doublethink

Crispy morning with PM2.5 level at 560. Visibility restricted to 600 meters but the feel of the new Central Vista hangs in the air. The new zone of Central Vista has its own oxygen and air purifier plants. Took my seat in the hi-tech PURIFIED AIR KIOSK with a tagline –  Air that Purifies Mind  – installed at the gate. Purified air given for 30 seconds is for free. Rs 500 for every extra minute. Sir, gate pass? Me: Sorry, I thought aadhar card will work. No sir, you need to have a gate pass to enter into the building.  Me: Okay, did not know that. How does one get it now? Uff, you people come here without any proper homework. This is not old India, sir. All information available on the website. Free helpline number also given there only to plan a visit to Central Vista.  Me: Very impressive but please help me now. I don't have a pass. Next time you come, come with prior pass only. This time helping you. Use your aadhar number to log in to  centralvista.co.in/gues...

  Politics of Hope - Politics over Dead   New India, Young India, Aspirational India, Swachcha India, Atmanirbhar India – many Indias have popped up in the last few years. In quick succession, one India arrives while the other has not been even graciously discarded into the archive of the nation’s memory. Some of them live only to be dusted and polished, to be presented with gust and élan under a new tag (for instance, the earlier ‘made in India’ changed into ‘make in India’).    Almost, one feels, the force of compulsive commoditization is at work behind the swift pace with which new brands keep appearing. What does it say about the politics of our times? Why is there a need to brand a country again and again? A country, which obsesses over History right from within the whisper-soaking walls of the living room to that of the frenzied zeal of a mob that turned a monument into a pile of rubble, equally adores being recurrently decked in a new identity. Why is branding...

            जलता मकाँ                         कुछ तो नहीं है जान की क़ीमत,                      हैरां सब हैं, क्या है हुक़ूमत,                           आस की डोर में उलझी हैं साँसें,                                     संग-ए-सियासत आँख चुराए,                  ये उठता धुवाँ, धुँधला समाँ, जलता मकाँ,                    झूठ की दुनिया, संग बसा कर,                    तुझको जीताया, ख़ुद को हरा कर,          ...

 Photo credit:  Anastasiia Chepinska on Unsplash   As much as ‘man ki baat’, the regular radio broadcast of PM Modi to the nation, represents the voice of power, I often find WhatsApp forward messages as the real archive for learning about the new grammar of political faith which that power creates. A faith that has swept India for some time, turning upside down the expected conduct of government and citizens. One such message, which is not entirely new but has acquired renewed momentum in the last few days in the wake of Covid-19 induced havoc of death and near-death is to remain positive: think positive, be positive.    The latest by the Union Health Minister, that India is mentally and physically well prepared this year to beat the Covid-19 pandemic is also a ‘variant’ of this messaging. Remain calm, be positive, and trust the government.    Let us ask, what does it actually mean? What does it say, but more importantly, what does it hide?  ...