Kejriwal now calls Kiran Bedi an 'Avsarvaadi' (Opportunist) in his latest campaign in New Delhi and calls himself 'Imaandaar' (Honest).

Wasn't Kejriwal being a real opportunist when he gleefully accepted the 'most corrupt' (in his own words) Congress' support to form a government in Delhi and become the Chief Minister, 15 days after the poll results were out the last time? What happened to his ideals then?

Other parties and political leaders never vehemently denied opportunism, however AAP came to people with the promise of the so-called alternative politics, honesty and idealism.

If anything, Kejriwal seems to be the embodiment of "Ideal Opportunism".

Now comes the news that one of the criminal AAP candidates Udaykumar received huge funds to stall the Nuclear Power Plant at Koodankulam in Tamil Nadu, not just from dubious NGOs from the West, but also the promoters of the scandal-driven Sarada Chit Funds. Imagine the troika - Congress, Trinamul and AAP working together for a better India!

The creator of the Common-Man RK Laxman passed away yesterday. However the 'Common-Man' as defined by AAP continues to be disillusioned, and is still awaiting a real alternative.

People like Amir Khan are in an envious position. He gets paid an astronomical amount to anchor a TV programme that discusses various social issues. At the same time, he also builds his brand value, developing the image that he is doing some selfless social service to the nation of 1.2 billion people.

A team researches, another team writes the screenplay, yet another team shoots, directs and edits. The 'method' actor rehearses well and delivers his act as directed. A paid audience (who typically hop from one studio to another to make a living) cries and applauds as directed by the director. Voila, we have a series of 'emotionally charged' episodes, 'educating' the viewer on social evils with a call of action to donate generously to an NGO, of his choice which never discloses its accounts, its ownership or its actual deliverables.

The viewer, after having shed copious tears on a Sunday morning, switches channels and goes on to watch the actor's latest blockbuster (that promotes suicides) over a period of 4 hours, soaking in a hundred adverts in between. What next? The actor will milk his 15 minute meeting with Modi to perfection. Satyameva Jayate! Yes, Truth Alone Triumphs!

Rajdeep Sardesai, Editor-in-chief of CNN-IBN and his wife and partner in crime Sagarika Ghose have apparently gone on a 'long leave' from CNN-IBN, after Reliance have raised their stake in the parent media house and claimed complete ownership now.

Going, going, gone?

However, I wonder if this new take-over by an Indian corporate house should ever be an issue for the 'much-honoured' Rajdeep and his wife, who took TV journalism to uncharted, abysmal depths. They openly supported the corporate-political nexus and went on to defend tainted journalists like Barkha Dutt and Vir Sanghvi. Will this couple continue to enjoy this 'long leave' or will they start an (anti)-national channel soon, with funding from their overseas paymasters?

Remember the criminal and fraudulent reporting that Sagarika did a couple of years ago? She ran a live debate on her channel, with Art of Living head Sri Sri Ravishankar, who was invited to face some 'tough questions' from other panelists and viewers live on the topic of anti-corruption. She said, 'Joining us live is Sri Sri Ravishankar' and even turned to his side to pose questions every now and then. He continued to give totally irrelevant answers, which dented his reputation among viewers and Sagarika went on 'grilling' him. Well, the viewers at that time did not know the truth: the man was never there live! It turned out that she deceptively used video clippings from an older interview recorded by a local correspondent and made it look like the spiritual guru was participating in her live debate. Later, when people confronted her with facts, she tried to escape with a statement, "It was a technical bug".

In India, it appears that people have to live with one fact: You will continue to have electronic and print media partly or fully owned by a heady mix of national and regional political parties, Indian corporate biggies, multinational corporations, supporters of separatist groups and some influential churches. It begs the question, is real-time social media the only available hope as a credible news source? Well, I have news for you. Our dear Rajdeep was recently caught using fake tweets from the 'common man' (created by his own studio staff) to support his arguments on yet another 'live debate'. Satyameva Jayate! May Truth Alone Prevail!

Arnab and his exit poll accuracy!

Projected number of seats

Random cartoons
Cartoons that I came up with during the Indian parliamentary elections,  in April-May 2014.

Om!
Tat Tvam Asi.

"You are That", says the Chandogya Upanishad of the Sama Veda.

This blog is an expression of my ignorance - the random thoughts, scribbles, doodles, confusions, inspirations, and opinions that are manifested by my mind. I would like to believe that I am seeking The Truth. Am I?

I am of the opinion that most of us are like the young man Shvetaketu, who is represented by the Upanishad as the quintessential seeker of Truth. In his quest, the veil of ignorance is eventually removed to reveal what is already there - the ultimate knowledge of the Self, The Truth.

I start this blog, while contemplating on the many questions posed to him by is father, Uddalaka, who realised that the boy was proud, conceited and considered himself 'learned'. The first question to contemplate upon is

1. What did you really learn? Did you ask for that instruction by which:

• that which is not heard, becomes heard,
• that which is not thought, becomes thought and
• that which is not known becomes known?"