something i wrote about the path ahead for UPA II

There are few things i want to mention.
when UPA govt came to power second time in 2009.. there were widespread rumors that MMS is just tempeorary PM.. and Rahul will take over from him within a year or two.

that made the PM look like a sitting duck.. and his will to steer through the parliament diminished.

His influence was low also because of his complete lack of political ambition for himself or his family and also for a faction behind him.. if any.
Add to this , his complete lack of ability to nominate a successor to the post of prime minister made him just administrative head of govt.. and not political head who can cajole or if necessary, punish the erring minister of his own party. This was again made complex by coalition politics.. where too , his command to chose person was zero.

Earlier some faction in congress started naming Rahul as possible successor to MMS, just because they wished not to find themselves on the wrong side of history. :) What made matter more complicated is that Rahul's declaration that he do not see himself as prime minister in recent future.. That opened the floodgates in the ministry..(and outside it too) to be in the good book of madam.
as it happened, the sole person who can nominate or select prime minister in congress is Sonia Gandhi.. everyone from pranab mukherjee to chidambaram to even Diggiraja started playing their individual games .. where every ministry is seen as working hard.. but many times.. to undermine other ministry run by possible rival claimant for throne.

Manmohan Singh's plus side of uncorrupt image is tarnished by his utter lack of political leadership. Now the way forward for congress if they want to continue with MMS.. which they should.. is IMO.. "choose someone as a vice prime minister" .

this will be good for congress and the nation.. as it will give full stop to the speculations on 'who after MMS..' and also stop infighting in various ministry as the hierarchy will get established.

plus he can wield some political power and can address with authority to issues of importance.. on which PM do not speak.. when he's away or simply when he do not wish to speak.

it will also control recent painful trend within congress leaders of speaking out of turn despite repeated warnings.

one thing can be of importance.. if this candidate have political ambition.. as he should certainly have.. then he might create groups within congress.. that may prove to be problematic for high command. Hence choosing the right leader who is faithful to 10- janpath is of prime importance.

my review of 3 mistakes of my life... by chetan bhagat.. my first attempt to review book..

First of all, let me tell you that this book is as good as previous one's.... and not a bore....as many have claimed it to be....
I think they claimed it (failure) because everyone have an intrinsic desire to see Bhagat to fail miserably....just because his previous two were blockbusters...and no one can get, according to them , a complete piece of cake ...along with all the icing..

Now enough about book critics..., will talk about book...
Let me assure you that this is a very good book..Still a very different from previous one's...and a lot darker than them...
We start with the title...
Now, Bhagat is all about numbers, I think...
First 5 pt somone.. then 1 night @cal center and then 3 mistakes...
The love about numerals is unmistakable....the title is catchy...but not a cool one I think....
Anyway, this book contains everything.... cricket, religion, politics, romance, tragedy...and a bloody climax...all the material you want for a good masala film...this book is written with films in the mind.

A story of (three) friends (with anyone of them having girlfriend...) written in flashback mode..is becoming a specialty of Bhagat... Bhagat should take patent of this formula...
This story have a background of earthquake hit Gujarat and then ...the gory background of rioting Gujarat...the biggest tragedies India have witnessed in 21st century...
three boys....want to chose their destiny...by starting business... and then destiny plays with them...in such a way that at the climax...they are all broken... But as usual Bhagat's book ends on a happy note...

I will not tell you about characters or the story plot...for that you have to read the book....
But for the first time chetan bhagat has addressed political question in his book.
The way communal parties propagate their politics by blaming so called secular parties for betraying the cause of their people is so believable that you think you are actually present there listening to their balderdash...

Jeffery Archer who is currently on tour to India is famous for his novels which are so full of politics, romance and change of fortunes of men involved...though sometime he is accused of not true to the facts but to create his own 'facts' to fit in the story...
Truly chetan bhagat can be called Jeffery archer of India...for his book contains a heady cocktail of politics, religion, romance, and yes...the true religion of Indians....cricket...

Bhagat consciously avoids using political party names and instead use terms like secular party and communal party...still while reading the book, you identify them and make a mental note of the events that occur in the book and relate them to the party concerned...
In this way .....(in my opinion..) This book can serve as a propaganda material in youth...especially when the elections are nearby...

The book is shadowed by politics .... Still you can not miss a romance quotient given to the book by introducing girlfriend of one character as a sister of his friend to whom he gives tuition...easily...this is done to give a space to heroine without whom Hindi movies cannot be said to be complete...and this book is going to be movie... :)

Now earlier I have said that I will not say anything about characters...but I want to make a small exception to this by mentioning one name......Ali....
The boy with extra ordinary talent for cricket, thanks to his so called hyper reflexia... who don't have much to say in this novel...but still is a central figure in the novel around whom all the novel revolves...

Still this book is not perfect....in fact far from perfect...
There are some things that you wish should not be there...
Like the frequent use of 'F' words.... though they were used where situation demanded such words....but still he could have avoided using them frequently...

Personally (second) thing I did not like is the unnecessary description of bondi beach in Australia...(sour grape..Huh!!) :-)

And there are according to me some faults which can easily be corrected...may be in the next edition...
Like tennis ball never cost rs. 8 in 2000-01 and leather ball was also costly...(and not rs.25 as described in the book.)

But still there are moments in the book which can be correctly described as chetan bhagat moments...
Like the use of Australian lingo...is amazingly funny...
Also the 'pi day' is sort of thing only chetan bhagat will come up with...

Highly recommended for those who are bhagat fans... and also with secular outlook...without any prejudices against any community...

after a long break.. i want to start writing blog again.. :) hope this time.. i can maintain it.