Maar Daala… boss! Dikhaa diya, na?
Ufffff… the Lok Sabha election results and the BJP’s sway. I am in full ‘Devdas’ mode… waiting for Madhuri Dixit to slide across the gleaming kotha floor, do that eyebrow twitching thingie and sing. “Maar daala”. I am, of course, playing Shah Rukh Khan – even though it’s indecently early to reach for that bottle and drown my sorrows in it. Bhaari depression happening. Yup. Hard to admit. Harder still to digest. Jaaney bhi do, yaaron – I am suffering. Sachhi! Aie Shappat. Rambo rules.
Narendra Modi has won. Modi. Not the BJP. Forget all the other bakwas. Ignore state-wise break up of seats and so on. The man is back in the game. And as that Payal Rohatgi bhakt/starlet advised: ‘Deal with it!’. Lady, believe me, I am trying to deal with it. Trying very, very hard. But what to do? Yeh dil maangey more!
Can’t just say, ‘Maaro goli…’ And move on, with my beady eyes fixed on the Sensex. That’s what business folks across India are doing as they hug their financial advisers and book profits. While here I am – a thwarted, dejected, snubbed entity, lamely talking about ‘respecting the will of the people of India’. Bullshit!
Also read: In the Rahul vs Modi battle, why Shobhaa De would choose duffer over demagogue
Andar se, I am hurt, upset and feeling foolish. Was I day dreaming for the past five years? Could it be a case of wishful thinking – no logic? How could I have got it so hopelessly wrong? I am not going to trot out the EVM conspiracy theory and make the Election Commission of India the villain of this election. Fact remains, Modi read the nation right. He was on the button. The rest were not. We got it wrong. There – I said it!
We can conduct hazaar post-mortems and over-analyse the results to death. What we cannot camouflage is the out and out Modi victory that idiots like me didn’t see coming. Or rather, we fervently hoped India would vote differently. I certainly did. Not because I wanted the Congress to form the next government – I am not Robert Vadra who sweetly posted: “With you all the way” ‘R’ AND ‘P’.
But I was hoping for balance. A course correction. A strong counter narrative. I was uncomfortable as hell with the hatred that was dividing the nation and leading to unacceptable, unimaginable strife. None of Narendra Modi’s boasts, his strutting and posturing, made any sense to me. Clearly, all of it made perfect sense to the electorate that wants him back. So be it.
What happens next to people like myself, will be interesting to monitor. Mind you, there are thousands like me out there. I know, I know… we don’t count. That’s fine. But at least we can look ourselves in the eye and walk tall, knowing we consciously took an unpopular position for five years, which came with hazards galore. Nothing will change that. I won’t start singing a different tune because I happen to be a part of a rapidly shrinking minority. I will still call NaMo out when I need to. I will continue to speak my mind. Because if these elections proved one thing incontrovertibly, it’s that India remains a vibrant democracy – the people of this great country have chosen their leader. Fine. Equally, in this very same democratic space, there has to be room for people like me. Baat Khatam.
Also read: 2019 will be known as the “Aayega To Modi Hi” election
Oh… but right at this tumultuous minute, I am definitely looking at options to calm my troubled soul. Kedarnath beckons. I hear it has a gorgeous, new meditation cave with modern amenities. I will be packing a few essentials just to be on the safe side. So, I am taking a red carpet and a gold brocade train – you never know when a TV crew shows up unexpectedly! Come on – photo-ops are photo-ops. These days, they win elections! Now… where’s that bottle of Old Monk, aged for five years, when I need it the most??
The author is a columnist, social commentator, journalist and opinion-shaper. She has written 20 books.
@Frank.. I liked your description of Ms Deepali which is apt. Glad to read OTER commentators expressing opinion on this lady’s attempts to pollute the fragrance of victory of democracy. Indirectly she blames the voters.. But the real truth is….
These gang of writers first chose a side and ten used their skills to damage or destroy the opponents of their chosen Rajkumar side…
Unfortunately, for them, the power of their Qualam is now losing fast ,over the current generation of voters,readers (age apart) . The desperation, anger, frustration is now showing as the words of MsDe are no more churning out any potions. .
Yet, Still with the old style of writing THEY will for sure try to influence, pollute, muddle minds of people in a desperate hope tat some how this new found confidence of population is broken, and Junta turns to these learned elites writer for guidance .and they can unleash more criticism and obnoxious thoughts against the foolish Junta
What a crappy article, even for a website standards. One thing i cannot even figure out the validity of your reasons for your hatred and dislike.
You & people like you dont represent real India. Infact, real India remained untouched & no one ever bothered for those real Indians. Namo pressed right button & real India also pressed right this time because, they have come to know, who is the person who mattered in last 5 years. Its the wakeup of real India & wakeup call for people like you, pseudoseculars & dynasties. Over & Goodbye forever.
Shobha Day an opinion shaper? All her rants in this article are about not having been able to understand people’s opinion! Shaping it is not even her dream!
“I won’t start singing a different tune because I happen to be a part of a rapidly shrinking minority. I will still call NaMo out when I need to. I will continue to speak my mind. ”
Yes, you were and will be able to do that and more, thanks to Modi and the fact that you are living not under Indira Gandhi govt.
Lady, thanks for the writeup, any point of view even if it is infantile and boorish, is still welcome. Funny I don’t see the same enthusiasm for secularism when people like Mamta bannerjee or Digvijay singh discriminate against Hindus. I never hear you mention the plight of Kashmiri pandits.
When was the last time Punjab had a non-sikh chief minister. Or when was it Jammu and Kashmir had a Hindu chief minister. Is secularism the burden of only Hindus? Is it a one way street?
When children broke the window of a church while playing cricket, the Archbishop of Delhi blamed the whole Hindu community for intolerance. or when the nun in bengal was raped (even though later cctv evidence proved they were bangladeshi illegals), people like you danced along.as cheerleaders pouring scorn on hindus for their “intolerance”. Is this what one must expect from your brand of secularism?
We are watching silently, we don’t forget. Even if we don’t make empty noise on different magazines, we are still watching
Communal people like you masquerading as “secular” is no longer fashionable
Anti-National , suburban naxal , Urban Maoist , rural communist, pseudo-SICKular ….Go to Pakistan !
India deserves a strong dynamic leader in spite of the diversity in every way. It’s time our country to shine bright and back in glory and India wants it wholeheartedly. There will be photo ops but we can ignore small things and focus on the big picture. NaMo Rocksssss
You are just a despondent Mumbai elite who as snobs cannot see that India is changing rapidly! The Mumbai society has always been class race conscious and the fact a former Chaiwala not only upstaged the planned regal entrance of the Rajkumaar as PM but done it a second time too! Nation is rising and even the poor classes are motivated to vote for development and against grinding poverty! Modi symbolizes hope to the Aam Aadmi than the fake Kejriwal! So yes by all mean drown your sorrows but not in the holy shrines like Kedarnath despite its inviting & comfortable environs but at the continuous round of elite parties that your Mumbai friends are due to hold to weep over a drink that the common man has triumphed again and this is start of the decline in the elite societies that you hold dear! As they say no better lubricant than Alcohol to drown your sorrows for the next 5 years
Good to hear your dramatic or rather its melodramatic words to describe the mellow of not tasting success. But life is like that and you possibly don´t understand the real India, the Indian aspirations and change in culture and the so called virtues. So no need for GYAN after all its common knowledge. So only words to you are better luck next time. Eat it, digest it and enjoy. Keep on showing your hunger , at least try to accept results with complete openness. Don´t be a cliche of speaking of Devdas and Paro. forget it keep it for next time.
Even in defeat, you’re not being graceful. Red Carpet is not made for Modi, it’s always there. You’ll know it if you’ve been there before. How do you know that the caves have A/C? Modi spent 10 years as a bramachari in Ramakrishna Math in Rohtak (if I’m not wrong). The monks there felt that his true calling was in politics, not in spirituality, and advised him to come back. Now, you think he medidated in an A/C cave? You just don’t get it. You are refusing to see the writing on the wall, refusing to let facts come in the way of your opinions. You, like the many thousands like you, are incorrigible.
[” Modi spent 10 years as a bramachari in Ramakrishna Math in Rohtak (if I’m not wrong). “]
You are wrong . This is the problem with most Indians . They blindly believe tall tales of spirituality and piety .
And please read the article properly , She never said the cave has A/C. Why would you need A/C in Kedarnath ? The cave has all modern amenities because it is a spiritual resort developed by Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam (GMVN). Basically a cave attached to a room . It has electricity, drinking water facility and a washroom. The Nigam also offers breakfast, lunch, dinner and tea two times in a day to the tourist residing in the cave at a time of their choice. An attendant is available on call 24X7 with a call bell installed in the cave .
Of course it is irrelevant where he meditates . One can also meditate inside a Pub with a beer mug in hand .
Also pls add…
One can also meditate.. with a tissue paper in one hand…..on your commode….
I can very much relate to your shock and despair. I stand dejected today thinking why we couldn’t the country vote differently. Hopeful of the impossible, people like me and you must be very sad today. The dream for the impossible is shattered. My heart goes out to Rahul Gandhi and everybody else who took a stand against hate politics. It is nice to know thay I am not alone.
Thank You
There it is, the last paragraph, mocking the idea of Kedarnath, that’s your problem. You are entitled to your view of looking down upon and mocking Kedarnath. But for a large part of this country, even for non-religious and secular (not pseudo-secular) folks like me, Kedarnath touches an inner most civilizational connect and emotion, which the likes of you can never understand because you have been deracinated and unmoored from your civilizational past. You are a civilizational orphan. But simple minded folk like us who grew up in rural India have been strongly grounded in the history of this soil through the simple habits, folk tales and a civilizational memory handed down to us from our hard working peasant parents and grandparents. You can’t understand it, but you don’t need to. Go bonkers with your bottles, while the likes of us will go about building a new, powerful and prosperous India for ALL Indians.
Well said sir. What these pseudo seculars who write from their secure AC room don’t understand is the ground realities being faced by the so called majority people living in the minority dominated areas.
Please work for the country rather than criticize someone who is working day and night for the country
The latest salvo fired on Modi by his haters is that Modi has won but not the BJP. I can’t understand which logic is used here. Modi’s existence is due to BJP and RSS. Without BJP and RSS, Modi can’t be successful. Currently Modi is the leader of BJP and if he succeeds, BJP also succeeds. Saying that BJP doesn’t have any one who can take place of Modi is also not true. Only those who doesn’t understand how BJP and RSS work, can believe in such sweeping statements.
Am I paranoid?!?
I cant write it in face book .. afraid of the vicious backlash.. but dear let’s compare notes 5 years down the line. After all the winning formulea have been the following:
1.more than 4300cr of money was spent on propaganda.
2. About 70%curbe on any thought critical to govt
3. Propaganda movies
4.even the war.. I had predicted this just after the URI movie.. that the govt had found another winning formula and it’s going to b bigger and that we r going to war. So more wars.
5. More screwing of economic growth stories – internationally our data being branded as fraud
6. Complete taming of judiciary, election commission, RBI, CBI and ever single govt. institution .
Gone are the days when we were proud followers of Amrtya Den and Mr.Ranjan..
8. Rampant privatisation of govt. Organisation and ownership sold to businessmen of one or two selected communities.
9. Ofcourse complete polarisation of communities.
10. Blind logic less belief of hindu supremacy and a blind notion that India is a super power..
11. State wise division of people.. maharastrians hating bongs and so on.
12. Destruction of education, destortion of facts and saturation of propaganda materials in school books infusing fear for minority and pride in imaginary wonderful doings of our mythical figures.
13. Victimisation, curb of freedom of women.
14. More sadhus like maulavi’s running Iran will take responsibility of running our countries .
15. Rising of Hindu fanaticism.
16.we being branded a hindu state.
17. Facing world scrutiny and international restriction , scrutiny on human right volition..
Let’s watch when all this doubles!!
Nandi, Weak and anti national elements like you will always have a list that grows. It shows your uncertainty, it shows you dont have a single clear reason on what india is or what indians want in their hearts (how many? was 17 your last number of reasons, im sure you will have more). You are ignorant of india, its values and totally confused . Your number of reasons show exactly this. That you dont have a clue (hence the growing list). Grow up and try to respect indians and the majority of this country. Dont say lets watch, just watch on your own, you are a confused fool coming up with unbelievably more n more reasons that are totally flawed and still nowhere near the truth! You are in no way connected to the indian psyche or its hopes. Your comment and your growing list reveals just the same. Go to a proper religious-crazy country and see what real fanaticism is!! You will shiver and get some idea about what it actually is and how lucky you are (maybe, not sure still).
“Gone are the days when we were proud followers of Amrtya Sen and Mr.Ranjan..”
That was the reason India achieved 4% “Hindu growth rate” during Nehru- Indira rule.
India need double digit growth to create employment & lift people out of poverty. So these Hindus , Amaritya Sen & Ranjan, should go back to their drawing boards. What we need Hindus for Hindutva double digit growth rate.
Hopefully these Hindus can offer their services to our Pakistani brothers to build secular, minority friendly, Pakistan of Jinnah’s dream.
I guess this guy lost his mind looking at results. Poor analysts fail to see one simple thing.
1. If there is such an amount of intolerance, Dalit oppression, Unemployment and hatred, why did people still voted for Modiji? Definitely Hindus votes will not earn so many seats. If so, Advani could’ve won in 2009. So these all are cooked up stories by the Lutyens media used to feed on biscuits thrown by the dynasty.
2. India is a super power mainly because of its soft power. You guys needn’t realize it but its true. Slaves wont understand it.
3. India is a secular nation with equal opportunities to everyone. Not my problem if you believe giving special treatment to Muslims is called Secular. Hindus don’t want them to be treated special but they don’t want others be treated special either. Create a society which values efficiency than the religion.
4. Blindly following Amartya Sen and others might work when Media is cooking partial narratives. Not any more. Social media is here and information is power. The secrets media thought buried in deep racks and flowing out. Deal with it.
No need to be kind to such a drunken peice. Most quixotic and absurd write up by a a person who is obsessed with self eroticism, I am sorry I wasted m y time thinking it is entertaiing but it is not even entertaining and is highly foolish on such an occasion of historic victory of Modi,
Shobha tai, traas karun gheu naka. Vishraam kara. Maybe you can do the impossible. Like actually see that the bubvle of an divisive Modi and an intolerant, anti-secular BJP haa been so resolutely rejected. Maybe you could see that Delhi Church attack onwards, the narrative of a divisive campaign was really not built on reality but a on random events and lies like Rafale.
Aaz nako, apan udya vichaar lary hyavar.
After all, why not celebrate the culmination of India’s biggest festival? Bring out the bubbly!!
Cheers!!!
Dear Shobhaa De, a well written article. But go slow on the old monk, 5 years of development under the Modi government might just affect your liver! 😀
Hey Shobhaa,
You’re not alone. There are crores who are not bhakts and will never be. Deification and cultism dig their own graves. Makes me happy to be in the opposition today. Nothing to fear.
Wow. Brilliantly written. Cheers to you…. from a dosth in ghum times…
Very simple, Maa’m. You have a 20/20 vision. BUT, the last 5 years, you deliberately chose to wear blinkers and had a fondness for the immature and school boyish RG. ONLY BECAUSE, all of you (the “Family” included) have only contempt for Modi as an upstart and an usurper, daring to stand in the way of the Crown Prince. Naturally, you cannot comprehend anything when overtaken by reality..
Here’s drinking to democracy, and its little cousin, Freedom of Speech.
You a** is so on fire girl! Actually, you are giving too much importance to yourself! You always have! And just because you took an unpopular stand, it doesn’t make you right! you are the example of majority of the things that can go wrong for a human being. I mean, mentally. Really deal with it! Your pathetic attempts at sarcasms are going right back to you! You are so full of yourself that it triggers laughter and nothing else! Get a life girl and try to look at your shortcomings rather than writing such desperate and hopeless articles! As you said yourself, deal with it! This is the era of social media where people are not dependant of corrupt news papers and news channels and so called “influencers” like you. It hurts, I know! But finally, India is waking. If you cant accept the reality, I am not surprised as I always knew there is a shortage of actual grey matters in your brain. Go, see a doctor! It would be more fruitful!
I have high regards for smokers and alcoholics. They contribute to the economy by paying for the sin goods and at the same time keep a check on human population by succumbing to diseases. Happy drinking.
No need to feel either foolish or sheepish. Different points of view should continue to be expressed. They should be welcomed, the media being regarded as the legitimate pillar to both question and criticise.