Did You Ever Love Me? by Rithvik Singh is a tender contemporary poetry collection about love, heartbreak, longing, self worth and learning to let go. Its greatest strength is emotional accessibility: Singh writes directly to readers who feel intensely and care deeply. The collection offers comfort without pretending heartbreak is simple, though its simplicity may occasionally feel familiar to seasoned poetry readers. Did you Ever Love Me? Have you ever loved someone so completely that, after they left, you were left wondering whether they had ever understood what they had been given? Not merely whether they loved you, but whether they ever noticed how much you loved them, how much patience you offered, how many small things you remembered, or how often you chose to stay when leaving might have been easier. There is a particular loneliness in that question because it rarely arrives at a dramatic moment. More often, it finds you while you are doing something completely ordinary. Yo...
As the nation, rejoices and gets happy over what Anna Hazare has done, by blackmailing the government over fast unto death, I find the whole event as shallow and hollow as the great Indian society's mindset today.
It all began with the media circus. Reminding me of the movie Peepli Live, where all media journos start thrusting mikes here and their for sound bytes and the TRPs. They all started to act as champions of corruptions as if they themselves are aloof to them. If A. Raja with the backing of Manmohan Singh, created a huge telecom scam, how can I forget, that it was a senior journalist who had lobbied hard to get him that post.
Then comes the politician bashing thing. Anna Hazare and his strategized the whole affair well. Everyone started hitting it out to politicians, shifting the blame of corruption on the entire political class. As if, politicians just exchange bribes within themselves. Further, they branded themselves as the civil society. Hence, it became a match between the civil society and politicians (who perhaps according to media and Anna Hazare are not to be included in a civil society).
This is sickening. Manmohan Singh has been leading one of the most corrupt governments ever. How could that happen, without the support of the masses and the media and the so called civil society? While making the constitution, the founding members entrusted the responsibility of our democracy to the people of India. If politics has sunk to a low today, the society is to be blamed for it. Barring one, Mrs Gandhi, who was born abroad, rest all the major leaders of our times, have come from within the Indian society itself. How then, can we isolate corruption and confine it into political class itself?
Other sickening factor is the group itself. On the dais, they said, no politician would be allowed to sit. They were even booed out of the event venue. When people like Medha Patkar and Swami Agnivesh can support Mamta Banerjee
(and her ally the Congress), why do they have reservations over political class now, all of a sudden? They don't mind sitting on her political dais, then why do the change stance and start politician bashing in front of media, when it suits them. Shanti Bhushan, along with being a well reputed lawyer, is also an ex-politician. Does that make hm corrupt too. Because, all politicians are corrupt. Mallika Sarabhai, another supporter of Anna'a movement, had contested the 2009 Lok Sabha elections from Gujarat and lost. So does that not, by definition make one of the political class too?
Lastly, comes the Lokpal Bill. How many supporters of the Bill, have read it in totem? It calls for another institution, like the CEC and the Judiciary, to tame corruption. This at a time, when the great gala commonwealth loot tamasha was conducted under sports minister MS Gill, a former chief election commissioner. The judges, especially of the Supreme Court are coming continuously under the serious allegations of corruption. How can then, you be sure that corruption can be eradicated with political bashing and a Lokpal?
The answer does not lie, in fast unto deaths, and creating show of strength. It lies in looking inwards, filling in the leadership vacuum, voting for the right individual and party and above everything else, working towards creating a better Bharat
It all began with the media circus. Reminding me of the movie Peepli Live, where all media journos start thrusting mikes here and their for sound bytes and the TRPs. They all started to act as champions of corruptions as if they themselves are aloof to them. If A. Raja with the backing of Manmohan Singh, created a huge telecom scam, how can I forget, that it was a senior journalist who had lobbied hard to get him that post.
Then comes the politician bashing thing. Anna Hazare and his strategized the whole affair well. Everyone started hitting it out to politicians, shifting the blame of corruption on the entire political class. As if, politicians just exchange bribes within themselves. Further, they branded themselves as the civil society. Hence, it became a match between the civil society and politicians (who perhaps according to media and Anna Hazare are not to be included in a civil society).
This is sickening. Manmohan Singh has been leading one of the most corrupt governments ever. How could that happen, without the support of the masses and the media and the so called civil society? While making the constitution, the founding members entrusted the responsibility of our democracy to the people of India. If politics has sunk to a low today, the society is to be blamed for it. Barring one, Mrs Gandhi, who was born abroad, rest all the major leaders of our times, have come from within the Indian society itself. How then, can we isolate corruption and confine it into political class itself?
Other sickening factor is the group itself. On the dais, they said, no politician would be allowed to sit. They were even booed out of the event venue. When people like Medha Patkar and Swami Agnivesh can support Mamta Banerjee
(and her ally the Congress), why do they have reservations over political class now, all of a sudden? They don't mind sitting on her political dais, then why do the change stance and start politician bashing in front of media, when it suits them. Shanti Bhushan, along with being a well reputed lawyer, is also an ex-politician. Does that make hm corrupt too. Because, all politicians are corrupt. Mallika Sarabhai, another supporter of Anna'a movement, had contested the 2009 Lok Sabha elections from Gujarat and lost. So does that not, by definition make one of the political class too?
Lastly, comes the Lokpal Bill. How many supporters of the Bill, have read it in totem? It calls for another institution, like the CEC and the Judiciary, to tame corruption. This at a time, when the great gala commonwealth loot tamasha was conducted under sports minister MS Gill, a former chief election commissioner. The judges, especially of the Supreme Court are coming continuously under the serious allegations of corruption. How can then, you be sure that corruption can be eradicated with political bashing and a Lokpal?
The answer does not lie, in fast unto deaths, and creating show of strength. It lies in looking inwards, filling in the leadership vacuum, voting for the right individual and party and above everything else, working towards creating a better Bharat
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