihari people if you approach it the right way.  It is just a temporary setback for both.

For Biharis, Nitish is not a bad leader and among the best known leaders from the state. Over the past decade, he took it from the so called "jungle raj" and made it among the fastest growing states in India. 

For BJP, it is a reminder that Modi alone cannot do all their work. The state leaders should rise to the occasion and pick up their responsibilities. Let them compete with Nitish Kumar on cultivating a clean, progressive image. It is sad that none of the BJP leaders from the state are known outside and that speaks volumes about their impact. Again, let them cut out their ego and go for major alliances like they did in the past. 

For Modi, this should be a major pivot. He should stop putting too much energy on state elections. Sure, Rajya Sabha majority would help, but let us not forget the existing strength on Lok Sabha. There are 3.5 years more left and mountains could be moved in this time. 

Modi should come out blasting on what he does best - foreign policy, economics and domestic administration. Time to come to the front foot and hit on his strength areas. He has already let the elections weaken the good work he did on Nepal and he cannot let the same happen in UP elections. 

If Modi takes the right lessons away, he could become a major leader in India even if BJP loses every assembly election from now.