“First they ignore you, then they ridicule you.
And then they attack you and want to burn you.
And then, they build monuments to you!”
As Delhi gears up for elections, 'Farjiwal', 'Fekriwal', 'AK-49', 'Bhagoda' (and some of our trademark Hindi abusive
words which never cease to evolve, each time they are mentioned) gears up for
another session of mockery!
The last Lok Sabha Election, was a
trendsetter. Facebook, Twitter was flooded with updates of our inked fingers.
Voting and knowing whom to vote for, was suddenly in vogue! In a first of its
kind, not only did the country vote, but also chose a majority, a rarity in a
democracy like ours! Delhi had all of a sudden, found a Messiah! A ‘one-stop’
solution to all its woes…
In 1989, Arvind Kejriwal returned
home, from his final year at IIT-Kharagpur, with just the clothes that he was
wearing and the residue of money left, from what he had set aside for his
return journey. Everything else he owned, was given to charity. Even today, all
that his party has, is a group of naive supporters, who feel a change is still
possible – that of clean governance, of ‘poorna-swaraj’. Isn’t this what we had
always desired?
49 days into the government, he
betrayed the unconditional trust placed in him and quit the government. A ‘Messiah’
49 days ago, saw his effigies, all round the country, the 50th day
onwards! Strange country ours is, isn’t it? We love to hate, the ‘Harbinger’ of
hope and change. That very Bhagoda, who brought voting in vogue! His solid
academic IIT, IRS background, which once was his effervescence, now irks the
country, as they supposedly proudly see a ‘Chaiwala’ doing better than an
IITian!
He certainly is, and has been naive,
reckless, immature with his decisions, but apologized and learnt from them,
rather than simply exclaiming – “Is desh ka kuch nahin ho sakta”. Doesn’t he
deserve forgiveness? At least once?
Afterall, “ Subah ka bhoola, jab sham
ko ghar aaye, toh use bhoola (‘Bhagoda’) nahin kehte! ”
When Kejriwal resigned, he sought an
extension to stay in his C-II/23 Tilak Lane home (due to his daughter’s board
exams and entrance tests) for which he was charged Rs. 85,000 a month as rent. Surely nothing wrong with
that.
An interesting RTI plea reply, the
same month reveals that 36 ex-ministers, including B.J.P. biggies - L.K. Advani,
Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley, listed as unauthorized occupants, had gone
scot-free!
Surprisingly, amidst the pandemonium,
Harshita, Kejriwal’s daughter, not only managed a brilliant 96% in her boards,
but also qualified for the IITs with an AIR # 3322. Apparently, Kejriwal was
lodged in jail, in connection with the Gadkari defamation case, the very same
day his daughter wrote the IIT entrance exam.
On Dec 23rd, when Kejriwal
announced his government in Delhi, his son Pulkit and daughter Harshita
exclaimed to Mail Today,
“HUMAARE PAPA MEIN BOHOT DUM HAI !”
Let’s not prove a ‘Father’ wrong.
Let’s not prove India wrong!
- Sushant Singh Bhatia
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