By Sidharth Mishra

In the midst of Ayodhya blitzkrieg on all the media platforms, the last thing Prime Minister Narendra Modi would have wanted images of air travellers sprawled on the taxiway of Mumbai airport and having dinner provided by the airlines. The images project penury in its worst form. Even the ‘langars’ (mass meals) meant for the homeless and poor outside the cremation ground of Nigambodh Ghat in Delhi present a better picture.

Projecting all round development and good governance is integral to Prime Minister’s Ayodhya sojourn. The image strategists for the Modi government have been projecting his rule as a journey towards Ram Rajya, the ideal state for the benefit of people. Thinkers and political leaders in India have venerated the Ram Rajya as the ideal to be striven for, and it resonates as the ideal polity in the minds of most Indians.

By Sidharth Mishra

Ripu Jan Jiti Sujas Sur Gawat! Sita Sahit Anuj Prabhu Avat!!

Sunat Bachan Bisre Sab Dookha! Trishavant Jimi Pai Piyusha!!

(After defeating the enemy in battle field, Ram with Sita and Laxman is returning to Ayodhya! The Surs are singings paeans and hearing this Bharat has forgotten his agony like thirsty person forgets his thirst on getting nectar!!)

Ramcharitra Manas

This article pursues to admonish the ‘Argumentative Indian’ who seek to raise a debate on the consecration of Ramjanambhoomi Temple at Ayodhya on January 22 this year. Argumentative Indian is the title of the collection of essays published by Nobel laureate Amartya Sen in 2005. While there are disagreements on the narrative of the popular title, this article reproves the controversy over an event being debated whether it’s Ram’s home coming or did he come thousands of years ago.

By Sidharth Mishra

As we read newspapers dated January 1, 2024, the hotels and other watering holes in Delhi-NCR would be counting on the profits made during what’s variously and most commonly called New Year bonanza. The roads leading to the hill stations have been jam-packed and the hill resorts too must have cooked sumptuous foods and their cash boxes would have remained clinging since the Christmas bells started to jingle.

While these are the visible areas of profit, what has escaped public notice are the notification on the pharmacy sites. Most of them are announcing the eye drops containing Carboxymethylcellulose as best sellers. To understand what these eye drops are, they are called by various brand names like Refresh Tears, Hypermist, Ontears, and Tears Naturale.

These eye drops help you not fight back tears but regenerate some in the eyes. The level of air pollution make it difficult for the natural tears in the eyes to absorb all the pollutants, thus the eyes going dry and the burning sensation. To fire fight the burn in the eyes, these tear drops play the role of the fire brigade.

By Sidharth Mishra

With the Lok Sabha polls just six-months away, Bharatiya Janata Party has started to make the right move to retain all the seven seats from Delhi. Despite its ignonimous defeats in the legislative assembly polls in 2015 and 2020, BJP fared well in the Lok Sabha polls in both 2014 and 2019.

Granting property rights to residents in these colonies by regularising them has been hanging fire for decades. Despite the promise made, the Narendra Modi government has so far failed on this count. Thus the bill in the Parliament last week, with the argument that the finalisation of Master Plan 2041 has been delayed due to Covid 19 lockdowns.

By Sidharth Mishra

Defending the move, the university official said, “The committee was formed to look into the multiple unofficial Twitter and Instagram pages that are being run with Delhi University in their names. This creates a lot of confusion as they are not being run by us.” The social media enthusiasts would point out that herein lies the catch.

In the ordinary circumstances an institution’s official handle claims itself being one and on some platforms get themselves verified. The content and the nature of postings by these handles establish their credibility. Over a period of time the quality of the content ensures that the official handles come to have a greater credibility and more important acceptability.

By Sidharth Mishra

Last week a former colleague was on a visit to Delhi from Goa. He startled by a message from the airlines his ticket was booked for return journey. He was booked for a 9 pm flight. The airlines message at 2.30 pm advised him to avoid the roads leading to the airport after 6 pm.

What could be the cause, he wondered. The answer was there in the day’s newspaper which mentioned that quite a few thousand weddings were planned in the city that evening. The roads to the airport are best avoided during the wedding seasons as all the pathways to the ‘dream’ farm venue sites lead from there.

Chhatarpur, Mahipalpur, Mehrauli, Kapashera, Fatehpur, Satbari, all located in South-West Delhi are home to the farm house wedding venues. The weddings at these venues have less to do with rituals and more with fashion fads.

“Farmhouse weddings allow for creative freedom and customization. Couples can choose specific themes, decor styles, and catering options that resonate with their personalities, adding a personal touch to every aspect of the celebration,” that’s how an acquaintance, a property dealer-turned-wedding planner put it.

By Sidharth Mishra

Politics in India is based on promoting contradictory concepts of welfare and development. This is necessitated due to the complex and multifaceted nature of the country’s political mosaic. Given the large population, variable socio-economic settings, and widespread regional and cultural differences, has led to a situation where maintaining a balance between welfare and development is increasingly becoming an insurmountable task.

The results in the just concluded assembly polls in four states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Telangana make it amply clear that BJP’s current success is based on a complicated weaving of welfare, development and cultural nationalism and it cannot be dislodged by just one issue, whether its corruption in defence deals, Hinduvta or attempt to consolidate the backward castes through caste census. 

By Sidharth Mishra

The past month of living in the gas chamber of the National Capital Region (NCR) has made one realise that the government and courts do not have the wherewithal to fight the monster of pollution. Government’s main machinery – Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) – in its fight against pollution has proved to be a toothless tiger.

With no explicit powers to direct the state governments, its advisories have largely gone unhindered with the state governments finding ways and means bypass them. For example in the neighbouring districts of Ghaziabad and Gautam Buddha Nagar of Uttar Pradesh, the state governments have gone slow on penalising industries spreading pollution.

With no authority to prosecute the violators, CAQM is handicapped to get the policies and guidelines formulated by it to tackle pollution effectively implemented. This is not just limited to industrial pollution, regulations related to banning construction activities and regulating vehicular emissions too have not been enforced rigorously.