First anniversary, first house

Okay, this blog is a complete departure from my earlier ones. I have always made it a point not to write anything personal and only be a ‘commentator’ on the happenings in the world, or so to say. But I couldn’t resist this digression.
People revel in their ‘firsts’ — first step, first day in school, first crush, first baby, etc. Marriage is ‘ideally’ always for keeps. So there can’t be firsts here. But yes, there is the first anniversary... and here I am, eagerly awaiting that day to celebrate with my love and loved ones! Here, I have got mixed feelings — on one hand, I wonder how time passed so quickly. And on the other, it feels like I have been married for ages.
And then there is our new house — our very own first house! We will almost complete a month of our stay here. This house has lent a certain positivity to my entire being that is very difficult to express.
I had always wanted to celebrate our first anniversary in a house of our own! And guess what, my wish has come true!
I’m totally head over heels in love with the house! Can’t stop gushing about it. Two years back, if anybody would have told me that I would be happily married or least of all, have a house, I’d have laughed out loud. Things happen when they are slated to happen, and (as a friend of mine says) when you want them to happen. Paulo Coelho got it right when he said: When you want something desperately, the entire universe conspires to help you get it.
At the risk of sounding weird, I want to express my gratitude to all my loved ones and well-wishers for helping me reach where I am, at the moment.

Caste as alibi?

Kalyan Singh has very cunningly distanced himself from the Babri Masjid demolition ever since resigning from the BJP. The latest statement is :

"I was told that nothing will happen (demolition of mosque)… there was a conspiracy by BJP behind it. Two big leaders who were kar sevavadis, had given to Supreme Court in writing that only a symbolic kar seva would be held there (in Ayodhya),"
"Kya Muslim nahin chaahte hain ki BJP ka naash ho? Tumse zyada to Kalyan chaahta hai ki BJP ka naash ho. Maine BJP ki kabr khod di hai, aap us per mitti daal dena is baar." (Don’t Muslims want the BJP destroyed? More than you, Kalyan who wants the BJP’s destruction. I’ve dug the BJP’s grave, this time ensure you seal it with earth.)

Looks like this move will make way for factionalism in BJP, as it happened to Congress a few decades ago.
But I find Kalyan’s stance totally disgusting. How can one turn a blind eye to what was happening (Babri demolition) then and now when the elections come around, one just says that one was targetted due to one’s caste? Talk about conspiracy theories!

Sole of the matter

George W Bush, P Chidambaram, Naveen Jindal, L K Advani and Manmohan Singh. The one thing that binds all these people is a shoe — hurled at them!
A bloke named Hitesh Chauhan, obviously digruntled with the state of affairs in the country, threw a shoe at PM Manmohan Singh today afternoon when the PM was addressing a rally in Ahmedabad.
During the last few days there have been a number of incidents of shoe-throwing in differrent parts of the country. On April 7, an accredited journalist in New Delhi had expressed his protest over CBI giving clean chit to Congress leader Jagdish Tytler in anti-Sikh riots of 1984, by hurling a shoe at Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram. Congress leader Naveen Jindal also became a victim of a similar incident when an agitated school teacher hurled a shoe towards him during a rally. In another such incident, a party member hurled his wooden footwear at Bharatiya Janata Party's primeministerial candidate L K Advani during a rally in Madhya Pradesh's Katni town.
Looks like the shoe has suddenly become mightier than the sword and of course, the pen. But yeah, it's at least better than slashing someone's throat with a sword or spraying them with bullets.
But then, I wonder, why do these shoe-throwers always miss their target? Arre bhai, ek toh joota nishaane pe lagna chahiye na? And all this keeps happening when the nation is electing its representatives. I suspect it's a gimmick to attract attention. After all, even bad publicity is exactly that — publicity.
But I must admit, charismatic BJP leader Narendra Modi is a smart guy. During one of his rallies, he ensured that his podium was secured with nets (see pic), to prevent a wayward shoe or chappal coming his way. Guess he didn't realise that his poll campaign could get extra funds if the footwear coming his way is sold off to a kabadiwallah!

Setting a malnourished trend?

I was alarmed when I saw this Australian girl competing for the Australian finals of the Miss Universe pageant. Stephanie Naumoska, 19, eventually could not make it as the winner. With her 31-25-35 measurements, she seemed to have trouble filling into her already skimpy bikini, though by the pageant and modelling standards, she had the ideal height — 5ft 10in.
However, she has a Body Mass Index of 15.1 — and that, by World Health Organisation standards, means she is malnourished. Experts say her BMI should be between 18.5 and 24.9 to fall into the ‘average’ category.
I’m really glad she did not win the contest, because that would have meant her becoming an unhealthy role model for all the young girls out there in the world. But more than that, I have a question for the organisers of the contest: if all the details were out there, right in front of you, why did you let her contest in the first place?
Any answers, anybody?

Colourful Varunbaba

Well, it’s an untold truth that politicians are like chameleons. They change colours by the minute.
So when animal lover Maneka Gandhi’s son Varun suddenly started espousing the cause of non-violence, I’m sure many people would not have been too surprised.
Just a few days ago, he managed to get bail following his incarceration over some caustic remarks that he allegedly made against a section of non-Hindus. He allegedly wanted to cut off those hands that were raised against the Hindus. I wonder if he was talking about the ‘hand’ of the Congress.

I’m sure the proponent of non-violence — Mahatma Gandhi (God bless his soul) — must be turning in his grave. Sadly, he also shares his surname with this youngster who has now filed his candidature from Pilibhit in Uttar Pradesh.