One Day of Being a Celebrity !

As the dust finally settled on 22nd May 09, it emerged that I had not topped All-India, but was merely the Delhi topper. Early morning, being woken up by a call by the Principal, Dr. Shayama Chona, and since then the day has been little short of a fairytale.

But throughout it all, I knew that this was a one-day celebrityhood; that next day everything will be over and I'll be back to anonymity. But this moment, a teardrop on the cheek of time, shall forever be memorable and that is what I tried to do - to savour every moment of what I knew would next come only if I assassinate a public figure. So, I try to recollect every moment and etch it forever, indellibly, in my mind.

First, some Hindi newspaper ending with 'Patrika' called me and took my interview for half an hour. For the next two hours, there was nothing. I was wondering if due to my presence in Kolkata and not in Delhi, would I be deprived of all the media attention? But then maybe now I understand why the calls dried out - because I was talking to Sonali, Kritika and Deboleena! But once I kept the phone, it was like a flood broke out.

TOI called and took my telephonic interview. Then came HT, Dainik Bhaskar, Dainik Jagran and what not! And then the electronic media came. First up was NDTV's Monideepa (whom I had seen several times on the news). She got sweets for me, some Bengali ladoos maybe. Then they took an interview, but that was the comfortable part since I've already been on NDTV Metro Nation.

Then came the Bengali news channel, 24 Ghanta, but NDTV continued shooting. They shot me on facebook, typing, moving the mouse and all. Then as soon as they left, News X came and took an interview. Then Sahara's Komolika was calling me, and once even said "If you do not come here, I will lose my job!" But the 24 Ghanta people did not let me move anywhere. She kidnapped me and took me to her studio.

On the way, Star Ananda, 24 Ghanta's main rival, called me and when they realised that I was with 24 Ghanta, they banged the phone on me. But they called back 5 mins later and did a voice-in LIVE with me. Then I went into the 24 Ghanta studio, but Sahara's Komolika was waiting outside the 24 Ghanta studio. She almost got into a fistfight with the 24 Ghanta woman. So, they went to their studio above and there Sahara took my interview, after which I was escorted into the 24 Ghanta studio, where I was LIVE for a good two hours.

Which actually left me quite drained. In the two hours that my father put his cell on silent, he got 53 missed calls. 24 Ghanta gave me a two-hour break in-between. But who was I to enjoy respite yesteday. In those two hours, I have at least five interviews, including the Indian Express and the Asian Age.

Then I went and had kebabs in the South City mall at 6:00 PM, my first thing to eat since morning. And then I went back to the 24 Ghanta studio to shoot for a political discussion. And the best part was that my Bengali is so good that I spent one whole hour staring at the people there rattling 'shuddh' Bengali. By the time I left the studio, my jaws were paining out of trying to speak Bengali.

And then, thankfully, my last shoot for the day was a live video-in for NDTV India, where I (thankfully) had to speak in Hindi. But right upto 10:00 PM, I was busy giving interviews on the phone.

And today when I woke up, father had got at least 6-7 newspapers, and I was reading out the articles. "Kolkata boy tops CBSE" or "Two Toppers minus tuitions". I was misquoted at several places, but its okay - I don't mind it! And today again I leave for Star News' LIVE telecast at 1:30, knowing fully that all this is a mirage, an illusion that won't last tomorrow. But as long as it is there, I shall savour the moment.

Five Game Changers of Elections 2009

1. West Bengal: The shock of the election has come from West Bengal this time. The Trinamool Congress (TMC) led by Mamata Bannerjee has won 19-20 seats and the Congress has held on to 6 seats. This is the CPM's worst poll performance since 1967. Though I was expecting the Trinamool to go up, I was not in my wildest dreams expecting it to trounce all of the Left by itself. Now is an opportunity for the Trinamool for 2011.

2. Uttar Pradesh: This is the second of the two shocks of this election, along with West Bengal. I was never expecting Mayawati to do as well as Mulayam did in 2004, but I was definitely not expecting the Congress to emerge as a close third to the two regional parties. What I think worked for the Congress was, along with the campaigning, the selection of the right candidates. The Congress has shown promise and I hope it does not disappoint.

3. Maharashtra: Maharashtra this time has defied logic and voted for the Congress-NCP alliance despite what was mostly a non-performing state Government. The effect of the MNS factor will become clearer in a few days, but for the Congress, Maharashtra has been the big story this election along with Uttar Pradesh.

4. Tamil Nadu: Throughout the election, I told everyone that the DMK-Congress alliance was arithmetically superior to the AIADMK-PMK-MDMK-Left. Just yesterday, I told a friend that I expected DMK-Congress to get at least over half the seats, and I am proud to say that I got it right.

5. Bihar: Lalu is now definitely facing irrelevance and I would like Nitish to take the risk now of allying with the Congress since the BJP is surely incapable of providing him a national platform. But the defeat of Lalu-Paswan has been complete and the Congress has shown its relevance even in Bihar.

Why I still prefer the Congress (but only slightly)

As the elections are drawing to a close, I thought it good to explain why my political loyalties lie with the Congress, but only slightly. The Congress, I must confess, has too many faults and the party, in my opinion, in itself is against demoracy:
(1) The party has not held elections to its Congress Working Committee (CWC) in years

(2) The party relies solely on the Nehru-Gandhi family for campaigning. Even the Prime Minister addresses very few rallies on his own

(3) The part is full of sycophants who are servile to the Nehru - Gandhi family

(4) The party's state units are almost always squabbling among themselves. The state leaders are like crabs who pull down whoever is the rising leader in the party

But the only reason that my faith in the party still remains is because of Sheila Dixit. To be fair to her detractors, her "achievements" are not really to be accredited to her:
(1) CNG was implemented in buses and autos after a Supreme Court directive

(2) The Metro Rail project was started and inaugurated by the previous BJP Government

However, she has done several things (greenery, BRT) on her own and even if the BRT has failed according to some, at least this Government is trying things. And Sheila Dixit's contribution remains more in the field of culture and the arts.

But this brings me to the next point: Why should I prefer the Congress at the CENTER based on its performance in the STATE? If I am to be a sensible voter, I should vote differently at the state and central level. 

But when I vote at the center, the thing I want most is a stable Government which is not bound by demanding allies. I must confess that as a coherent whole, the NDA seems to be better. But what is disconcerting about the BJP are:

(1) nothing concrete was done against Varun Gandhi

(2) the BJP has a habit of running down institutions. After the President is elected, the BJP could do good in respecting her. And the BJP should not pass disparaging comments about the Election Commission

Frankly, Indian democracy is "ruled" by parties that are nothing but family fiefdoms (eg. DMK, RJD, JD(S), SAD, NC, NCP, BJD). Yes, the BJP is the only party that seems to have any semblance of a democracy. The Communists, of course, are almost completely democratic but they are unable to provide a stable dispensation at the center and are too rigid to govern the nation.

All said and done, I'd prefer the Congress because of people like Manmohan Singh and Sheila Dixit. 

My Top 5: Sportspeople of All Times

#1: Martina Navratilova:

It is a herculean task to enumerate her achievements, but I would make an attempt alright. She's won 18 Grand Slam Singles title, 31 Grand Slam women's doubles titles (an all-time record) and 10 Grand Slam Mixed Doubles titles. She has a record 10 Wimbledon titles, a record she shares with Billie Jean King. She holds the open era record for most Singles titles (167) and most Doubles titles (177). She has the longest winning streak in tennis history (74 matches). All this lead to Billie Jean king calling her "the greatest singles, doubles and mixed doubles player who ever lived."

What Goes For Her: The sheer volume of her achievements. Nobody, and I mean nobody, can ever achieve all that she has. And the more important fact is that she has played with other greats in the game like Steffi Graf, Chris Evert and Billie Jean King and has a neutral to favourable win-loss record against all of them.

What Goes Against Her: Nothing. Martina Navratilova's career has been a perfect fairytale. She is the oldest grandslam winner and the oldest winner of a singles match in tennis. What more?

#2: Mohammad Ali:

Mohammad Ali has been declared "Sportsperson of the Century" several times towards the end of the last century. In terms of victories and achievements, his career may pale in comparision to others in the list. But he scores above everybody else by the sheer number of 'greatest ever' matches that he has had. His bouts with George Foreman ('Rumble in the Jungle') and Joe Frazier ('The Fight of the Century') are the stuff of legend.

What Goes For Him: He is truly a 'legend'. His repeated combacks, his cerebral style of boxing and his iconic status worldwide.

What Goes Against Him:There is little consensus on his name as the greatest heavyweight in boxing history in the boxing fraternity.

#3: Michael Phelps:

When he smashed Mark Spitz's record of seven Olympic medals, what was most notable was the fact that everyone expected him to. That is how dominant Phelps has been been. Even in Athens in 2004, just incase you didn't notice, he won 6 golds and 2 bronzes. He's been awarded the World Swimmer of the Year from 2003-2008 (except 2005) and the American Swimmer of the Year from 2001-2008 (except 2005). He's just three medals from breaking Larissa Latynina's record of most medals in the Olympics, but already has more golds.

What Goes For Him: His dominance had been unchallenged and unrivalled. He is arguably the greatest Olympian of all times, far ahead of Spitz by dint of his longevity.

What Goes Against Him: His conduct in his personal life leaves a lot to be desired. He cannot be called an idol unless his private life too stands is like that of a role-model.

#4: Lance Armstrong:

Lance Armstrong is an icon in every sense of the word. He dominated cycling for seven years, winning the Tour de France for a record-breaking seven times. He was named the Associate Press Male Athlete of the Year in 2002-2005 and ESPN's Best Male Athlete in 2002-2005. But what sets him apart from the rest is his battle, and eventual victory, with testicular cancer. The prognosis wasn't good, but Armstrong never let it affect his performance in the track.

What Goes For Him: His battle with cancer and his complete, unrivalled dominance of the cycling world right until his retirement.

What Goes Against Him:The fact that cycling is, for most parts, not a very popular sport. But it is the sport's fault, not his.

#5: Sachin Tendulkar:

If cricket is a religion in India, then Sachin has got to be the God. You might argue that there are equally talented cricketers like Brian Lara, Sunil Gavaskar, Vivian Richards or even Sir Don Bradman, but Sachin somehow towers above them all. Perhaps it is because he started playing at such a young age and is still playing, and playing well for that matter, today. Perhaps it may also have to do with his off-field conduct, which is impeccable. He is a symbol of cricket in the modern world - being among one of the richest sportspersons of all times.

What Goes For Him: His impeccable off-field conduct, his longevity and most importantly, the fact that he is perhaps a perfect idol. Whenever the word 'cricket' is mentioned in India, perhaps the word 'Sachin' would follow.

What Goes Against Him:The fact that cricket is played by only about a dozen serious nations. Cricket is not an Olympic sport and is played in very few regions, mostly the Commonwealth nations.

The Best of Bollymusic: My Top 5 Romantic songs since 1990

1. Pehla Nasha (Jo Jeeta Woh Sikandar) : I am not a huge fan of romantic songs, but when you hear this song, you just cannot resist its melody. Beautiful lyrics, competent singers and an irresistable melody - this is as close as you can come to perfection. If you haven't heard this song, you have got to be missing something in life.
Lyrics - ****
Melody - *****
Singing - ****
Picturisation - ***



2. Khudaya Khair (Billu) : One of the best romantic songs of late, this one has sweet (though slightly absurd) lyrics and a hummable melody to go with it. It is a terrific feel-good song. The singing, though perhaps lacking somehow, is nevertheless good. I would be shocked if this song is not a contender for one of the music awards this year. Till now, its my song of the year.
Lyrics - ****
Melody - *****
Singing - **
Picturisation - **

3. Tauba Tumhare Yeh Ishaare (Chalte Chalte) : This song never seems to loose its sheen for me. I've been hearing it for such a long time now, but every time I hear it I want to hear more of it. The singing was absolutely amazing - perhaps the romantic song of Abhijeet.
Lyrics - **
Melody - ***
Singing - *****
Picturisation - ***

4. Hum Tum (Hum Tum) : My favourite Rani Mukherji song of all time, I think this song is underrated. Babul Supriyo finally made an indellible mark as a singer. The lyrics are competent, the Rani-Saif chemistry is crackling and the picturisation is good.
Lyrics - ***
Melody - ****
Singing - ****
Picturisation - ***

5. Kuch Na Kaho (Kuch Na Kaho) : A song from one of the most forgettable movies of all time, this song neverthess makes it to my list for its joyful exuberance and its sweet melody. It has a very fresh appeal to it. And the video is great too - frankly, Aishwarya Rai never looked better in this film.
Lyrics - **
Melody - ****
Singing - ****
Picturisation - **

Moral Policing Vs. Vulgarity : Where is the middle path ?

I've been thinking about writing a post titled 'Beware of the MTV culture'. MTV makes violence seem to be ordinary. Alright, you might argue that they condemned the physical violence on Roadies and on Splitsvilla, but why should they show fights and arguments as the "highlights" from the next episode. I like to watch these fights, I must confess. But that does not mean I condone such blatant display of violence. No, the MTV culture must not be allowed to propagate.

Which brings me to my next point. I am NOT engaging in moral policing. What happened in Mangalore is absolutely abominable and I support the Pink-Chaddi campaign (not that I sent Pink Chaddis to Muthalik, but still generally). What happens with Raj Thackeray and the mockery on each Valentine's Day is absolutely condemnable too.

But let me ask you this: When you see couples in Lodhi garden showing a Public Display of Affection (PDA), do you support it? Do you support Akshay Kumar getting unbuttoned on the ramp? I mean, I still think that the person who filed a PIL against Kumar is wanting attention. But I still feel that what Kumar did was not right. I don't want him to apologise. I just want him to know that it was not right. Alright, your brand is called 'unbuttoned', but if you show Kumar unbuttoning on stage, do you mean to say that people who wear that brand of jeans should be unbuttoned? Oh come on, there are better ways to sell your wares than to engage on obscenity.

I have always opposed aping of the west. But unfortunately, that is what mostly happens. Why should we compare Bollywood films to those from Hollywood? Why not judge them on their own merit (or the lack of it, if you ask me)? Does somehow have to speak English the way the Americans or the Britons do? Since we are the largest English-speaking community in the world (or at least second), why should we not have our own distinctive style of English. But you know what, we actually do. We insert expletives (the really dirty Hindi ones) in our English sentences to make it more 'effective'. What is wrong, people? Are we losing faith in our language that we need to put in expletives to make our point more effective?

Perhaps we're already on a path from which there is no return. We're denegerating and there is no escaping it. But every big movement begins with a small step. And so shall a reformation.

The Best 5 Prime Ministers of India

Atal Bihari Vajpayee

1. Foreign Policy: Vajpayee's foreign policy successes are many. He led India to a victory over Pakistan in 1999 in Kargil and more importantly, he US began to recognize India's position against Pakistan. Relations with China also normalised.
2. Economy: The economy stabilised by the time he took over in 1999 and started an unbelievable growth trajectory. He firmly supported disinvestment, but not blind privatisation. As Manmohan Singh said at a recent rally, the economy grew at 5.6% during the Vajpayee tenure, indeed a very impressive growth rate.
3. Home Affairs: This is where the Vajpayee Government had its failures. It failed to check the VHP's protests in 2002 in order to celebrate the demolition of the Babri Masjid. He also failed to take any concrete action against Narendra Modi's Government. You may argue that he upheld democracy by allowing the people to judge - and it thus remains debatable wher you can blame him.
4. Biggest Embarassment: The Tehelka scandal rocked his ministry and the Coffin scandal involving George Fernandes portrayed his ministry as quite corrupt.
5. Biggest Advantage: He's a 10 time Lok Sabha member and has won the "Best Parliamentarian" award. I am pleased to put a distinguished parliamentarian on top of this list.

Jawaharlal Nehru

1. Foreign Policy:Jawaharlal Nehru's foreign policy was flawed beyond repair. His Non-Aligned Movement and more importantly, his blind trust of China exploded in his later years. Problems that he created (like Kashmir) haunt India till this day.
2. Economy: The Indian economy under Nehru was rebuilding itself. The foundations laid by Nehru were strong enough to sustain India through a lot of dangerous periods. Food security also improved vastly and industrial growth also remained consistent.
3. Home Affairs: Democracy took deep roots under Nehru. All institution of independent and democratic India (the courts, the army, the police) were set up and remain strong till this day. If India has survived till this day, a lot of credit goes to Nehru for letting democracy take off in India.
4. Biggest Embarassment: The defeat to China will remain forever to portray Nehru's later years as weak and incompetent.
5. Biggest Success: DEMOCRACY !!

Manmohan Singh

1. Foreign Policy: His single biggest foreign policy success remains the Indo-US Nuclear Deal.
2. Economy: The biggest challenge for the Indian economy ever took place in his tenure. The economy still maintained a 6-7% growth rate and never went into recession. Two stimuli packages were announced and a slew of other measures taken. Though the Left clipped his wings, he still managed to bring stability to the economy.
3. Home Affairs: Terrorism marked his tenure. The rapidity of attacks increased. Thrice in Delhi, twice in Mumbai - and the Government failed to take any measures. It reached a peak in 2008, only after which the Government removed the Home Minister. It is noticeable that since P Chidambaram took over, only 1 terrorist attack took place.
4. Biggest Embarassment: The presence of inefficient and often corrupt ministers like Shibu Soren in his cabinet and the ruckus created during the trust vote marred his credentials.
5. Biggest Advantage: A clean image remains his USP. He's slowly being recognized as a man of clean politics.

Indira Gandhi

1. Foreign Policy:Indira Gandhi scores highest on foreign policy. She led India to a victory over Pakistan in 1971 and captured 1 lakh Prisoners of War. She presided over India's first nuclear explosion and stood tall before Nixon. She withstood US ire and still managed to reinstill the sense of national pride. It should be noted that Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the one who called her "Durga" after the Bangladesh liberation.
2. Economy: The economy was a problem during most of Indira Gandhi's tenure. She began with a huge economic crisis and the country went through cycles of deflation and inflation. However, the green revolution that she presided over has ensured India's food security till date.
3. Home Affairs: Indira Gandhi could have been on top of the list just that I am not comfortable with the idea of putting on top a person who didn't believe full-heartedly in democracy. A Prime Minister has got to respect democracy. But declaring Emergency and by turning the Congress into a sycophants' club, Indira Gandhi left a very bad legacy for democracy in India.
4. Biggest Embarassment: The emergency will continue to define her. All those who say she's the best Prime Minister India had should remember that had the Army not refused to be part of her scheme, our democracy might have been endangered.
5. Biggest Advantage: She seems to have been destiny's child. Despite the emergency, she remained so popular with the masses.

V P Singh

1. Foreign Policy:He really didn't have much time to formulate a definite foreign policy
2. Economy: The economy was heading towards dire straits, but you can't blame VP Singh for it. It was rather the policies followed since the 1970s that resulted in the problem.
3. Home Affairs: VP Singh was a man against corruption. He was removed from the Congress for unearthing corruption in the Government and led to the defeat of Rajiv Gandhi in 1989. However, the Mandal politics unearthed by him haunts India till this date. He is the grand daddy of vote bank politics.
4. Biggest Embarassment: The Mandal report was tabled in his tenure. Whether it was due to demanding allies or to polarise votes only VP Singh knows.
5. Biggest Advantage:He was seen as a man against corruption

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For a more recent list (Aug '13), click here.