{"id":324115,"date":"2020-06-20T17:34:02","date_gmt":"2020-06-20T17:34:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tehelka.com\/?p=324115"},"modified":"2020-06-20T18:16:06","modified_gmt":"2020-06-20T18:16:06","slug":"rahul-seems-to-be-doing-right-things-amid-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rahul-seems-to-be-doing-right-things-amid-crisis\/","title":{"rendered":"Rahul seems to be doing right things amid crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Not a word of apology from the government of the day to our migrant workers\u00a0 walking from here to there, in those hopeless conditions \u2026desperate to save their lives or whatever remains of it. Mind you, not one of the central ministers has bothered to walk till about the roadside or the highway and publicly and profusely apologise to the grief-stricken fleeing masses.<\/span><\/p>\n

Instead, the right-wing brigades raised a hue and cry when Rahul Gandhi met and spoke to the migrant workers. He met them out there in the open\u2026as a worried, concerned and earnest leader he wanted to meet them and find out what should be done to ease their trauma in the ongoing conditions.<\/span><\/p>\n

In fact, the right-wing rulers of the day should have been talking to the migrants and mazdoors on a one- to-one basis. But they didn\u2019t. Perhaps, they opted to sit un-moving from their air-conditioned homes and offices \u2026And when Rahul Gandhi did, what a concerned leader ought to have to done, that is, go down and talk to the aggrieved lot, there was this hungama\u2026Why?<\/span><\/p>\n

Correct me if I\u2019m wrong but Rahul Gandhi was one of the first few who had warned this government, way back in February, that the Coronavirus has already made an entry in the country and there\u2019s every possible danger of the virus spreading out, but little response came from the government. After all, it was all too preoccupied making all possible bandobasts for the arrival ceremony of President Trump, and thereafter it got all too busy toppling the legitimate Congress government in Madhya Pradesh, and then it grabbed all possible alibis cum lies cum tactics to pin the blame on the Tablighi Jamaat\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

Alas, it did not pay heed to any of the warnings and forewarnings and thereafter only disasters spread out, affecting hundreds and thousands\u2026 Not just that, but in trying to camouflage shoddy governance, the right-wing rulers and the godi media under their control have been trying very hard to trample upon any strong voice who dares question and raise some very pertinent points.<\/span><\/p>\n

It about time to pay heed to what the young leaders are stating \u2026In fact, Rahul Gandhi is commenting like a mature educated leader on the Coronavirus related scenario and the future offshoots that it will drag along in the country. Read and take note of his comments on the Coronavirus; what he has been stating all these weeks or months and you\u2019d realize that he has been absolutely up to date and also been scientific in his approach.<\/span><\/p>\n

He has been warning of the impending disasters but the rulers of the day drag in only and only politics \u2026 Correct me if I\u2019m wrong, but at every possible stage this lot has been putting hurdles in the political graph of Rahul Gandhi, who comes across as earnest and farsighted and down to earth.<\/span><\/p>\n

In fact, Khushwant Singh was so impressed meeting Rahul Gandhi that he wrote several details of that meeting, in his book \u2014 Absolute Khushwant<\/em> (Published in the summer of 2010 by Penguin) To quote Khushwant from his this book \u2014 \u201cRahul had telephoned sometime last year and said that he wanted to come and see me. He came at the appointed time\u20144 p.m. \u2014 and spent almost an hour in my home. I gave him tea \u2014 he said that he\u2019d like some tea \u2014 and we spoke of politics; about the current situation in general and other things in particular\u2026I told him, \u2018Your cadres are very weak. The BJP has the RSS and the VHP to work for it at the grassroots level. The Congress lacks that.\u2019 He said that he agreed with me and that he was already working on this. He is seeing to it that the party members are trained and the party built up. I see that he has been concentrating on young workers and has picked some very talented youngsters, many of them women. I also told him that during elections voters have to be wooed and drawn towards the party. I said that the most important thing that he should keep in mind is to resist flatterers and to hold back from accepting any portfolio\u2026We didn\u2019t talk about his grandmother or his great grandfather.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Khushwant had told me (as I was co-authoring this book with him) why he thinks that Rahul Gandhi has the ability and the potential and the capability of leading the country. To quote Khushwant from this book, \u201cHe has taken on Mayawati in her own territory. It is a brave thing to do. He himself seems to have no caste or class prejudice .What he has been doing in Amethi, staying with the lowest castes and sharing their food \u2014 I don\u2019t think you can criticise him for that. He is not being patronizing; he is highlighting a shameful reality in our country. Even in the 21st century there are untouchables in our society and they live wretched lives \u2026The young Gandhi is becoming a mature leader. Maybe after the next elections (2014), if his party wins, he may agree to become PM. Or he may still choose not to. He has his priorities right \u2014 he is not concerned about position and kursi, but strengthening the Congress party.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2666 \u2666 \u2666<\/span><\/p>\n

Whilst on the Gandhis, let me say that I was impressed by the manner in which Priyanka Gandhi got the buses arranged for the transportation of our mazdoors and migrant workers to Uttar Pradesh \u2026And then the humble cum mature way in which she tried to relay to the chief minister of that State, Yogi Adityanath, that in these ongoing circumstances the first priority ought to be the safety and well-being of our mazdoors. She did what a responsible political leader ought to have done.<\/span><\/p>\n

But, then, we all saw how the political games of the right-wing rulers came in way \u2014 of our masses and their safety! Petty politics was thrown in way even <\/span>in their transportation, for their safe return to their very native places \u2026 And <\/span>in between it all, shrilly announcements of complicatedly- complex sounding packages which even leading economists find hard to decipher. Not to overlook the new dictates coming in almost every day from the Uttar Pradesh sarkar, in the context of our hapless and helpless mazdoors! What\u2019s taking place!<\/span><\/p>\n

In fact, whilst on Yogi Adityanath , I must write that there is not just apprehension but also anger cum fear amongst the Muslim community not just in Uttar Pradesh but across the country ever since last week\u2019s news reports that Yogi Adityanath will hold the charge of the Waqf Boards in Uttar Pradesh \u2026Said to be a temporary charge till elections are held for the Sunni and Shia Waqf Boards but only the na\u00efve are going about digesting this official note or footnote . After all, why this delay in holding the required elections to these Waqf boards? Anyway, elections are a formality but then even that formality seems to be getting bypassed! \u2026Also, the Muslim community cannot ever forget those particular sentences of Yogi Adiyanath where he spoke distastefully to say the least, in the context of graves, of those who lie buried in there \u2026Not to overlook the fact that a large number of grave yards in Uttar Pradesh are built on Waqf lands!<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2666 \u2666 \u2666<\/span><\/p>\n

On Sitar Maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar\u2019s birth centenary year\u2026<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

This year \u2014 2020 \u2014 is sitar maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar\u2019s birth centenary year. He was born a hundred years back \u2014 on April 7, 1920, in Varanasi\/Benaras, Uttar Pradesh.<\/span><\/p>\n

But do you know why I have been thinking of Pandit Ravi Shankar in these recent months? Seeing the absolutely deteriorating conditions prevailing around, I\u2019m reminded of what all he\u2019d said \u2026his stark comments.<\/span><\/p>\n

I had met and interviewed Pandit Ravi Shankar twice. The first time was around the time of his 70th birthday, and as I sat sipping my tea at his Lodhi Estate home, I got so terribly nervous that the entire cup crashed to the carpet of his living room. With that disaster, <\/span>my nervousness peaked to such an extent that I could barely ask more than the basic, customary questions. But Panditji had simply smiled and tried his best to make me feel at ease\u2026And it was only after a gap that I\u2019d mustered enough confidence to try and meet <\/span>him again. This was in early 1993. He\u2019d looked frailer and quite sad. He\u2019d told me that he\u2019d been left totally devastated by the recent death of his only son Shubo. That was the time he and his second wife Sukanya were planning to shift base from New Delhi to San Diego, California.<\/span><\/p>\n

When I asked him why he was <\/span>moving to the US, he gave me a set of reasons. \u201cThe mess in the country is painful for me. Even a place like Delhi <\/span>is becoming unfit for living. With <\/span>everything else, the pollution here is killing,\u201d he said. His wife Sukanya who\u2019d stood close by, had added, \u201cThe politicians and pollution have finished the city. We have already bought a Spanish villa in California and now I\u2019m doing it up my way.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

To that he\u2019d added, \u201cFor me, the house is a very important place. Since I was 10, I have been travelling, living in hostels, so I value my home. That feeling of warmth, coupled with a comfortable middle class lifestyle. Nothing gaudy or vulgar. Somehow, I totally dislike the Delhi concept of showing off. A dignified, balanced and comfortable way of life is what I like.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

He went on to tell me details of the <\/span>very first house he had built for himself in Benaras. \u201cI don\u2019t know why I decided to build that house in Benaras. Probably because I was born and brought up in <\/span>that city\u2026and though I\u2019d built it in the <\/span>early \u201870s, within years I decided to abandon it. All sorts of crude elements had sprung up around me, those decaying values stifled me, so I decided to shift out of Benaras. I\u2019m not a fighter. I\u2019m a musician and I can\u2019t stand vulgar people, besure <\/span>log.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In fact, as the couple took me around their Lodhi Estate home what struck all too immediately was the simplicity all around. There wasn\u2019t a trace of any <\/span>ornate furniture, no porcelain ware, no elaborate bedroom bandobast. In fact, <\/span>the only room which looked well done up was the music room; with sitars, sur-bahaars, tanpuras neatly placed in stands and the walls of this particular room adorned with prized photographs capturing Panditji with John Lennon, Uday Shankar, Baba Allauddin, Pablo Casals, Mariam Anderson, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi.<\/span><\/p>\n

The maestro\u2019s bedroom had only <\/span>a double bed and a fax machine <\/span>in it! As we neared the puja room, he told me, \u201cThis isn\u2019t just a puja room but my private corner. This is where <\/span>I meditate, do riyaz, pray. For me, religion is a very personal thing. I am certainly not ritualistic. In fact, like <\/span>me, most musicians are broad-<\/span>minded\u2026When I was 18, I went to live with my ustad, Baba Allauddin, and though he was a devout Muslim, his home in Madhya Pradesh\u2019s Maiher <\/span>was full of photographs of Kali, Krishna, Christ, Mary\u2026music makes you more tolerant. \u2026I only wish our present-day politicians were more musically-inclined; then there\u2019d be more <\/span>harmony and not the present-day cacophony!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

I recall also asking him why he <\/span>had \u2018Om\u2019 inscribed on the very <\/span>entrance gates to his home. In fact, <\/span>he didn\u2019t just explain with words, <\/span>but he also wrote all those details in <\/span>my notebook. And this is what he\u2019d written \u2014. \u201cOm or Aum is the primordial sacred sound that has been <\/span>uttered, chanted and sung by yogis, musicians and the common man for thousands of years. In music, Omkar plays a very important and a very <\/span>great part. Mian Tansen and his <\/span>family gave great importance in their singing to the aalap, which starts with the words \u2018Hari Om\u2019. This gradually changes to nom, tom etc\u2026To me, as a musician, this sound signifies a deep spiritual vibration, mentally as well as physically.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2666 \u2666 \u2666<\/span><\/p>\n

Ziya Us Salam\u2019s book on the Tablighi Jamaat<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

During the lockdown weeks , the New Delhi based journalist \u2014 author, Ziya Us Salaam, wrote an entire book, titled \u2014 \u2018Inside the Tablighi Jamaat\u2019 (Harper Collins ) \u2026Its just launched and as the very title relays it dwells on the Tablighi Jamaat, focusing on the facts and factors to the country\u2019s, if not of <\/span>the world\u2019s, largest Islamic <\/span>organization.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

letters@tehelka.com<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Not a word of apology from the government of the day to our migrant workers\u00a0 walking from here to there, in those hopeless conditions \u2026desperate to save their lives or whatever remains of it. Mind you, not one of the central ministers has bothered to walk till about the roadside or the highway and publicly […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":324133,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[23,2205],"tags":[579],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324115"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=324115"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324115\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":324136,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324115\/revisions\/324136"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/media\/324133"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=324115"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=324115"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=324115"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}