Anna ,Annasaheb, Hazare and the fast
“So,Pento!
what do u have to say about Anna.””| Well!, please call him Annasaheb that is
the way he was addressed, Annasaheb has been one of my favourites always.” I
could not be stopped now. I said “He was one of the best. I would rate him very
high, almost next or equal to Naushad and Sachin Dev Burman . Listen to Azad ,
Albela , or Anarkali ,have you ever heard more scintillating music? Before his
death in 1982 he had scored music for over 150 films , Hindi, Marathi , Tamil
included. And what about the famous “Mere Vatan ke logon” which brought tears
to Pandit Nehruji ?”
“You and
your music obsession. I was not talking about your Annasaheb –C.Ramchander.I
was talking about Hazare?”.I nodded my head utterly perplexed. “This I could
never understand” , I said, “Whenever talk about all time great Indian test
team comes about , the fourth position is always given to Vijay Hazare. When I
would say this should have gone veritably to G.R.Vishwanath, the yellow shirt cricketer
from Karnataka. Raju Bharatan, erstwhile reknowned sports journalist and music
enthusiast, had called him the artist of
Indian cricket in contrast to the scientist Sunil Gawaskar. Just recollect what
Tony cozierand Rajsingh Dugarpurkar said about G.R’s aggressiveness against the
fastest in the test match at Chepauk in the 1975, which we went to win to level
the series 2-2. He was up there against the hostile Andy Roberts, Vanburn
Holder and Bernard Julien, when he
scored a belligerent 97out of India’s total of 190 playing almost single handed, when wickets
were tumbling at the other end.This innings is considered as the 38th
best innings ever in test cricket in the world and perhaps second best amongst
the top ten test innings in Indian history.”
“Pento you are as good or as bad as that Raju
Bharatan whose two obsessions were cricket and music. All these fasts u undertook
have shrunk your brain”.“ What do u mean ? I have not undertaken any fast”. Ether
added contritely “I should have said that the fast you should have undertaken
with the rest of the country men. You know how much I was shamed in my office
the other day, when every one declared the number of days’ fast their hubbies
have taken in support of Anna Hazare ‘s agitation.
I also had to say that you were also on fast, to save my face, but the lie was
so shameful especially since you were hogging like a pig day and night.. You
should be ashamed of yourself going on eating the way you do when the whole of
India is in a mass movement in support of Anna. You have no national pride.” I
protested”I ofcourse have national pride. And I don’t think I have to go on
fast to show off my national pride. And I don’t
ofcourse hog like a pig but I do
enjoy eating. It is one of the things which I enjoy. I don’t believe in taking
part in any of the debates “ Live to
eat” vs “Eat to live”. See one has to eat to live but then why not enjoy it also.
That is what I say. Appreciate all good things in life and why not someone’s culiniary effort?”
“Wherever I
go I see motivated and concerned men marching shouting slogans and waiving
placards in support of the new Gandhian movement that has gripped the nation
over the issue of corruption. But you act as if you are separate from all these.”
“All these are a result of a temperory mania. As they say a mass hysteria,
nothing else. Do you think all these placard wielding jokers don’t take bribes
in their respective places of work?.Just a show and nothing else. I do not want
to be a party to such an hypocracy. I knew some of them who also deal in the
under the table activities in their workplace. When asked whether they were
serious in their protests , they said that they
will see once the Lokpal bill is passed, till that time they have to be
practical in real life. Meaning they will continue their style of work till
Govt forces them by a strong bill. Do you see the underlying truth my dear
wife, Ether.
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