Wonder Years

While growing up,I was very fond of "Swami and Friends" and "Malgudi Days" serial by Anant Nag. Somehow these books and serials touched my daily life and experiences. Over the years as I moved to Wonder Years where I found Kevin Arnold as like able as Swami. Also both these fictitious biographies depicted the scenario and times that was quite innocent. Most of the characters very much down to earth , easily relate able and gripping the emotions of the viewer.
In US I became a fan of "Seinfeld" for its real world everyday humor. Intelligent humor, depicting characters that one finds in everyday living. Most of the people almost get hooked on to Seinfeld. Comedy Central Channel that is newly launched in India , is carrying the reruns of these two popular serials. I still myself watching these serials with interest and enjoy them as much as I did earlier. They seem to represent that era , those times in US that was fun , lively , relatively innocent and more social than one finds now.
Somehow , I could find archived copies of episodes of  " Malgudi Days" "Swami " from early 90s or late 80s . I finished watching all those 16 episodes at a stretch and was filled with that nostalgia which I cannot put in words...
Malgudi Days ... Wonder Years .... Seinfeld ... don t know the common link.. but I find myself relating to all three.. they have become a part of my growing up ..  memories or experiences which makes my life fulfilling and  rich..
I am sure the next generation will be missing these innocent experiences... but then they have their favo(u)rite "Friends"


 

Assembly Elections - UP, UTK,Punjab, Goa,Manipur

Let me at the outset congratulate Yogendra Yadav , a psephologist who perfectly predicted the trend and seats in UP. Almost all other exit polls failed to catch the trend of SP sweeping the state of UP and getting around 225 seats in 402 seat assembly ! Aptly the Yadavs were the winners for the day - Akhilesh, Mulayam and Yogendra !
Looking at the results in all five states, the true losers in all five states was- BJP. As a party it was a complete failure in UP . Almost all of the major leaders in UP lost their assembly seats. BJP had a golden opportunity to swing voters in its favor due to anti-incumbency and people being fed up with Maya raj ! People in UP saw SP as the only alternative to unbearable Maya raj. Akhilesh Yadav was almost an obvious choice for people.. young, vibrant, talking their language and talking about progressive ideas, supported by all sections of society including the brahmins who have traditionally kept themselves away from SP and had joined hands with BSP in the previous elections. Brahmins who were traditional Congress voters in 60s-70s-80s... moved to the  BJP in 90s... to BSP in first decade of 2000 and now are moving towards SP in 2012 !
SP has a traditional base of thakurs and muslims.. this year they could also garner support from dalits moving away from BSP and the upper class, educated, Brahmins, younger voters and women.
BJP has been reduced to a party of elderly , orthodox , traditional hindus with strong views about religion. They lack true leadership in UP , almost all leaders are in 60s-70s. Their views are orthodox which shy away many young voters. People have become fed up with their rhetoric of building Ram Temple in every election since 1992 . The UP voters are looking at a progressive party with young blood which could fight with the cadres of BSP .. The only alternative they find is with SP with a fresh  invigorating leadership.
UP is fast becoming like TN of north with power shifting from one regional party (BSP)to other (SP) while national parties like BJP and Congress are mere spectators taking sides !

Loss in UP or failure to gain in UP should ring loud warning bells with in BJP to act swiftly or they would be reduced to null like Congress in UP.

BJP has barely been able to hold on to its seats in Uttara khand. However loss of Khanduri is a big blow to BJP leadership. BJP will have to take help of independents / BSP and others to create some coalition to remain in power. However Congress is the largest single party and may stake claim for the government !

BJP has clinched power in a small state of Goa ( which barely has two MPs) which primarily is on account of blatant corruption by the incumbents and clean image of the projected leadership of Manohar Parrikar, an IIT engineer who is dedicated social worker !  In fact , BJP has not played its traditional "Hindutva" card in Goa.. and field 10 catholic candidates .. 7 of whom won in predominantly christian areas.

In Manipur, BJP barely could show its presence as a national party by opening its account with one seat in 40 member assembly. Cong has comfortably won in Manipur for decades with almost no opposition.

Punjab assembly swings between Congress and Akalis... BJP with its coalition with SAD..does not have it identity as a individual party but has had strong alliance with Shiromani Akali Dal which by itself poses good opposition to Congress. BJP is always a junior partner in coalition and would never be able to have it own identity for staking claim of govt.

Performance of BJP is not just disappointing but abysmal to the extent that it poses a serious question mark to its stature as a national party. The picture in all these five assembly elections clearly shows how BJP is merely remaining for name sake in all these states. A serious setback is in UP where BJP must try to establish its identity again .. build a strong ground base.. provide a strong , young , progressive and able leadership like Vinay Katiyar. Until the next general election is 2014 or probably earlier .. BJP has a  huge task of building its party and creating confidence among UP voters...otherwise BJP will be in worse state than the Congress is in UP.

UP assembly elections 2012

The elections in Uttar-Pradesh are always interesting. There is always a chance of evolving new political alignment and equations ! I am eagerly looking forward to the counting day of March 6th.
I vividly remember the 3 days I spent in and around Banaras and Sarnath during the last elections of UP assembly in 2007. Most people were sure of the success of SP lead by Mulayam Singh, Amar Singh and Co. There was a strong clout of Amar Singh in the areas around Kashi / Sarnath. So much so that our Sahara-Jet Flight from Banaras to Delhi was delayed for an hour , just because of Amar Singh's arrival  from his nearby village was delayed !  Most of the contests were triangular: BSP, BJP and SP ! Cong was nowhere to be seen. There was a very strong undercurrent of BSP even in the bastions of BJP like Allahabad and Banaras. SP , though strong and incumbent , were the only formidable opponents of incoming BSP.  I however had a feeling of strong wave for Mayawati in almost all constituencies that I visited. People felt that strong urge to give Mayawati a chance after seeing SP and BJP earlier. Even the traditional voters of BJP/Cong and SP supported the BSP candidates for voting out SP from the state ! Most political observers were expecting BSP-BJP coalition or a hung assembly. However BSP swept the state keeping everyone including the political observers and psephologists owe struck.

This year I expect the contests in UP to be very strong , multi -cornered  and close ones. Though the main rivals seem to be BSP and SP , I feel that BJP will make significant gains. The Cong is expected only to gain as any addition would have to be counted as gain over the null they had in previous assembly.With Amar Singh not in SP camp , BJP might be able to play the game of kingmaker in UP. Again , a BSP-BJP coalition is very much in offing , if BSP fails to get a majority ! But then that was the prediction even before the last UP assembly election..a hung assembly with possible BSP-BJP coalition !
In-spite of anti-incumbency , BSP seems strong with its strong vote bank . The muslim vote tilting from SP to Congress may give some edge to the BJP candidates in Western UP. I seriously doubt if BJP would be in position to form its own govt in UP. The only option that remains is BSP, BSP-BJP coalition, or SP with all its partners supported by Congress .
My guess is BSP-BJP coalition , but the UP electorate is always good in surprising everyone including themselves !