The sudden and untimely death of the great actress Sridevi is a monumental loss to the Indian film industry.When K Raghavendra Rao was naming the socio-fantasy in Telugu with Chiranjeevi in1990s As just “jagadekaveerudu” she had the words””Athilokasundari” appended to the title in her favour to register her presence too!.Such was the clout she wielded.Will our film industry ever see such a legend again The untimely and premature death of her, came as rude shock to her countless admirers all over the country as she had been darling to not only Tollywood or Bollywood, she had acted in Malayalam,Kannada, also and proved her metal.Given her talent and image it is no wonder that she soon emerged with a pan Indian stature, surpassing her South Indian origins, But Iam sorry to see the delay in clearing the body to be brought to India, entangled in all unnecessary controversies..Lot of doubts and suspicions made the issue more complicated but at last the dead body reached Mumbai, for the last funeral rights.May her soul rest in peace

Yesterday I have finished reading one more new book titled,  “Indira: India’s Most Powerful Prime Minister” by Sagarika Ghosh.  Sagarika is currently the consulting Editor of an English News Paper, and a journalist with over 25 years experience in print and visual media. The book is an objective account of Mrs Gandhi’s life. She admits that she disagreed with her politics but was fascinated by the subject as a political journalist. Unlike her father Mrs Gandhi believed in politics of singularity. Sagarika, it seems read 80 out of 120 biographies written about Indira. In order to bring something interesting, and new to the book, that had not been already done, she took the role of an interviewer. The narrative is interspersed with letters addressed to the Ghost of Indira Gandhi, which poses questions Sagarika would have wanted, to ask her, if she were alive today. In this book PN Haksar, has been given prominence as a pivotal player in all of Indira’s masterstrokes. Sagarika credits him with being the architect of Bangladesh War. Though Sagarika was blown away by the level of courage that Mrs Gandhi displayed when she took the lone stand against the world for the war. The book goes beyond her facet as a ruler and dwells into her multi-faceted personality. Indira wasn’t all business; she had a softer side as well. I have understood that Indira was a paradoxical person who loved things she didn’t like. She espoused similar feelings towards Indian democracy, Indian politics, the Indian press, men in her family etc. Sagarika sums up her impression of Mrs Gandhi as one beautiful and magnanimous person caged in a castle made of her own paranoia, anxiety, anger, and suspicion of everyone around her. Indira lived in black and white, a person of extremes, capable of great evil and good. It’s a very fascinating read.

Today I finished reading a book titled “The Coalition Years 1996-2012” by Pranab Mukherjee. Pranab Mukherjee entered parliament at the age 34,and rose to become 13th President of India. A person of unparalleled experience in governance, and had distinction of having held portfolios of Defence, External Affairs, Commerce, and Finance. He was 5 time member of Rajya Sabha and 2 time Lok Sabha.  He was Member of Congress Working Committee, the highest policy making body for 23 years, till he became President of India. The book starts with 1996 with lot of ups and downs that characterised 16 years of one of the most tumultuous periods in the nation’s political history. The book covered the defeat of Congress in 1966, and the rise of regional parties, to its withdrawal of support to I K Gujral, and its eventual alliance with diverse political parties, in UPA 1&2. Mr Mukherjee remained a key figure, and an active participant in shaping the course of India’s political, economic, and social development.

He mentioned minute details of many important events, including that of a path breaking meeting he had, with Henry Kissinger, in 2004, that altered the course of Indo-US treaty on strategic partnership. He has even given the details of his differences with D Subba Rao RBI Governor on the structure of FSDC This is his 3rd volume of Autobiography, the most authoritative, account of contemporary Indian politics, which I would recommend everyone to read once.

Past two days I was watching both Telugu state government reaction to the budget. I felt happy when I have read a note by one of my friends, on the day budget was presented, in FB, that it is very good. It is an individual perception, he must have felt happy because FM tried to do justice to farm community by raising minimum support price etc. But it appears to me that it was presented with an eye on 2019 General Elections. It read like an election manifesto. Breaking with tradition, Jaitley, has for the first time, presented his budget speech both in Hindi and English, as he has a mastery over said two languages, though it is an unusual thing .and he might have opted to appease both Hindi and non-Hindi speaking states. Normally all political parties, remember “jawans and Kisans””only when elections are round the corner. Probably after seeing the number of farmers who died over the last few years, our FM must have thought that something should be done for them. I was thinking that this budget would bring some hope to many more , after the Demonetisation. But nothing worthwhile has been done to the honest tax payer. Political parties, feel obliged, to respond to it in lukewarm way and may even criticise it , possible. However the Govt’s focus on governance and trying to eliminate corruption is welcome. Some of my friends may disagree with me but the fact of the matter is that Gujarat Assembly election results, which suggested rural anger, seemed to have weighed heavily on the full budget before next Lok Sabha elections. Farmers are now promised a widened crop price support and the poor are offered a health insurance cover of 5 lakhs per family. It is a liberal budget, but very disappointing for the middle class and the expectation of change in income Tax exemption limit has been belied. With regards to allocations to our both states, which pinned hopes, on it that it would shower funds to propel development have dashed, and all the leaders are unanimous in expressing their anguish on the Modi Govt. You May not be surprised even to see that TDP May severe its ties with BJP, like Shivsena in Maharashtra. To me it appeared that this budget was an uninspiring as it has not addressed unemployment, and poor man’s woes. All budgets are always about using the taxes, imposed on the middle class, to get votes, of the poor, and to give subsidies to the rich. Even this budget saw FM proposing to raise the salaries of President, Vice-President, Governors. Etc. If you ask me It is absurd thing. who asked for it? Was it really required and are they starved of funds? Besides, huge chunk of salaries, they also enjoy lot of perks, and protocols etc. Where is the need for it? Any budget becomes meaningful only when the proposals, of previous year’s budget are met. As there is no mention of previous projects in this, I strongly believe that it is a mere rhetoric.

It is a sad day for Indian democracy when cracks in one pillar of our great democracy have come to the fore. Four senior most Judges of SC seem to have been compelled by the circumstances to take extreme step of going to the press. This addressing the press is an unprecedented and an extraordinary event that should make every one sit up and take notice. In my opinion it has been wrongly decried as a “sponsored revolt”. If the respected judges with historic verdicts, under their belt, felt that they didn’t want to sell their souls, they deserve a fair hearing. Though Friday’s press conference is historic as mentioned by justice Chalameswar, it is a known fact that he had some grouse against the functioning of Collegium, which he made abundantly clear and CJ should have addressed his concerns. But it was only after the judges failed to get any remedy from CJI that they came out in public. This was an extraordinary event in history of this institution. They were compelled to act in this way because the CJ couldn’t be persuaded to mend the ways of the court. “We owe responsibility to the institution and the nation. Our efforts have failed in convincing CJI to take steps to protect the institution” the judges said. During the TV debates, some have expressed that they could have knocked the doors of the President of India. It is a simple solution  which they may have thought of. But having known the Presidential position, they are right, as it doesn’t serve any purpose and now the incident shows the power of democracy. The crux of the matter as I understood is whether the CJ is “ master of roster” or a first among equals. This is an issue concerning one of country’s most respected institutions and the one in which majority of Indians still continue to repose tremendous trust. T he sorry state of affairs which were not disclosed elaborately by the four judges, against CJI tends to lend credence that there is something fishy. General Public is already opining that the judiciary is no longer a Caesar’s wife. The situation seems to have reached a point of no return when Justice Chalameswar was over ruled by present CJ I, in connection with a corruption case in Kerala involving some judges according to the press. Anyway it was not in good taste. As the four judges, integrity is high, and the allegations cannot be ignored. What happened on 12th Jan, is almost hostile atmosphere. Much damage has already been done. The Central Govt deserves to be appreciated for refusing to intervene. If Jaitley has offered his good offices, it must be in his capacity as a member of legal fraternity. As I understood, all judges of SC are juniors in age and professional career to the octogenarian Attorney General Of India K Venugopal. There are some other respectable seniors like Soli Sorabji, and FaliNariman who have been associated with the SC since its initial day’s, and have grown with it. Without insisting on prestige and ego, all the concerned, in the interest of Indian democracy must save the last bastion.