The whine of Modi 2 years

The whine of Modi 2 years

(Hey folks ! this is my first kick in the bloggers field.,so the ball wont go straight,in the goalpost..Hopefully going along it starts dipping in the post.This maiden venture is anything but original .I thought it better to wait a bit till I get to know the medium better..
so what will this blog be about ,politics and Indian politics to boot.with its myriad twists and turns,its tenacious ugliness,inscrutable characters,the movers and shakers,rabble-rousers and what have you .This post looks at how some people viewed the two years ,of the Indian Prime Minister,Narender Damodardas Modi.)

Two months past two years. That’s time enough for die-hards to have had their say on Modi ‘reign’. Understandably, given his polarizing persona, many lotuses bloomed and much mud thrown, rancid beer went with cakes and ale.

Flowers have a problem ,a short shelf life,quickly drooping and withering;dirt, however, is more resilient, so much so that some come off only with the skin .Likewise sweet things wow, but the bitter stuff titillates, has greater recall. So ignoring the temptation of the sweet,let’s look at some of the cutting, ludicrous and outlandish stuff that hit the media about #Modi 2.

But first ,how it all began. 26^th May, India Gate, Delhi.

A 5-hour glitzy extravaganza for the gods (devotees barred) with Bollywood glitterati of the likes of Big B, Raveena Tandon, Madhavan strutting on the stage brand ‘ambassadoring’ government schemes, videos highlighting success stories, project novelties amidst tunes of ‘mera desh badal raha hai…agey badh raha hai’ set off a month long celebration.The pole star of the starry nite was the man himself ,Mr Modi, the architect of #Modi 2. Doling out self-praise and sickening blows on congress in equal measure and with aplomb, did he not speak with the added conviction of history behind him (though at times he is known to falter historically) ! The Telegraph felt so, and in its inimitable style wrote “for 67 long years we made a tryst with darkness, and now the time comes when we shall redeem our pledge, not wholly or in full measure but very substantially. At the stroke of the sunset now May 26, 2014 India shall come to life and freedom”.

About the PM's claim that “there are so many achievements of my government that the DD will have to telecast me live for a full week” or what the DD anchor said “Pradhan Mantri ke vision se suryast suryodaya mein badal gaya hai, raat ho rahi hai lekin hum dekh rahe hain Ek Nayi Subah” , posterity will judge whether that extra making the difference between ordinary and extraordinary could indeed be found.

But sure that extra lay elsewhere.Indisputably media projection of the man and his governance was intense and sustained over a month and to a point that emphasis on substance gave way to just pouring scorn on congress, a degenerate narrative of contrasting Modi 2 ‘muscular’ years with 60 years of ‘effeminate’ Congress. Rights and wrongs of it ,and whether the achievements overwhelmed or underwhelmed, more perspicacious minds may judge and, of course ,the final arbiter is the voter.

As I said earlier, I am not here to sit in judgement on the regime,but to point out a few amongst thousands of discordant, quirky notes that for some reason or the other caught my eye.

First the Union Minister, Kiran Rijiju “Nostradamus wrote that from 2014 to 2026,a man will lead India, whom initially, people will hate but after that people will love him so much that he will be engaged in changing the country’s plight and direction. This was predicted in 1955”. Fine, but a Hindutva devotee invoking a French seer ?Had he brushed up on Vishnu Purana he could have presented Modi as harbinger of the coming of Kalki to end Kaliyug. Excellent desi corollary to Venkiah Naidu’s divination of Modi being God’s gift to India. At this high point all encomiums, eulogies pale into insignificance.

So onto the irreverent, tongue- in- cheek ones

 1. Two years without even two smiles

2. Abki baar barbad hogaye yaar

3. Double headed temple of Janus, the Greek god who speaks with one face and acts with the other

4. Gaccha de gaya Modi

5. They celebrate 2 years; we wait for completion of remaining 3 years

6. Apart from acche din and lambi raat, in random order, they built GATIMAN express, a train slightly faster than SHATABDI express

7.  "I have failed to get an appointment for days now. Maybe he will see my camera and come out.” BBC Cartoon

8.   Poster boy for broken promises

9.   Bhasan veer Modi karamveer nahi ban payee

10. There is a lot of sizzle, but where is the steak

11. The difference between UPA and NDA-in UPA we had a government and no PM, in NDA we have a PM but no government

12. Too much seems to ride on him and him alone.

13. There is style not substance

14. Modi is now asking the country to see his tenure as a five day test match; many though are going by his original promise of a T20 live result

15. A  Trimurti is being sculpted –Hindu rashtra, neo liberal reforms, authoritarianism

16. If we would have sent Modi to the moon or mars then there would have been cause for celebration

The frequent flyer streak in Modi has been a troll delight for some time now. Expectedly, the itchy feet didn’t go unnoticed

1. The only development in the country has been done by PMO which is now functioning as an International Travel Agency. The officials have been reduced to travel agents who keep on arranging his visits to one country or the other

2. Modi first has to decide whether his residence is inside or outside the country

All of it may not quite be true but the road ahead for his colleagues going into the 3^rd year won’t be easy. They ,more than ever ,need Baba Ramdev’s yogic skills to stay on course with the newly enunciated Modi Mantra-7S or S7. Just trying reeling off the 7S in quick succession ,if you do manage it,hats off!

 sevabhaav, santulan, sanyam, samnway, sakaratmak, sadbhavan, samvad

Comparisons are odious for they overlook the incomparables and the imponderables, that is to say, the contextual, temporal dissimilarities. Yet the temptation is irresistible and one keeps asking like Ashutosh of AAP, ‘is the idea of Modi losing sheen or is getting clearer ‘.Ten months from now, there will again be a deluge of outpourings - Modi3. As ever, there will be many singing paeans in praise , and whiners writing its epitaph.

 Finally, will this tweet of a Modi fan reverberate with greater conviction and glee as the years go by ? Only time will tell.

MODI 1! MODI 2! MODI 3 ! MODI 4 ! MODI 5!