Rakesh Manchanda for BeyondHeadlines
Note: This write up is in response to Chetan Bhagat’s article published on 9th March 2014 in TOI entitled “Politics and its many shades of Grey”. The correct title of this article to my understanding should be: “Politics and its many shades of Chetan Bhagat (followers)”. I remember in 1998 having watched the First 3D film in India. It was fun. Let us revisit Chotta Chetan 3D.
Four schoolmates enjoy in a small rural school. They face competition, opposition and taunts as they come from a very poor family. This results in exclusion. Then comes Chetan. He wears only a lungi, and cannot speak a word. They find that he has magical qualities and can perform several athletic feats. Together they decide to change their lives once and for all. But can magic solve their problems forever?
This Bollywood blockbuster story did not impress me much. However the new technology to introduce DTS stereoscopic 3D effects was awesome.
On removing the theatre 3D glasses, we find that Chetan Bhagat today cannot hide his moral duty as a writer to empower readers by showing the correct direction.
Most of Chetan Bhagat’s stories do impress me. But people in India cannot allow Chetan to take a three dimensional side and then fly his own kite in ‘Modi Wave’.
I have few questions and comments for him.
“You (Chetan) showcase Modi as the champion of ideas and human experiences. Keep it up! Chetan tell me what are Modi’s creative ideas and experiences which you showcase in your write up published in TOI last Sunday? Tell me why Modi is found standing on a slippery ground and cheats the indigenous starving Textiles Industry which needs government protection? We often see Modi standing with exporters and traders who want to export all cotton Lint/Fiber to China with ‘No Quota’ for petty short term profits?”
‘4M’ continue to grow on a tree and writers like Chetan continue to sell the fruits of this tree. 4M here stands for Manmohan, Modi, Mukesh and Money. We in cities in Service Sector stand for the branches of the tree. While leaves of the tree that make food and generate survival represents our Agriculture and Industrial Production.
Many in India call Modi ji as the agent of ‘China’ and property dealer of Ambanis. Tell me if Modi ji who is ‘choicelessly’ promoted by Chetan comes to power then how will he create jobs in India?
How shall the future PM-Modi protect the Indian small scale producers of religious idols (Ganesh-Laxmi ji), Rakhees and ‘deepavali ke rangeen’ bulbs?
All such producers in India are now forced to sell such handicrafts with cheap imports from China.Sad instead of correct salaries what Indian investor and small scale producer do today is to ‘motivate’ production by inviting occasionally a strange person called priest to help with magical mantras and rituals having no links with process of team connected productive work.
Capacity builders called gurus and priest in past were in fact the business trainers to keep the human resource in the team connected to excel in military training and civil works like digging of wells in the era of feudal work intensive society. Today in the human capital intensive environment the hired pundits are given money and send back after few hours of team celebration and prayers. Unorganised and delinked production continues.
“Chetan Bhagat in your touching said article as mentioned before you comment on AAP having the complete lack of understanding of HOW WEALTH IS CREATED? Since you claim to know Modi better then the Public, so tell us what is his understanding on this topic of wealth creation? I understand Chetan you are a big story teller and a celebrity who manufactures dreams essential for toiling Indians. Sir you are not a roadside story hawker so please reply to Public if you cannot reply to my mails as never done by you in the past.”
Like it or not if good writers like Chetan Bhagat wish to generate views on ‘change’, they need to learn from the slums and step out of their high flying jet planes and stop bombarding in favor of fortunate 1%. Roots of the tree remain in villages and not in Metro cities like Delhi and Mumbai.
Roots lie in villages and in industrial sites outside Maha Nagars but people like Manmohan-Modi-Mukesh continue to decide our future. Time is to recall Mahatma Gandhi Ecological Swaraj Call: “Aao Chale Gaon ki Aur.”
