Kurukkuthurai - My Tryst with Thamirabharani

As a part of this month's escape to civilization, I landed at Tirunelveli on Saturday morning. After offering my prayers at Nellaiappar temple, I decided to pay a visit to Kurukkuthurai, based on my dad's recommendation.

Kurukkuthurai is about 3-4 kms from Tirunelveli junction. Kurukkuthurai, as the name suggests, is a temple for lord Muruga, situated in the middle of the Thamiraibharani river. This temple gets submerged underwater during monsoon.

A brisk half hour walk along the railway line took me to Kurukkuthurai. The temple is connected to the bank by a stone bridge. As I walked across the connecting the bank to the temple, I was welcomed by a cool breeze, despite the sun. As I neared the temple, I was awed by the grandeur of the quiet and steady flow of Thamiraibharani. The lower halls of the temple were submerged underwater and only the sanctum was above the water level (a measly 3 feet above water).

After offering my prayers at the temple, I settled atop a rock, staring at the vast expanse of the river. As the banks near the temple was pretty crowded with the locals fishing and collecting water and kids practicing their cannonball dives, I found a quiet spot for myself a little upstream.

Ten minutes later a surreal feeling engulfed me. I felt the river calling me to become a part of the landscape. Acknowledging her desire, I took of my clothes and jumped into the river. It was pure ecstacy as the river welcomed me into her arms. I started splashing and wading against the current for a few minutes. I then decided to hold on to a nearby rock and feel the river's current on me. The gentle but assertive current of the river made me lose track of time and for the next twenty odd minutes I was in a trance with the current of the river stirring a cocktail of emotions in me. The feeling is hard to describe in words!

As I waded back to the shore and got my clothes on, mother nature decided to play more with me and got me drenched a short spell of rain. She didn't want me to leave her!

As I walked back to the town along the railway line, I made a quiet promise to Thamirabharani that I will be back for her very soon.

I promise... I will... :)

Kiran Bedi's Theatricals - Wise Move!

For the last 10 days, I've been quite critical about Dr. Kiran Bedi's methods of taking the Jan Lokpal Bill to the netizens via twitter. I'm indeed happy to notice that her tweets for the last 3-4 days have been nothing short of pleasant reading and I've never been more eager for my phone to buzz, alerting me of new tweets from her.

Coming to the recent impersonation of the MPs by Dr. Kiran Bedi, the media have been uniformly critical of her actions on stage. Some have even gone to the extent saying that this move could deliver a blow to the genuineness and serious nature of the anti-corruption campaign. However, I feel that she did the right thing by with the impersonation.

I am unable to believe that the "media" have come out with such a remark on this issue. It can be remembered how stage acts and plays played a critical role in our freedom struggle. Such stage performances have, and is, an excellent tool to communicate your ideas in the simplest possible means to the masses. Such performances provide a visual cue of the entire issue to audience which, I doubt, could be retained by them as effectively as they do now if the same had been communicated to them verbally.

Moreover, Dr. Kiran Bedi had tweeted yesterday about her telephonic conversation with Shri L.K. Advani. It can be seen that he had also mentioned of her performance. Team Anna have been going on for over 10 days with the same issue in words. Somehow, Dr. Kiran Bedi's actions drew attention from the senior leader and I think this is only natural. This makes it even more evident that Dr. Kiran Bedi's theatricals on stage at the Ramlila grounds is beyond what meets the eye. Through her actions, she had strengthened the cause and has been an important contributing factor to the Saturday's proceedings at the parliament.

Dr. Kiran Bedi Tweets – Chirping the Wrong Notes

Before I proceed with this post, let me tell you that I am in full support of Shri Anna Hazare’s Jan Lokpal bill as an effective tool in controlling corruption in India. The points raised by Annaji, may not be something which a democracy would be proud of but is definitely very relevant to the Indian scenario. Coming to team Anna, while Annaji is creating a strong impact by his personal charisma, Shri Arvind Kejriwal and the Shri Prashanth Bushan have been proving their mettle with the negotiations with the lokpal bill. Dr. Kiran Bedi, for her share has taken the issue to the netizens through social media like twitter and posting videos on YouTube. I have been following the tweets of Dr. Kiran Bedi for the past 10 days and find that they seem to lack coherence and precision. Apart from a few tweets that referred to points of the Jan Lokpal (liked Dr. Kiran Bedi’s presentation), updates on Annaji’s health and discussions with the Government interlocutors, the rest has been more or less of the “I’m a good guy… Honest” kind.

I personally respect Kiran Bedi for being one of the stalwarts of the Indian Police Service and proving her worth on all aspects demanded by her responsibilities. However, the recent tweets from such an illustrious police officer have been quite a let-down. I find most of them to be hurling abusing and accusing the Government of their statements and decisions.

Dear Dr. Kiran Bedi ji. All netizens who view your tweets also view the same information via media. No doubt, the actions of this government leave a lot to be desired and that they deserve a slap on their faces but not from you. Why do you wish to soil your hands by slapping them? Leave it to the opposition whose hands are equally filthy. The opposition have the right candidates such as Shri Nitin Gadkari, et. al. who can squabble endlessly on the failures of UPA. Such squabbling apart from being pointless doesn’t do an iota of good for the people. I, and whoever agrees with my views, would be glad if you could tweet more on Annaji’s thoughts, ideas of the learned members of the civil society and possible solutions to end the logjam, rather than lamenting on the cursed state of the country in the hands of corrupt politicians. All of us very well know that the majority of politicians are corrupt. Let the netizens enjoy the sound of music of your tweets.
Hoping that Dr. Kiran Bedi would read this and looking forward to great tweets from her and eventually a strong Jan Lokpal bill, leading our nation to a become a corruption free paradise on earth.
Jai Hind!

Anna Hazare’s Crusade – It’s not just about the Jan Lokpal

India has witnessed a massive public unrest against the corruption. The last 5 days have etched themselves in the annals of our nation’s history. As a patriotic Jan of India, here’s my 2 cents on the entire episode.

While the Government has made a complete mess of the issue, presenting themselves as one of the worst crisis mangers, team Anna has managed to score on every quarter of this issue. By arresting Annaji, the government has only added fuel to the fire. I’m quite sure that the entire episode wouldn’t have reached its boiling point had they allowed Annaji to carry on with his fast and then negotiating with him. I should take a minute here and thank the UPA for arresting Annaji and adding another feet to their grave.

Another interesting aspect that caught my attention this week is the comments by Nandan Nilekani on team Anna. The fight for a powerful Jan Lokpal bill, in my opinion is only the first step in the crusade against corruption. Although I agree with the fact that no single bill can be perfect in itself, and the Jan Lokpal will not whitewash our system, the attitude of Nandan ji and his like leaves a lot to be desired. His comments are not only disappointing, but also show how he lacks far-sightedness. Here’s a question for him. When he started with his company, was his agenda for the first year consisted of developing his company into a billion dollar empire, spread all over the country and beyond? I’m sure he must have set goals which were attainable on short term basis, and based on the development of his business, plan for bigger and better things. I don’t you see any difference between this and the strategy adopted by team Anna. The Inquilab (revolution) has just begun. It’s only wise to set a few short term goals and achieve them first and then go ahead with long term goals. The Jan Lokpal bill is only the first step to clean our country off corruption. What team Anna are doing is nothing short of clear thinking and analysis. They can’t do it better.

I can't think of anything more fitting than Robert Frost’s lines:

The woods are lovely, dark, and deep, But I have promises to keep.

And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep.

Now that we are wide awake after a 65-year slumber, we've indeed got miles to go before we sleep. Inquilab Zindabad! Jai Hind!