57 - BABA RAM RAHEEM AND HONEYPREET

The latest scandal to be revealed is that of the 'godman' Ram-raheem,  from Sirsa, in north India.  According to the revelations, he has studied only upto the ninth standard and was an 'ordinary' citizen until he got married.  Through a span of thirty years approximately, this man has made an 'empire' for himself with an entire 'dera' or city of his own.  In this dera, he is the king, and the rulemaker, the most powerful person, with his own plastic currency, his numerous bungalows, with themes, an extravagant life style, with a pretty partner, Honey-preet.

Such innovation!  But alas!  Only for his own selfish comfort.  But then, we all want comfort and luxuries for ourselves, and that is what we work towards.  The only difficulty is that we cannot manage to earn too much. Ram-raheem earned so much wealth, by whatever means,  he managed to become a film hero too.  And among his friend's circle are the likes of the chief minister of Haryana and Shilpa Shetty and Mr. Kundra,  as disclosed on the news channels.

I envy this man's innovation and enterprise, but if only he would have been 'human' and not murdered others, and raped women, as is being disclosed.  Each one of us has skeletons in the closet, but this man has skeletons in his backyard, buried by his orders, of innocent detractors.  If only he would have used his energies to be genuinely good, as he wanted to be portrayed, and not behaved fiendishly to achieve wealth and fame and power.

Fairy tales about 'rags to riches' abound.  A Tale of Two Cities, the Prince and the Pauper,  Macbeth, Hansel and Gretel, and the real life examples of The Ambanis and The Bachchans.  But Baba Ram-raheem has outdone all of them to have achieved so much extravagance and luxury and opulence.
The investigation has revealed that all his fifteen bungalows, built around 'the wonders of the world' and underwater theme titled, the Amoeba, built around the planets and space, titled the Sun, the Eiffel Tower palace,  the Taj Mahal palace,  Disneyland themed bungalow, etc., all these have seven star luxuries.  Wow!

Whichever way this baba has erred,  it cannot be denied that he has genius, evil genius,  but genuine genius nevertheless.  And there are so many others who would cash in on their 'evil' genius, if they could, without being caught.  And then some of them are 'caught'.

Everyone wants luxuries and for that, everyone wants cash,  whether it is a Shahrukh Khan or a Rabdi Devi.  I can give you one recent example of avarice,  wherein the very 'famous' Mr. Arjun Rampal was contacted to grace a certain school level function,  and promote his movie Daddy too.  His PR team conveyed to us that for 45 minutes of his precious time,  we would have to shell out a whopping eight lakhs.  So then, when we judge Ram-raheem, it should be noted that he too used his initiative to earn a luxurious lifestyle by managing to dupe the vulnerables.  And all of them went into his 'dera' of their own free will.

Why should the spider be denied his bait of the fly?

40 - SWACHCH BHARAT ABHIYAAN of PRIME MINISTER MODI

Amitabh Bachchan is the face of the NDTV campaign for swachch Bharat and I was just watching the show.  What an interesting debate, but so futile.

 Mr. Bachchan, if you would walk along the road near your house,  people would love to keep it clean maybe.

 And ms Neeta Ambani,  your home at Peddar Road is a fortress with an almost 20 feet tall wall, but when we approach it, just 10 meters away, there is an overflowing public garbage bin, and no proper footpath to walk.  Not so long ago I visited your 'adda' and had a tough time reaching your barricaded home while very very expensive, imported cars zoomed past.  You only want publicity with taking photo ops with public topics that you profess to support.  Your very own security guards, holding their stenguns, spit randomly as they stand on duty and your outlets allow the customers to park their vehicles on pedestrian footpaths, caring two hoots for the public that is inconvenienced.

What hypocrites these famous people are.  It only suits them to endorse some philanthropic issues and remain in the public eye.

Near my school is a very posh air-conditioned office of Mr.Owaisi.  Large posters proclaim his ownership of the premises.  But they flaunt all public rules.  His driver threatens anyone who parks at the road opposite his office,  his workers and visitors blatantly park their two wheelers onto the footpath, as a matter of 'hamara eelaaka hai'.   I have personally picked up plastic teacups and vadapau wrappers, that his office persons have thrown out of his office and given it back to them, thus getting showered with the worst explicits that they could shout out.  They come out of the office and spit and then go back into the sanctity of "the office".

E ward is just around the corner and yet, no one ever comes to fine the defaulters,  And these defaulters are the shopkeepers in the vicinity.  It is ironic that there are so many schools on Clare Road and the students have to walk along dirty roads and footpaths that are encroached with parked two wheelers and even cars, like the area near the Petrol Pump and the American Express Bakery.

The authorities who have to maintain the law, are absent from the scene.  That is the tragedy of India.

Mr Adar Poonawalla, the mighty, you have beseeched to the public to join hands with you to keep the city clean, but that is not possible with almot one fourth of the people sleeping on the roads of Mumbai.  At night, when I walked from the Grant Road station, upto Nana chawk, along the skywalk, I counted one hundred and seventy six beggars and squatters, sleeping along the skywalk.  Where do you think these poorest of the poor, urinate and defecate, and cook and eat and sleep?  They have nothing to do with keeping 'the city clean' for you and me.  They just need to survive and they will do it with all the squalor and dirt around them anyway.  The government needs to address their problem and provide them with sustainable housing.  At present, these pavement dwellers are ignored and left to fend for themselves.  They live in filth and multiply and add to the future generations of  squatters.  They will not become clean by magic.  They need housing and counselling and education and help to lead a better life.  Then Mr.Poonawalla, will India be a clean place.  The have-nots must be helped. 





 

3 - A FLAT TO LIVE IN.

Everywhere I look,  I can see new constructions coming up.    20 and 30 storey skyscrapers are sprouting up,    like mushrooms in the rotting bark of a tree.         I have a very well placed cousin whom I requested to guide me to buy a flat for my daughter who wants to marry.      He just directed me to magic bricks .com.          And now my email inbox is flooded with updates from 'magicbricks'    with offers of a home in Karjat,    Kalyan and Virar.         South   Mumbai or Central Mumbai is nowhere in the offers,   because my budget is less than 20 lakhs.      

If only I had a crore or even a little more like one and a 1/2 crore,   I could get my child married and settled.   Maybe this year Lalbaugcha Raja can fulfil a few of my wishes too.   'The boy' even tried his luck and his wits to participate in Kaun Banega Crorepati.    He got into the first interview round,  but then he was not called back,  because 'why do you deserve to be in the show?' must not have been the criteria that the organisers wanted. 

But WHO can afford these expensive homes????   Obviously rich business men,  mostly  from Gujarat.     Shiv sena honcho,   Mr Thackeray,    can you help Maharashtrians to buy a decent home,  please.    Actors can afford luxurious bungalows,  Shahrukh Khan, Amitabh Bachchan, Kareena Kapoor,  Deepika Padukone etc.     No wonder that all and sundry aspire to become 'Bollywood actors'.  I think it is a very good deal if Alia Bhatt can earn crores, just by kissing on screen.    What luck to be able to be in a position to earn such easy money,   while so many Bollywood hopefuls get used and abused and suffer ignominy,  in their pursuit of  fame and bounty.    

When Reliance boss,  Mr.  Mukesh Ambani built his  Antilia,  Mumbai earned another world landmark.  The next one will be "India Towers" at Wadala.   At 125 storeys high,  it will be the second tallest man-made structure in the world.    WOW.     But where and how will I get a residence for my child?

I spent my childhood in Pune.   We lived in a bungalow,  with fruit and flower trees and plants,  and a pond.   I had the privilege to present colourful dahlias, lilies, ferns and pink scented roses,  to my teachers, daily. We always had fresh-from-the-trees,  lemons, guavas, chickoos, figs, bananas, pomegranates, mangoes, drumsticks, lemongrass and kadipatta.   We had 2 pet dogs,  and a dozen hens.   Our car was parked in one part of the bungalow.   We, the kids,  my brothers, my cousins, my neighbours,  all of us played hide-and-seek, catching cook,  7 tiles, four corners, tippery, badminton, and of course cycling.   It was heavenly.   And here in Mumbai,  I  live in a one bhk flat.

I can empathise with Sunny Leone,   in that she can easily buy a penthouse in Mumbai.  She does what she does and earns her way into a posh lifestyle.   So,  I was wondering,  who are the other people who live in these posh flats.

I have numerous friends who have a Mhada flat.   They have rented out the flat and with that money,  they have invested in a south Mumbai flat,  and they pay rent and have taken a housing loan for the flat that they reside in presently.      So,  this means that many Mumbaikars, own at least three residences...what a rigmarole.    I presume that the government's policy of  waiving off tax on a housing loan, is the root cause of this circle within a circle syndrome,  or more suitably,  the house within a house syndrome. 

Dear Lalbagcha Raja,   please help me to gift a home to my daughter,  as a wedding present.