.. And I ride!

Tomorrow I set out on my four day maiden bike trip with the Bisons, all on Royal Enfields, to visit the ten famous Lord Ganesha temples in Maharashtra! My bags are packed, bike is fuelled and my excitement is building up!

Catch up on our trip live @magic_eye.

Will flag off at six am IST.

To read amazing Flash Friday 55ers or to showcase yours please visit the fabulous g-man

Deathblow?

The ruling combine in Maharashtra has dealt a master stroke to shatter the opposition(BJP & Shiv Sena). Just prior to the election in the Northern states, the Maharashtra Government decreed that all taxi drivers should know to speak Marathi if they want their licences renewed. This obviously gladdened the hearts of the regional satraps but soon came a clarification that the cabbies need only know any ‘local’ language, which would mean even Hindi or Gujarati! This sent the regional language saviours into a tizzy trying to outshout each other in trying to save the Marathi manoos and his language and a revival of their slogan of Mumbai for Maharashtrians. This was soon trashed by the RSS whose political party the BJP had to follow suit for self preservation in the electioneering states. In the bargain they lost a lot of love from their old political partners in Maharashtra – the Shiv Sena. This rift augurs well for the Congress in the State as well as in the oncoming elections in the Northern states. Two birds with one stone! A masterstroke indeed!

A slap on democracy?

Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) members on Monday attacked state Samajwadi Party chief Abu Azmi inside the legislature after he insisted on taking his oath as a legislator in Hindi. His insistence, am sure, does not stem from his love for the national language but from a deep rooted desire to be in the limelight at any cost. Yet, the incident is nothing short of shameful and disgusting.

Street violence has ousted democracy. Is nothing sacred? Politics has been redefined by the neo fascists. Linguistic chauvinism has scaled new heights and the credit goes to Mr. Raj Thackeray and his bunch of goons who dare to call themselves ‘Ministers’ in our Legislative Assembly. Their being there reflects sorely on our educated electorate who did not bother to come out and vote and assisted in the gradual demise of democracy. If there is no participation of the citizen in elections it is not democracy.

Farmer suicides

Mournful silence pervaded the room. The gloom was palpable. The sole bread earner had gone, leaving a pile of debts for the living. The gloom was not so much for the loss of a human being as it was at the thought of clearing the debts. Life had become a punishment.
Death a reward.