Thoughts on Kejriwal and AAP

On 10th Feb, 2015, Aam Aadmi Party created history in Delhi politics by emerging as the single largest party in the State elections. AAP won on 67 seats out of 70. To be honest, I didn't expect the party to fare this well. It was not because I had any doubts in Kejriwal's ability as a crowd-puller but, the negative publicity that had been done by the political opposition seemed to have struck a chord with the Delhi common man.

I can only admire Kejriwal's skills as a human resource manager to revert back from that sort of low where even he was pushed to admit that resigning from the post of Chief Minister was a mistake. He was cornered and there seemed to be no way out. Of course BJP blundered by fielding Kiran Bedi as their CM candidate. Her obnoxious personality beamed through in all her TV interviews. It was not that she was a bad orator. It seemed as if she had sold her soul to the devil and was gung-ho about it.

Yet, something doesn't add up. There was a strong case for BJP in the wake of this new Modi era where BJP was projected as a saviour from all sorts of evil. Congress will loot you, AAP will abandon you, only BJP can save you. If I am not mistaken, the air was laden with a lot of favouritism toward the Right-Wing. Now, here is the time to sing accolades to the beauty of democracy. You can never take anything for granted.

BJP dug its own grave by keeping mum on controversial 'ghar-wapsi movement' and 'four-children per family statements'. It also stopped talking about development and Modi brand and focused on defaming Kejriwal. Even when there are kids fighting, the kid who keeps quiet usually gets less rebuttal from elders. BJP was the other kid- the tantrum throwing, sulky, brash, annoying kid. I think that is what happened.

Even then, 67 seats to a party which had lost its face. In Lok Sabha elections, AAP had performed poorly and even schoolteachers refrain from giving good grades to a child who has recently flunked. The Delhi voter is no schoolteacher I guess. It patiently watched and weighed its options. I am not saying AAP was a bad choice, it was common sense to vote for AAP but, it is just too shocking to see common sense prevail so widely.

You can convince an urban rich person to vote for AAP because even though its politics has certain flaws, it is not dirty politics. But, to convince the poor that politics can be free of issues relating to religion and mud-slinging; and then convincing them to vote for a relatively new party- it seems tricky.

I am not saying I know the secret of AAP's success. I am just saying there has to be a way around populist politics which AAP found. It was either the meetings that Kejriwal held in different Delhi localities, or the alluring campaign which focused on clear and direct promises. Whatever it was, it was a work of genius and all I can say is- well done, crusaders.


On a side note, I admire how Kejriwal has a sense of humour about things. Here's a video by TVF proving that-

Book Review- Manage Your Manager- Kritika Sharma

Title- Manage Your Manager
Author- Kriti
Publisher- BlueJay Books Pvt Ltd
ISBN- 978-93-82891-04-8
FB page- fb.com/manageyourmanager
Price- Rs 150
Pages- 162

Here's another review in the series of reviews on request that I started doing recently. This time I had the opportunity to review this book by Kriti which is about dealing with office politics and day-to-day problems at work. Obviously, it has a specific target readership and comes like a guidebook for all those who are struggling with their managers or HR departments and dealing with tough situations at work. The book also teaches you how to strike a balance between the work and personal lives.

A word about the author first. Kritika Sharma is a wife, a working woman, a cooking enthusiast and has done masters in Business Management. The high spirited-ness can be gauged from the fact that she found time to write a book amidst all these roles that she was donning. Hats off!

About the cover- the cover has a no nonsense appeal to it with the clear depiction of what is inside the book. An office coffee mug with the inscription "Dos and Don'ts @ Work" adorns the cover page. The back cover has few tele-commercial like questions- Do you feel neglected by your manager? Do you have a feeling that your manager is a bit biased? Have you ever thought- 'only if I knew what to do..'? If your answer is yes, then this is the book for you. This seemed a bit cheesy to me but I feel people who really are in these problems would like such clear cut approach about the book.

The book is divided into two sections- A. Direct Managers and B. The Others. More attention as obviously been paid to direct managers and the cases are presented in the form of commonplace problems written as case studies and the problems or solutions have been explained with correct reasoning and explanations as per the author's wisdom and intellect.

The language is fairly simple with no fancy words and the pages use recycled paper which are of good quality. The small publishing houses in India are really doing some good work of late. Impressive.

At the end of each chapter, there are summaries in the form of survival tips which I found to be the most helpful part of the book. You can nicely sum up the advice their and apply them in your case and act accordingly. Another good thing is that the book does not have any pretentious air about it and the situations and dilemmas are presented with an empathetic approach toward the employee ie the reader. The manager is referred to as a 'she' which I found to be a delightful change from the normal. The book if value for money in terms of content and the presentation is not that flashy so, that might not lure the ones who seek company of big words (think Deepak Chopra and their ilk). The book also does not have any moral pretensions and seeks to give the most practicable advice, assuming that you're a hard working employee who is not a brown-noser for sure.

This book also is going to be helpful for people who are facing personal life crisis which is somewhat related to their career situation. The advice is more like a wise colleague who is also a friend telling you while stating examples from her life. It strikes a chord and is friendly and not hard to digest.

I recommend the book to all those who are in need. It is priced modestly and can make for a very good gift to your friends who are in some sort of work-related crisis. I rate this book with 4 stars.

****/5

Ab ki baar...

Black Flags

Modi Wave, Kejri Wave... But RaGa wave?

Knives in Parliament

Special Pen for #Elections 2014

When China Attacked India!

Ek small farmer ki biwi.

Comedy Nights With Diggy

Moily so Oily

Manmohan at G-20

Sounding the Ayodhya bugle

Rupee's Fall

Modi Opposing the FSB

Durga Shakti

IRCTC Troubles

What it means to speak up in India

Image Courtesy- http://solar.envirohub.net/

 We as a group, as Indians are a very anti- speaking up kind of nation. We do not raise our voice on anything be it- corruption, animal cruelty, lack of amenities. We are taught as kids to shut up and listen to our elders. Elders are the wise ones, they know better. As we grow up, the elders are replaced by the powerful ones. From the school principal, college principal, boss, local MLA, all the way up to the prime sinister oops! I mean minister of the country form a hierarchy of power. You're not supposed to speak up against power. And if you do, you are a bad boy and you deserve some spanking!

As a kid, a child develops doubts in his quest to attain knowledge. He turns to his mentor only to be turned down. Asking questions is not really encouraged here. Questioning somethings mean developing doubt over its authority. You do not ask the "why"! You ask only "what" and you're supposed to memorize the answer.

Source: Google Image Search

A rule is created to keep the herd in line, keep the unruly crowd in check; time passes and the rule attains redundancy but it needn't be scrapped! Because to scrap the rule, you have to question it and questioning is, remember? forbidden!

In schools, a routine is created, a protocol is given. It's termed "discipline" and it frequently includes abhorring one's mother-tongue, cramming lines from a poem that you wouldn't understand even till your death. Here is where the fear of being wrong is instilled in young minds. There is a minority of teachers who believe in the far-fetched idea of individuality but, they are few and far apart.

Image Courtesy- http://abhyudayatoons.blogspot.com/ (my own cartoon)

As we enter real-life, we find unanswered questions, customs based on sheer lunacy, rules made by the powerful all around us. You enter a railway platform, see a board outside cafeteria which says "Please do not pay more than printed price for the bottled water" but when the owner charges you Rs 12/- for a Rs 10/- bottle, you do not pick up the phone and complain to the authorities, you pick up your wallet and pay up! We are the country where a long waiting queue keeps getting longer even if the nearby counter has a smaller queue. We like to stay with the herd.

Source: Flickr Image Search (Pavan Gupta)

It's not like nobody ever speaks up against things here. Oh! We are an enthusiastic lot. It is just that we are too preoccupied ourselves to carry on with the task of "speaking up". That's why we invite tenders and sell the right to the ones who are the most jobless. It's only that these speakers do not necessarily represent us when they speak, they represent lunacy in a different form, they represent power in a different form. They are the untamed, lunatic monsters that we had created to hunt down the tamed powerful monsters. Sadly, they have sided with each other and are now conspiring against us.

The monsters we had created, the wild ones of the society- are involving in eve-teasing, smashing things, boycotting Valentine's day, looting ballet boxes, murdering honest police officers. They are the rebels we have created. They work against the system, only to empower it. The right kind of rebellion is a mockery of itself. Take Anna Hazare movement for instance, he has rebels, his cause is good but, when it came to the litmus test, it couldn't hold its own. The fabric that builds today's rebel in India is tainted.

If we really wish to create a rebel with a soul for today's India, we need to water its plants with the water of yesteryear. A Bhagat Singh, a Chandrashekhar Azad are easy to find, but people who would believe in them? Not so easy. I think we've been betrayed enough in the last 50 years to trust again in a rebellion. That is why, as a custom, we don't speak up, neither do we let anyone.

Jai Hind!

A politician from the SMS generation.

Recently, I had the privilege to interview a politician from the SMS generation. Sir Postit Textit holds an office in the cabinet. Excerpts-

Me- It's an honour to have you with us, sir.
Mr. Textit- Same here.

Me- Impressive election manifesto, I must say.
Mr. Textit- :-D

Me- You must have put in a lot of effort to show the public that you really care about their plight, isn't it?
Mr. Textit- :-P

Me- Precise as always. Sir, I must know- how do you plan to combat the conflict within your party?
Mr. Textit- LOL, it's np

Me- But sir, how can you LOL, recently, a few of the ministers from your party were caught indulging in drugs and beating up a policeman! They made a mockery of the law and order in the state!
Mr. Textit- LMAO!

Me- So, you're trying to say that we are a country of short term public memory and it should be no problem for you and your party?
Mr. Textit- Yup! Sup?

Me- I am fine, thank you sir. So, what is next on your agenda?
Mr. Textit- J/k LOL

Me- You mean Jammu and Kashmir? Oh yes, the valley has been home to cross border terrorism since long. We are glad that you're finally going to shift the focus to the issue.
Mr. Textit- :-)

Me- Sir, the parliament has been abuzz with the news of your party high command giving tickets to criminals and goons, what is your take on that?
Mr. Textit- tc

Me- tc? You mean their tickets should be cancelled? Why don't you address the conflict within your party first and then come to address issues of national relevance.
Mr. Textit- Hmmm...

Me- What are your views on the Lokpal bill sir?
Mr. Textit- gtg, cya l8r.

Me- ttyl sir?
Mr. Textit- Is that they way to talk to a cabinet minister? Security!! Arrest him! We are going to censor any such offensive comments hereforth.

LOL! Byeeee tc. :D

The Right To Reject!