Xplore And Xpress

Dear Prime Minister,

This is a long letter. I hope that you have the time and patience to read the same. If you do not, I would not take offense either. In a democratic India, I just wanted a platform for my views. Because the opposition party is incapable of mounting a strong, reliable, and ethical defence, I am fending for myself. I hope you understand.

So, let me set the context first.

In May of 2014, I celebrated two things: your victory, and congress party’s decimation. Honestly, congress party’s loss felt more good. The party was reduced to 44 seats and I believed that Indian democracy had taught them a valuable lesson. After all, when the congress government plunged into scam after scam, the then Hon’ PM was as silent as he can be. So, something within me broke. I needed change. I needed action. I needed a voice. I saw you. I voted. You won. And I celebrated.

I celebrated your victory and congress’ severe loss. When congress lost, I felt that I had avenged my country’s humiliation in that party’s hands. I felt that I had escaped the clutches of a vicious tumour that was killing the country from within. I was happy that day, when you became prime minister. It was an ‘Accha din’.

As the country goes to polls again, I reflect again. Now, by no means, am I inclined to look at congress again. I am not that fickle minded nor am I suffering from a memory loss. But, Modiji, I am growing tired. And even as I am tired of what is happening in the country, something happened yesterday. Something of an event that triggered this letter. An event, that has nothing to do with politics or you or our country.

You see Mr. Modiji, yesterday, my manager was evaluating my annual performance. And when he began to look at my work objectively and criticize me, inspired by your line of politics and followers, I really really wanted to tell him the following.

1. Hey Manager, if you fire me, what are your other options?

2. The guy you fired, he screwed up the work for 10 years. You expect me to set them right in 6 months?

3. The guy you fired came into the company through family recommendations. I, on the other hand, am a lower middle-class guy, who came to the job through humility and effort

4. Look at the pappu in the other team. He hugs and winks. He is not a subject matter expert. You have no choice 

5. Ab ki baar, kaam hojayega yaar !

6. I want an onsite opportunity. I want to travel and bring business to the company. That is where the real work happens

7. Office politics is preventing me from concentrating on my work

8. My achievement: Our neighbour and competitive company is afraid of me and does not threaten us anymore

9. Pappu ko company sey hatao, company bachao

10. Look at the company’s growth rate; NASSCOM report proves it. It is all because of me and my work

But then, none of the above were even excuses to my manager. If I had uttered one of them, I would be out of job now sir. I would be out of the job because my manager was evaluating my own performance. Not that of the guy, who was fired and corrupt and is not in the scheme of things.

You see that guy was corrupt and fired. Now, I have the leadership in the team. My performance was under evaluation. So, none of the reasons above were a potential excuse. Of course, I had my friends and followers at office, who could use those reasons to defend me publicly, if and when my manager makes an attempt to fire me. But deep down, I feel that my manager, like the Indian voting democracy, does not give a damn about my followers. When the time comes, my manager is going to be as objective as the Indian voting public. And since that time is not far, I wanted to evaluate the Government’s performance to the best of my abilities. In the same way, my manager did.

So, this is my parliament speech on the just concluded no-confidence motion. To begin with, Like you said in the parliament today, I am also a nobody. I also cannot meet you eye to eye and answer. I expected the opposition to do this job below. But they hug, wink, and are incoherent. So, I take this initiative into my own hands and reflect on your performance.

In evaluating the government sir, let me look at the expectations, objectives, and milestones. I am looking at two broad areas – Internal and External.

While the above were and should have been the exhaustive reasons to focus, there is also a mad elephant in the room. This elephant has been creating ruckus and threatens to destroy the above. The mad elephant is and uses:

So, first, let us tackle that elephant head-on. If you do not want to do so, move straight to page4 in the document. But if you are keen to listen, let us have a quick check. To do so, dear prime minister, I quote my grandpa. He once famously told me the following.

‘Dear Sai,

Always be proud of your inner spirituality and religion. But, never make the mistake of defending our religion against another person’s attack. Yes, do not defend against the attack. Hinduism, as a religion, or as a philosophy, or even as an agenda, has survived for 100s of years in our country. Whether it be the Buddha, or the invaders, whether it be the British or it be the systemic reforms, Hinduism has absorbed attacks, self-reflected for a positive change, and moved forward to create a spirit of self-reflection. As a matter of fact, to our family and country Sai, Hinduism would be any reflection that attempts to enhance our humanity. I would say Siddhartha reflected as a Hindu and became a Buddha. Ashoka reflected as a Hindu and chose non-violence. Akbar reflected like a Hindu and attempted at creating a unified religion. Mohammed or Jesus challenged people to reflect and become better in spirit, material, and life. Hinduism, as a way of life, will live on as long as a human’s ability to reflect lives on. So, if any one tells you they are guarding Hinduism from external attacks or take over, just know this and run away from them: Hinduism needs no protection. It just needs a human conscience, an open mind, and a focus on enhancing the spirit within. Instead, if anyone intends to berate or protect the ritualistic worship or symbols or pieces of land or worse, build business and politics on the same – stay away sai, stay away. Because, while Ganja affects the physical body with temporary pleasure, with unbearable addiction, and with long-run hurt, the mix of religion and politics destroys the society’s fabric through exclusion, exclusivity, and elimination’

You see sir, my grandpa studied only till class 7. Yet, he had the above wisdom. He was a true Hindu and Patriot. If the above words have any truth and if you believe in the same, I have one request sir.

‘In my view, Government at the end of the day lives in the material world. It exists for the fore-mentioned internal and external reasons. Government has to enhance and ease my material world. That is why, we vote and choose a particular government. That is why, we expect our government to do materialistic actions. That is why, the kshatriyas of our history lived with power and money, while the Brahmins guided them through reflection, Vaishyas enhanced the economy, and Shudras enabled and held the social fabric together. That is why, we also give ourselves an option to change governments, when the chosen ones do not perform’

‘So, dear sir, as the chosen kshatriya, please allow the government and the nation to focus on the materialistic areas. For the spiritual world, I already have enough Gods and religions in the world. To me, you bringing religion into politics is like you worshipping porn. Everyone consciously knows that it is wrong. Yet, everyone is seeming to have fun, and scarily, it is becoming impossible to let go of the habit. I hope it is not too late. Because four years back, in you sir, I put my trust. I put my trust, because as you often say, you come from a normal, middle-class family and exist to serve the country’s interests. So, I trusted you sir. Would you do it? Or Would I have to look at alternate options again? After all, in the words of lord Krishna, an avatar of Vishnu, ‘Time is a wheel that crushes all and cooks us in the cauldron of life. In the end, nothing of this crap matters. But till the end, my happiness in this materialistic world matters to me, and as an chosen enabler of such world, I hope you do your job. And please keep away from my ritualistic and spiritual beliefs. A religion that has survived 1000s of years does not need an army of tweeps to sustain. As a Hindu, please reflect on that thought sir and start focusing on what matters. People get over their love stories in a matter of days and months sir. So, if you want me to avenge my country’s past, you are playing the wrong card. I am too much of a Hindu to hold vengeance for the injustices to my grandfather. Also, I am too lazy about my spirituality. But about the Nation’s economy, people, and welfare, I do care. So, let’s get to the business’

Now, coming to the actual areas. Let us see what we can do here. Let us begin with the internal challenges. But before people assassinate my character, let me confess the following.

1. I am also a true, lower middle-class family man. My father worked for Indian Railways. He travelled on Atlas cycle to work for 15 years and in a TVS Luna for the next 5. I studied at a college, and I love tea, especially with ginger in it. I took tuitions and ran little ventures to fund my education. I worked hard. I studied in candle-light, when electrical power was not there and eventually moved onto do my MBA at ISB, a school that your government did not consider worthy of ‘Institute of eminence’. But you may wonder, why am I speaking all of this now? I do not know sir. That is what you do in Parliament, when we want to hear on real issues. That is what seems to be the norm these days. To proclaim yourself as a humble, little, nobody. Oh, To make it more attractive, let me also say that I am a fan of Karan in Mahabharat. Oh, the sacrifices he had to endure ! Oh and also, I want to say that among the many -isms, I would people to work hard like capitalists. I want the opposition party to be a communist. The Government to be a compassionate capitalist. Supreme court to be a socialist. States’ vision to be as open as Hinduist. Policy Implementation to happen with the Ramzan time determination of an Islamist. Justice system to be objective and rational, like an atheist. Anymore -isms and -ists you want sir? Bored already sir? I am sorry. I had to cover all the voter base and people base, who had to read below. Anyways, let me get to the actual point and start evaluating the performance.

Oops, as I start to do so, my mom is shouting and creating ruckus sir. My conscience wants to adjourn for the day. I will definitely come in tomorrow and write the rest.

Next day writing:

New day, New views. 

First up, no hugs and no winks. Today is judgement day sir. So, let’s begin right away.

1. Healthcare:

a. Your budget speech eloquently spoke of an insurance for all the poor people. The jury is out on implementation. So, I will not rate this. But it is definitely a very good step in thought. But today sir, we need more than thoughts. we need leadership in action. So, I will wait for action. Total score: 4/10. 4 for the thoughts. Awaiting to rate on the 6 points.

2. Agriculture:

a. When 100s of farmers stood outside and drank piss to secure a meeting with you, that was just disgusting. I do not care what their demands were. I do not care for your acceptance on loan waiver or otherwise. But they did not have to protest to even secure a meet. You are the PM of India. India includes Tamil Nadu, where your party holds no Sway. But Tamil Nadu has farmers and needs water from rivers, support from banks, and your attention to help feed the country. You cannot let go of even a single farmer, unattended. You sit in the highest office for a reason. The media showed a live telecast of farmers literally eating shit to meet you. Yet, you kept your distance for too long. You lost me there. Total score: 0/10.

b. Now, followers would say that the above issue is a state issue. However, central’s job is to bring states together and ensure equity in distribution of resources. Even a basic IAS interview is held on the above principle. Our bureaucrats are challenged and tested on the ability to think from India’s standpoint. I want my PM to stand up for every farmer – north, east, west, south. That determines food on my plate for me and my generations to come. 

c. That singular action of ignoring farmers, even as they protested, is an image that I can never forgive. If you quote our GDP numbers here, sir, please remember that I am not a nobel-prize winning economist. Thanks to the congress government’s refusal to raise the standard of education across schools, I studied in a normal school only. But it was enough education to tell me that large size of GDP in a country of 1.3 billion people in itself is not a measure of welfare. ‘Thanks to telecom industry, I have idea network saar. So, no ullu baanaoing with random numbers’ Rating 0/10

3. Education

a. How do I rate you here sir? These were my expectations:

i. Primary and secondary high school education – fees could go down. Unless students are going on an exchange program to Oxford for interdisciplinary research on nuclear physics, I am not sure why some LKG and UKG schools are charging lakhs of rupees for admission. One ordinance and everything would change. But that requires will and a brave heart in a large chest. I am sure the chest is there. Awaiting to see the heart. 

ii. You spoke about lesser stress during exams – But sir, NEET in itself has become a stress. CBSE goofed up a couple of times. Reservation in competitive exams is still a debate and heartburn to many. Now, let us not get to this at all. Sensitive issue hain and I am not qualified to deal with the same. Waisey bhi, aap kar kya sakthey ho. You are just a normal person. And this is all because of 60 years of congress role. But, oh wait, no, you are the prime minister. Atleast summon the minister for education across states, bureaucrats and give them a time bound deadline with focus on quantitative results to improve the system sir. And give us an ETA sir. Even if it is a decade from now, that’s fine. But give people some hope and action. 

iii. Sir, education loan interest is higher than house loan interest. Just saying.

iv. Sir, quality of most teachers within school, college and universities and all is questionable. Just saying.

v. Institute of eminence – I am from ISB sir. So, somewhat hurt at not being included and this will impair my judgement on the education issue. So, let me not judge.

vi. I am not giving you any rating on the education. But, I hope that the above points are on your radar.

b. Infrastructure

4. Economy

a. Sir, in the parliament, Rahul Gandhi spoke of Jhumla strike. And you said that this was an insult to the Indian Army. Uthna drama karney ki zaroorat hain kya sir? I am proud of the surgical strike that the Indian Army did on our borders. But I am definitely having to question the surgical strike the government did on the Economy. If questioning that is an insult to the Indian Army, let me remind you sir – India is sovereign, social, secular, democratic, republic, and independent country. And when you play with its economy and then use catchy phrases for attention and make fun of a half-cooked clown of the opposition party, the people are watching. So, let us get straight to the point.

b. Let us acknowledge the elephant in the room again. The 15 lakhs in your account was anyways a Jhumla. I did not even expect it. So, let us get straight to the point

c. Demonetization – Simply, It was like my diet plan on January 1st. I felt good that day and had hope. 

d. Digital India – My hopes rose further. India is moving to a new direction.

e. Aadhar card linkage to Pan card – I felt that now, the fun will begin. India is on its way to create a tight and reliable credit score and economic system.

f. GST – One nation, One tax, One directional and unquestioned support from my end.

g. I starved. Faced the inconvenience. Stood up like the army guy in Siachen. And turned into a patriot.

h. Then I saw the following

i. To counter the above, it felt as if the Government had one strategy – Increase petrol/diesel price.

j. Sir, instead of asking people to pay 18% GST, and 28% GST – could you just bring over and collect the owed money to the banks from the fugitives ? Madam Sushma swaraj ji and team do rescue action from Syria, and the most dangerous African countries. Could we do a batman like carrying of Nirav and Vijay? Oh wait, practically baath karthey hain. So, I do what an Indian citizen does – ‘Kuch karo sir. Please. Mera Tax paisa hain. Leke jaa raha hain. Kuch karo sir. And uspe kuch karo sir. Mujpe nahin. Bahut pay karliya petrol ko. Ab tho handicapped hokar bhi chalke jaana chahtha hun office ko’

k. Needless to say sir, the economy is screwed. No matter what reports you show. Confidence of the Indian consumer in spending across luxuries is at a low. People are not even sure where to store their saved money – fixed deposits, mutual funds, savings and everything that is linked to the bank system is vulnerable. Tho digital india, GST, demonetization – ye sab ka kya faida. Our country waded through a world wide recession because our parents had personal savings and planning. Your economic actions are hurting the same and reducing the confidence. The next generation is going to get hurt. Please act positively and make our lives a little easier. 

l. And last thing sir. You really need to go to a B School. Not because you need a degree or an MBA or anything. You need to learn about dealing with people you dislike and hate. You need to learn about working with people who disagree with you. You need to stop focusing on brand management and start acting like a CEO. If it is any help, read on the life-story of Abraham Lincoln sir. That man worked with an incredible team of people, who often disagreed and disliked him. In doing so, he managed to accomplish something historic. I learnt at school that ‘If you want to grow fast, be with like minded people. If you want to grow far and stable, challenge yourself with people who challenge you’. I want my India to grow far and since you are my leader, I need you to feel challenged. So stop mimicking Rahul, and start working. 

m. Economy rating – 3/10

Now, coming to the external aspects.

1. Brand building and cordial relations

a. International yoga day – check

b. Swacch Bharat – check

c. Make in India – check

d. But I also understand that the above initiatives are in pre-paid version. Pehley market karo. Phir kaam karo. So, I have to wait for results. But you have to wait for results too. 

e. So, no comment on the verdict and no rating.

But I recently read three things. One, India gave a loan to Rwanda. Felt good sir. I also read two other things. Mob lynching. Rapes. India is officially also known as Rapistan. If there is a metric for women safety, I am sure it is at an all time low. As more and more women join the work force (thereby contributing to your GDP and 56” chest), more and more issues on safety and protection would arise. The police force would need to be strengthened. So, please use my tax money from GST, income tax and do something about this priority. I do not want to see advertisements sir. I want to see that my sister is comfortable in traveling anywhere within India and at anytime without me being around. Otherwise, a time would come when you would have to legalize rape and justify it off as another event in the life of a woman. Since safety of a woman is a non-compromisable issue and at a global stage, we took a brand hit, I have to give you a negative verdict on the same. Now, if you ask and say, Did I talk of this during congress time? Remember sir, congress is 44. You are 56”. 56 > 44. So, my questions to you would be louder.

2. Border security

a. No attacks from Pakistan – check

b. Surgical strikes – well done

c. China – could have done better. But, well done

d. Floods, disaster management, drought and emergencies – Sir, I have one question. For everything, we have to call the army kya? It is as if army is the only executive authority in the country. Baaki sab just talk, talk, and talk. We need an internal disaster management team that is trained by the Army and can function on its own.

e. Rafael – I do not know the internal details sir. I do not know whether this is a scam or not. But you need to get the opposition into a room and clear the air. India should not wash dirty linen on global stage. The greatest insult to the Army was not the word ‘Jhumla strike’, but when the defence minister is unable to clear the air around suspicions convincingly. Both to the public and the opposition. If you can form a government in the northeast with 2 MLAs, if you can demonetize overnight, if you can introduce GST, then you can very well call the opposition and clear the air on this. Please do so at the earliest. For Army’s sake

f. Overall rating – 6/10. Could have been 10/10. But Rafael. And one more thing – internal security for women, and minorities.

So, to summarize, what you did well

• Border security - awesome

• Infrastructure - good

• Foreign relations – agreed

• India as a Soft power image building – agreed

What you did bad

• Women safety - disaster

• Economy - bad

• Agriculture - bad

• Although not corrupt, Not enough to arrest systemic corruption - angering

• Nothing much on education – indifferen

Overall, I want to give a verdict sir. But I take inspiration from two people. My business school professor. And Mr. Atal Bihari Vajpayee. My business school professor would never conclude a case and tell me the right answer. He would leave the facts, opinions, and positions open to interpretation. He would say, ‘Only time can tell’. And in the words of Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee to you, ‘Raj Dharam ka palan karo – please allow the governance and justice to prevail – vikas aur parivarthan apnay aap hojayega’

Epilogue

• Sir, you bow down to your mother. Please also bow to the father like figure ‘Advaniji’. Bura lagtha hain sir, jab ignore karthey ho.

• Don’t fight with Pappu. Uska level aur aapka level alag hain. The current generation of India should not spend its life on jokes around pappu. We need to have a debate on development and progress.

• Be a Hindu and make every human in country happy, secure and at peace. 

• As my grandfather said, Be a Hindu. Reflect and realize. Move forward. And create your own destiny. You owe it to India. Jai Hind.

Credits: Sai Prasad

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