Saturday, June 26, 2021

Watching Gangs of Wasseypur for Second Time


Recently, I watched both parts of movie series “Gangs of Wassepur”. I watched Part-2 first. I remember that when the movie had released in theatres in year 2012, I had gone to a theatre to watch it but I had to leave mid-way because I could not tolerate the violence shown on screen. This time, since I was watching on a phone screen and also for the second time, I was not affected that much. I skipped a few scenes wherever I felt like. Hence, even though the impact of story telling in the movie was full; I was not impacted as much by the negativity and violence.

I also noticed that when Part-2 was released, at that time I had not identified actors like Vineet Kumar Singh and Rajkumar Rao. Manoj Bajpaee’s impact was looming over the second part too, even if he had no role in it. Tigmanshu Dhulia in epic character of Ramadhar Singh, even though in old age, was still soulful. I could also notice that although Nawazuddin Siddiqui played his role very well, I wonder if anyone on earth could identify with his character. I blame his personality for that. In any good movie, audiences are able to identify in part with the hero as well as villain. But When Nawaz plays roles like these, I guess no one gets do to it.

I noticed that in Part-2, Vineet Singh had played his role much impactfully than Rajkumar Rao. Even though Vineet’s role was short, he was appeared as a really brilliant actor. Rajkumar Rao’s role was not too short, but I could not find him creating any memorable performance.

I also wondered why Ramadhar Singh did not shoot Nawaz in the final scene, even though he held a gun in his hand. By virtue of all his cunningness and strength, he should have shot, even if the shot missed the target. But the movie shows him pulling his hand down, as if in surrender. And then Nawaz does this epic episode of emptying multiple guns on him. Which actually is illogical because he was wasting too much time in this process while he was hold up in the bathroom. He should have shot and fled. But the movie maker tried to create a memorable scene there, and tried to depict his hatred which culminated in a sadist burst of anger. Still, I can’t imagine any real reason why Ramadhar Singh was so dejected that he gave up and surrendered like that. I think it was shown that way to make Nawaj appear the total victor.

Zeishan Quadri, who played Definite’s role was epic. All through the movie, he performed so well. I wonder why we do not see him in many other movies after GOW-2.

I wanted the Part-1 later on, and did not like it as much as Part-2. I guess we should never watch a movie sequel in wrong order. But, I noticed that Part-1 is dominated by Manoj Bajpai who has given such a powerful performance that he eclipses everyone else. Nawazuddin Siddiquia looks like a novice in front of him, and Pankaj Tripathi and Tigmanshu Dhulia’s powerful performance also appears regular.

After watching Part-1, I thought that Ramadhar Singh should have given more respect to his son JP Singh and listened to him. If JP Singh had his way, he would have eliminated all members of Sardar Khan’s family much before. The manner in which Singh family was insulted by Sardar Khan and later by Faizal, was the result of tolerating the enemies too much and for too long. The script writers gave a consolation by showing that JP Singh managed to get into power, by conspiring to eliminate his own father. This could have been avoided if Ramadhir Singh was not so arrogant. But it is also not practical that a cunning wise man like him would ignore his own son’s aspirations for so long. Movie writers have to show unrealistic things in order to shock viewers, I guess.  

- Rahul Tiwary


Monday, June 21, 2021

'Papa Takle Ho Gaye'

 

There is a neighborhood kid of about 6 who used to play with me a lot. He was visiting our home after a few weeks. I had recently colored my hair, hence I showed it to him and asked him how did my grey hair turn into total black? He did not reply. After repeating the question and making him recall how my hair had lots of whites earlier, he finally said that he did not know how it turned back. I realized that he had not noticed my hair; whether grey or white! It reminded me of another incident.

My kids were seeing me after a long gap. My daughter was about 3.5. I went to get a hair cut and as soon as I returned home, she came, noticed me, and said, “Papa takle ho gaye”, pointing to my short hair! She had not only noticed that I had a haircut, but she had also noticed that I had short hair now! Plus, she thought to share her observation with me. I was really impressed with her intelligence as well as thoughtfulness. And somewhere, it was also got to do with gender. My son did not notice my haircut at all!

At any given age, we can notice in small children that most of the times girls are cleverer than boys. Their minds work in slightly different manner than boys. We can notice the differences in the way they choose toys or express themselves. Now, imagine a society which tries to raise boys and girls in the same manner! Will that be called feminism? By all means, it will cause harm to both boys and girls. We need not force our gender-righteousness on our kids. Let girls be ‘girly’ and boys be like ‘boys’ if their natural inclinations are showing in that manner. Let us not force them to behave and be the “same”.

Thoughts triggered by the kind of news media outlets expose to me these days.

- Rahul Tiwary


Friday, June 18, 2021

1st June, 200*: The Bus Ride


1st of June triggers a few interesting memories from my past. It was 1st of June, when I joined my first job after completing my engineering. Despite many years have passed, I have vivid memories of a few things, due to the nature of those. I remember the day I landed in the city where I was to join my job – Kolkata.

My date of joining was one of the earliest in our batch. Just a few days ago, our last papers were done. I had vacated my hostel and went to a relative’s place for a few days. I needed money for my expenses. In those days, there were no internet banking or ATM cards. My father often gave me cheques which I deposited in my SBI bank account at our college branch, and then stood in long queues spending a few hours in order to withdraw money every time. There were no mobile phones and I needed to stand in long queues in front of PCO (Public Calling Office) booths, in order to make STD call to my parents’ landline phone number. Because of the nature of urgency, I was asked to visit the relative’s place, spend a couple of days there and take money from them. I even had to buy a luggage there, because I did not have any proper big size luggage after leaving the hostel. A day before 1st of June, I caught a train to reach Howrah. No AC compartment, and perhaps an unreserved ticket since the distance was not much.

I arrived at Howrah railway station and came out dragging my luggage. I had visited the city a few times before, twice visiting the Passport Office and once for site seeing. Even in those days, I loved visiting places and monuments of historical importance, as I found those inspiring. After I came out of the railway station, I found myself in middle of a crowded mess. I talked to a few taxis who were charging very high fare. Then, someone suggested that the public bus that was standing nearby was about to leave and it would drop me exactly at the place I wanted to go. Quickly, I entered the bus, carrying my big luggage. I had no idea of what was in store there for me.

The public bus was too crowded. I could not get a seat and hence I just stood. But I had to put my luggage somewhere and hence I put it by the side of one seat, trying to cause less inconvenience to others. But I soon realized that it was indeed much inconvenient to others. The bus started and when the conductor came to offer me ticket, he objected to the luggage and I offered him to buy one more ticket, so that it is accounted for. But by that time, the other passengers had already watched me, understood me, and even formed an opinion about me. They soon delivered a verdict that I was nuisance creator, too selfish and a miser. A person started saying loudly that I should have taken a taxi instead of boarding a bus. Then, another person, from far away in the bus, started complaining about increasing selfishness in society. Then, another man said something else about me. They were all talking in Bengali, which I could understand only little, but I had understood their meaning. The bus was too crowded, exit gates were packed, and I could not deboard it even if I tried to. During whole journey, which felt too long to me, people kept discussing me and my luggage. All the while, I was standing in the over-crowded bus, being subjected to ridicule as a punishment for my ‘sin’ of having entered it. I had experienced discrimination and things like regionalism before, and I knew how to deal with it: keep silent and tolerate it all. So, I did exactly that.

Next day at office, I came to know that travel expenses including local conveyance was to be reimbursed by the company and hence I should have taken the costly taxi at the railway station! A young engineer from a small town, it was certainly a steep learning curve for me. From the same day onward, I started taking taxi to travel between office and the hotel the company had booked for me. There are perks of being a ‘corporate slave’ as they say, and we need to enjoy the ride, learning the ropes on the way.

- Rahul Tiwary 

Monday, June 7, 2021

Article: Femininity is Fragile

I came across a writeup and found it really interesting. I am sharing some portions of it here in this blog post. At the end of the writeup, two web links are given, to explore more from the author.

This is just for reflections. I am sure you would find many of these relatable with someone you know, or even with your life experiences.

***

You pay for the sins of every guy that ** her up before you met her. Her father, her ex etc.

Because the trauma from her suffering typically overshadows the wisdom from her experiences.

Women do not improve with use. They deteriorate.

Deep down everybody knows this.

This is why being the first love of a woman of a good father is the best shot you'll ever have.

This is why traditionally women were married off young as virgins.

Because women are fragile, and as they accumulate experience they accumulate trauma that ruins them for romance.

The feminine is not built for stress. It is the masculine that is forged through the traumas of suffering, not the feminine. Women who actively have to work on being feminine aren't ascending to a higher stage, they're trying to get back something they had but lost to suffering.

The feminine is in its natural state, complete. The same cannot be said for the masculine. The masculine undergoes a journey which requires the integration of the shadow and the shedding and loss of innocence to truly self-actualise. Women attempting the same journey will implode.

There is no man you would truly consider a man who hasn't paid a trip to hell. Those are the fees we pay. That's the cost of being man. A woman who went to hell is a shadow of her former self because hell destroys femininity. Which is why it strengthens men and destroys women.

Not every man survives hell. The weak ones suicide, or become sociopathic - highly emotional, unbalanced and destructive men who lash out at everything aggressively in the same way your typical feminist woman does.

But men *CAN* make the trip and be better for it.

Women cannot.

***

Men do "need to get in touch with their softer side" but not until they've been to hell, survived, made peace with it and come out the other end free of resentment and bitterness, but fortified by their experiences into a man.

And its a good woman's love that brings that out.

The reason for this is simple. If you've been to hell, you became a monster to beat a monster, and if you're not careful, that monster will possess you (sociopathy). Connecting with your softer side is thus a counterbalance to the evil that lurks within you and helps centre you.

***

Femininity is fragile and easily snuffed out.

Warm eyes, a coy stare, a gentle smile, a general cheeriness, a shy giggle, modesty, grace and a pure heart - when's the last time you observed the captivating beauty of healthy femininity?

That's what's hard to cultivate & easily snuffed out. Their spiritual beauty is fragile.

And when they lose their spiritual beauty, all that remains is their quasi impersonation of the masculine, and the negative elements of the feminine.

And you know what this looks like, because you've met plenty of feminists.

They are all damaged, failed women.

It's very sad.

***

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Thanks for reading!

Wednesday, May 12, 2021

Illness Should Teach Us Life Lessons

In our life, we take many things for granted. We assume that those things will continue in future and we do not need to make efforts to retain those. Taking some things for granted allows us to focus on fewer things, which improves our performance and leads to success. Think how difficult our life would be if we were to focus on everything or think, plan and work on 20 things at the same time, every day! So, while this habit allows us to succeed in our areas of interest, with time we forget that even though we do not need to actively work on some things, we should not take those for granted either!

A serious illness can act as a “wakeup call” for most of us. We realize that when we can’t even take our health “for granted”, what more certainties do we have in life?

“Loss of health can lead us to serious insecurities”

Every human mind is “wired” in a way where it will try to survive. And events of serious illness are the moments of “truth” where the conscious as well as subconscious minds must be on their best to fight the external ailment. But, especially if illness can prolong, one can be left wondering about one’s own safety and this can lead to feelings of insecurities in life. While some of this is natural and expected, too much of anything is not good. Therefore, we should try to avoid doing too much of worrying.

Most of us do not realize that good health is an outcome of our activities and ways of life. If we play by the rules, most of the time we are safe. If we violate the rules of nature, we are at risk. We may be saved by virtue of our good luck, but luck does not help same person all the time. If we realize that we are responsible for our health and we need to actively protect it, the battle is won.

Incidents of serious illness should lead us to “prioritize” things in our life. For example, if we were prioritizing our career over our family and an illness scar makes us realize that we were going to lose both career and family and “in the end”, our career and degrees won’t count, we shall be in for a shock. Times of illness are where we play by the “basic rules”. No amount of money can secure us proper health care, as we have seen time and again where celebrities and very rich people have also suffered because the healthcare professionals assigned to them did not do their duties right. A “family” can really make difference in such cases.

The other day I was watching a movie named “Rules Don’t Apply”. A big businessman avoided marrying late into his life and depended on hired employees for most of his work. But those employees could just “resign” and go away. Could he find trusted person every time? It is more difficult to find an honest person in this world, than discovering a goldmine.

We hope that the current situation of pandemic and bad news from all around also forces our society to think about its priorities as a whole. Were we valuing the right things? Should we have taken things for granted as we did and should we have prioritized material successes over human values? The answers are simple, but the trick is to sink those deep into our minds so that we never forget those.

Hope this crisis brings out something better in all of us and as a society, we become a better one with time.

सर्वे भवन्तु सुखिनः सर्वे सन्तु निरामयाः।

सर्वे भद्राणि पश्यन्तु मा कश्चिद्दुःखभाग् भवेत्।।

sarve bhavantu sukhina sarve santu nirāmayā|

sarve bhadrāi paśyantu mā kaściddukhabhāg bhavet||

“May all be happy; May all be free from infirmities; May all see good; May none partake suffering.”

- Rahul Tiwary


Tuesday, April 27, 2021

Simple Reason Why Central Vista Is Marked as Essential Service


Recently, there is a surge in anti-government (particularly against Central Government of India) news and articles, spearheaded by known Left Wing papers and websites. They use every opportunity to defame and discredit the central government and our Prime Minister Narendra Modi. I came across one such example today.

There is a news which tells that Central Vista Project, which is the construction or redevelopment project for India’s new Parliament as well as several other government buildings, has been categorized as “essential service” by the govt. This decision is being criticized by a section of media. For example, you can read one such news here.

The news portals are not telling the real reason why this project has been categorized as essential service. They just keep the focus on challenging the decision by asserting that this project can’t be “essential” and hence our Govt should have allowed related work. The larger plan is to criticize everything new that the government does and make people criticize our govt.

I am going to explain the real reason why the Central Vista project has been categorized as essential service.

Due to Corona virus related pandemic, recently, Delhi state govt had imposed lockdown where only "onsite" workers were allowed for construction sites/projects. It means that only those construction projects were allowed where the workers “lived” at the construction site itself. Now, we can easily understand that this “onsite” mode was not possible for the Central Vista project because keeping a large number of workers at that site which is in highest security zone close to the Parliament, secretariat, embassies, etc. was not a good idea. We already had an attack on our parliament in the past. Hence, central govt wanted to ferry workers in dedicated buses from the labor camp in Sarai Kale Kha area, as the news says. Hence to bypass the general rule related to Lockdown restrictions, they would have categorized it as “essential service”.

Now this is from my general understanding of the situation, reading the news. Media loves telling half stories and misleading news because curious readers engage more with such news. We should be watchful and use our own understanding and judgement before believing in any anti-government story, particularly during this crisis time.

- Rahul Tiwary

Sunday, April 25, 2021

Travelogue: Maa Durga Mandir Mushahari Block, Muzaffarpur, Bihar

 

Durga Mandir at Mushahri Block, Muzaffarpur (Bihar) is a new Hindu Temple constructed and inaugurated recently. The temple is dedicated to Goddess Durga. It is very conveniently situated at the main road and near the main market.


The deity of Ma Durga is all mesmerizing.


May Ma Durga bless us with strength and energy to cope up with all challenges.

- Rahul Tiwary

Friday, April 23, 2021

Online Zippi Fixed Deposits by DCB Bank

 

In order to tap new customers, DCB Bank has launched an innovative product called Zippi Fixed Deposits. For new users, DCB Bank was earlier known as Development Credit Bank. Normally when you have to open a fixed deposit (FD), you go to your existing bank and open an FD either offline or online. You do so because you think that you need to open an FD only with your existing bank. You were right about it so far. Since banks have to maintain proper KYC records, they normally allow only existing customers to open a new FD and if a new customer wants to open an FD, they call him to their branch where they collect the necessary documents and details for KYC and then open an FD. But you can note that using this process, you would need to visit the branch each time you would open an FD. Plus, you would not be able to see all your FDs at one place, since such a facility would be with you only if you had a Savings Bank account with the bank and hence would have access to its net banking facility. DCB Bank’s innovative product has totally changed this.

DCB Bank launched this product last year which is meant for new customers. Existing customers can open an FD using existing modes like online banking or visit to a branch. But new customers who never had a business with DCB Bank, can open an FD using online mode. Even KYC is done online, where the bank sends you an invite for video-KYC. The bank officer is able to capture your photo and KYC documents during the video-call. Therefore, in this process, a customer would not need to visit a branch at all! How cool is that!

This product has become more relevant during the Covid times where people movements are restricted and hence people are no longer doing such activities which are considered not of high priority. One can definitely wait for a few months or a year before opening an FD. There are also uncertainties related to the pandemic and hence people are no longer opening FDs like before. In this context, the Zippi online Fixed Deposit is a way which makes people encouraged to try out and open an FD using totally online method!

Another great thing about DCB Bank’s fixed deposits are its high interest rate. At 6.75% rate, you would also find DCB Bank among the highest interest rate offering banks.

In order to open a new online FD, you need to visit the bank’s website: https://www.dcbbank.com/ and then click on the “Zippi” link which opens a new page especially for Zippi online FD.


If you are opening an FD for the first time, you need to enter a few details which will be verified and then your FD will be ready to open. The website will ask you to transfer the amount to fund the FD using online banking of any other bank.


Once you open an FD for the first time, your KYC will be triggered. Your KYC will need to be completed and it will take 5-6 days. Once the KYC is approved, you will be eligible for opening new or more FDs.

Using this Zippi online feature, you can open total sum of Rs 5 Lakhs of FDs. You can open as many FDs you want, but the total sum of all should be at the maximum Rs 5 Lakhs.

In order to summarize, I would highly recommend the DCB Bank Zippi online fixed deposit for everyone who is tech-savvy. But if you are not comfortable with digital media and online banking, you can still choose to follow the offline method.

Happy investing!

- Rahul Tiwary

Sunday, April 18, 2021

Marriage of Comedians

 

As per the latest (real) news, the popular TV comedians Sanket Bhosle and Sugandha Mishra have decided to get wedded (to each other). This news came as such a pleasant surprise to me because I have been a fan of both of them. Sanket Bhosle does the best mimicry ever of Sanjay Dutt (Baba) and Sugandha Mishra gives us fits of laughter whenever she appears on screen. It is a delight to watch both of them perform on the TV. If you want to remind yourself of their brilliance, do check out below random Youtube videos:



Many people do not know that Sanket Bhosle is also a medical doctor specializing in Dermatology. He was born in Pune on 9th May, 1988 and completed his studies from Mumbai. He has been doing comedy since year 2010 and made his debut in the TV show 'Laugh India Laugh' which was judged by Shekhar Suman and Chanky Pandey. But Sanket is most famous for his mimicries in the Kapil Sharma show. 

Sugandha Mishra, on the other hand is a trained musician. She was born in 1984 in the Mishra family which had background in music in Jalandhar and completed her masters as well as doctorate in Music. With entering music, she is 4th generation into it, in her family. Sugandha started her career as a Radio Jockey and then went on to sing many songs and albums as well as acting in several movies in side-roles, until she took to TV. She took part in a comedy show where she was very much liked. You can also check out her website: Sugandha Mishra

The marriage of Sugandha and Sanket is also going to break many traditional boundaries. Sugandha and Sanket are from different castes as well as different states. Plus, Sugandha is about 4 years elder to Sanket. 

I also wonder how much talented their kid will be, given the talent both of these have.

I wish all the very best to both Sanket and Mugdha for their future life. May they live happily ever after and keep spreading fun and positivity around.

- Rahul Tiwary

Thursday, April 15, 2021

The Rewrite of Female Empowerment

 


As I wrote about in my previous blog post, there is an interesting part in the movie ‘The Rewrite’ (2014) where Keith Michaels, the character played by Hugh Grant makes an interesting comment in a party while commenting on the contributions of Jane Austin. Here it goes:

“Forgive me, but I am just a little bit tired of female empowerment. Well, just, honestly, though, everything seems to be about female empowerment nowadays, you know. Any meeting I go to in Hollywood, someone says, “You know what we need? A kick-ass girl, that’d be a great twist.” Except every movie has a kick-ass girl, you know, some martial arts CGI slow motion woman who kicks the crap out of every man in her path. Can I tell you what would be truly innovative? A movie without a kick-ass girl, or better yet, a movie where a woman gets her ass kicked.”

This monologue is considered offensive by another teacher Mary Weldon who was a strict, cold, humorless and (hence, perhaps) head of the disciplinary committee. What Keith said is classified under deadpan humor. I have always been a fan of English actor Hugh Grant’s sense of humor which is also seen in most of the characters he plays on the screen.

Coming back to above comments, I think it captures a harsh truth of our times. Everyone wants to appear nice and favorable towards women. Being respectful and fair towards women is no longer desirable; people are more concerned about how they appear in front of the society. This ‘Virtue Signaling’ is taking many shapes and this is what Keith tells about. Think, what would be more feminist in true sense: showing women in movies appear all powerful super heroes, or picturizing their vulnerabilities, strengths and weaknesses and depicting their human side. 

If we respect women, it should show in our real lives. We should respect and treat women around us fairly. But this is pure hard work. People look for shortcuts and choose the 'Virtue Signaling' method to be more 'profitable' and fool proof. While on the 'Virtue Signaling' bandwagon, we all become advertisers who try to sell their products by making tall claims which may or may not have any real ground on the plain of truth. 

In this publicity crazy materialistic world, people are no longer interested in making fair assessment of things. They are often more concerned about how they appear to others. This is a big social tragedy. In this context, Keith Michaels’ statement comes as an abrupt test of tolerance and thoughtfulness for us. 

- Rahul Tiwary

Tuesday, April 13, 2021

Some Movies

 

A few interesting movies along with few comments from me about those. This will work best if you have watched these movies or share an opinion about these.

Death Becomes Her (1992): This is another great performance by actress Meryl Streep and it also carries a good social message. The main character is obsessed with her own body, also because she is an actress. She tries to look young “forever” and in turn she is offered an everlasting body through magic. But, the boon becomes her curse eventually. When the same boon is offered to her husband, he denies it, saying interestingly, “I will get bored!”. What fun is this life if it can’t end? If we become immortals in literal sense, we shall lose most aspects of life which we enjoy.

Zodiac (2007): Interesting crime investigation movie but with a different treatment. An interesting aspect came out from the story was about how the Police were not able to arrest a suspect just because they did not have enough grounds for arrest. Without arrest, the serial killer kept going about his life. The movie also has a great set of cast including Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo and Robert Downey Jr. in one movie.

Goodfellas (1990): This is a crime film directed by Martin Scorsese (I am a big fan of his) and starring Robert De Niro, Ray Liotta and others. This is a biographical film capturing the life of gangster Henry Hill and associates. Although the entire movie is great and captivating, I could not digest the fact that its main character became a Police informer in the end, just to avoid getting jail. How could he make such a decision despite living whole life as a gangster. Also, it was interesting how the whole gang were busted majorly by one man turning informer. Real life crime should be more complex.

Sleepers (1996): This movie combined Robert De Niro along with Brad Pitt in the star cast. Although the storyline is disturbing because of the type of crime and violence shown, it almost ends on a positive note before telling that two of the friends died soon after the major event (court hearing) with one being shot dead. As they say, crime does not end well. But the movie also shows how boys and men also suffer a lot and it is not that only women suffer in this world. A good movie overall.

Next Three Days (2010): A Russell Crowe movie. What is interesting is that a husband makes an elaborate plan to free his wife from the jail, but when he does that, she declines it! Also, the husband had 100% faith on his wife, and he risked his own life and kids of his son all on that belief. It was incredible.

The Judge (2014): A very touching movie which touches many aspects of our society. I loved the role played by Robert Duvall who was so righteous that he risked his own life just because he did not want to trick justice for his own benefit. The movie also captures age, health and psychological struggles of an old man very well.

The Rewrite (2014): A lovely movie starring Hugh Grant and I am also a big fan of his. There was a very funny incident at the beginning of the movie when Hugh Grant gives a small lecture on ‘women empowerment’ which lands him into huge trouble. I shall try to find that portion and post as a separate blog post.

Greta (2018): A really scary psychological thriller film starring the very talented actress Chloë Grace Moretz. The story is set where two girls are sharing a flat and one of them meets an old woman one day and makes her an acquaintance. The friend warns her against making friends with a stranger even if she was an old lady, but Chloe does not listen to her. In the end, all the fears turn true as the old woman turns out to be a psychopath who abducts her. I really liked the character of the friend, Erica, played by Maika Monroe who was so brave that she risked her own life to save Chloe despite Chloe ignoring her advices in the beginning.

True Grit (2010): A very interesting movie showing the time from old days in America which was marred with violence. There are many movies set in this environment and I have always wondered how they could waste human lives just like that all in the name of fun, pride or vanity.

- Rahul Tiwary

Thursday, April 8, 2021

Popular misconceptions about government orders in Covid19 management


Morning newspaper brought an interesting news. Anmol Ambani (son of famous businessman Anil Ambani) has lashed out at government’s restrictions related to partial “lockdown” in order to contain the spread of the virus.

His statement as contained in his tweet can be read below.


Source: IE, Rediff

While we know that he is not alone in thinking like this, we can certainly spot many common fallacies in this opinion.

First, he thinks that there is a “conspiracy” by the government and big businessmen who are transferring wealth from the poor towards themselves. But the fact is that the governments and the big businesses (except a few) were the biggest victims of the Covid and related Lockdown restrictions. Many big banks failed and many companies filed for bankruptcy. Only a few businesses which ran into essential services were able to jump back and progress after the lockdown restrictions were relaxed. So, we should know that everyone has suffered during the pandemic in some way or the other.

This tendency to see “conspiracy” in everything that the government does is a known trait and often part of the “Left leaning” agenda. Women should hate men, people should hate governments, workers should hate industrialists, this is a known trend whenever a politically motivated agenda is pushed upon people. Anmol Ambani, although an adult, should watch what kind of media he is exposing himself to, since his opinions are giving away a Left leaning bias.  

Now, coming to his point about professional Sports and Elections being allowed even during the pandemic. First, Sports and Movies are non-essential services which were totally banned for quite some time during the crisis but later allowed to resume, in order to sustain the families of workers whose lives depended on the sports and movie industries. So, removing the restrictions in these areas were done as part of a plan and we remember that movie theaters were the last to open, only after most other forms of businesses were allowed to operate more freely. Elections, on the other hand, come under essential work, since democracy will choke and cause widespread anarchy if elections and usual transfer of power are stopped due to pandemic.

The reason why government has to resort to Lockdowns which impact the masses and not the chosen few like big Businessmen or Politicians is simple: common people do not have the access to that kind of care and treatment as the rich businessmen and politicians have and if things go out of hand, public health facilities will be out of capacity and there will be a complete laps of governance, control and order. Allowing the pandemic to spread is a recipe of disaster which can even lead to “civil war” and people uprising and hence it is very important to “break the chain” and stop the pandemic from spreading beyond a point. And alas, vaccine production capacities are limited and the only way to contain the spread, is through tactical Lockdowns. I support micro-area lockdowns instead of a generic Lockdown all across the country, as we had witnessed last year at the beginning of the pandemic.

Let us hope that the government’s efforts to control the virus spread succeed and people do not look for conspiracies and push political agendas even at the time of a crisis.

- Rahul Tiwary