Madder than a March Hare

What is it with this month of March that makes people behave like a mad March Hare? Is it the year end closing for businessmen; or filing of tax returns for the working population; or examinations for students;  or unseasonal rains for farmers; or just the arrival of the Indian summer? Shakespeare must have thought so too in his time -  to include a line “Beware the Ides of March” in his story of Julius Caesar. To me; the comic tragedy happening within the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) appears very Shakespearean too. Arvind Kejriwal has assumed hues of Julius Caesar, King Lear, Mark Anthony and possibly a few more characters scripted by Sir.William S. So skillfully has he made himself the martyr while brutally ousting his co-founders and possible competitors in AAP. He may not be a great orator but he certainly chooses his lines well and his face emotes the feeling he wants to project like a veteran stage actor. Guess it is R.I.P. Mr. Kejriwal the “Activist” and “Heil Mr. Kejriwal” the dictatorial politician from now on. The time for AAP and its followers along with the State will be as predictable as Delhi's weather for from here on. At times I think this whole drama is a great diversion from real issues that need tackling; right?

Guess creating diversions is the flavour of the month, and the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, not to be left behind;  in his infinite wisdom announced the ban on sale and possession of beef in his State. Was it a secret oath that he took at his swearing ceremony some six months back or a mad cow in his dreams that prompted this action is unknown; but it certainly made the majority of the minority communities; many in the animal kingdom; and quite a few meat loving Hindus mad at him and the BJP for announcing the ban - and for different reasons. The cost of food for the non-vegetarian consuming population went up - as the price for other meat (mutton, chicken, and pork) went up for no real sane reason (I will come to it). The animal kingdom took offense and questioned - why should only the "Guys" (Cows in Hindi) have all the fun while the poor buffaloes, goats, sheep, chicken, pigs, boars were being marched to the slaughter house? The meat eating Hindu was mad because he would have to go back to eating the more expensive vegetables (beef in comparison much cheaper).

In actuality the State had a ban on cow slaughter since 1970 and most of the meat sold under the label “beef” (and is still being sold today) is buffalo meat. Beef from cows had either to be imported from other States or overseas. So why was this issue raked up again? Also, why did the abattoirs go hopping mad at the announcement? Apparently; what the State wanted to achieve was a curb on the illegal slaughter of cows discarded by the dairy owners that were past their milking days and of no commercial use to them - in fact a liability. So, for the abattoirs these animals were virtually free acquisition and for dairy owners (most Hindu) a free means of disposal of cattle gone bad. The State could have handled this issue with better care if it had wanted to. But the "diversion" conspiracy suggests that the goal was to create a confusion to divert attention from the real issues that need tackling – right? Makes me mad.

Now the BJP too has a right to get mad; and it is thoroughly annoyed with its alliance partners in the States of Jammu & Kashmir as well as Maharashtra. Chief Minister Mufti released a hard core separatist this month and the Sena opposed the land acquisition bill. The amount of headline noise in the news on both issues must have made our PM mad. To begin with; he is already having problems curbing the "insane" within his own circle of influence that are making ugly statements that have given rise to a spirit of religious, caste and creed hate divide denting the image of a secular governance that the PM has being trying to project. None of his social schemes seem to be working well even though they may have been well intended. And the economy; despite all the big talks, is delivering very little in terms of real growth or attracting real development foreign capital. No wonder he wants to take a 3 nation vacation in April. Yes it would be great to run away from this Country of Mad Men; and right now there are millions of them. 

In the meantime, the business community is pissed off with the Finance Minister (FM) for his “Black Money Return” bill. Yes, everyone knows that nothing much will come back; but it is one more irritating bother to be attended to at the time of a financial year ending. The real culprits have done their housekeeping, and the good guys are the ones fretting over the explanations they will have to provide for perfectly legitimate transactions to the over bearing authorities. The FM is probably mad at the RBI (Reserve Bank) Governor for not dropping key interest rates as much as he would want; who in turn may be mad at the US fed for being so uncertain about when rate hikes in the US will actually happen; who in turn must be hoping mad at the European Bank on its handling of Greece and the European economy; who in turn is possibly mad at India for not releasing defense orders to France, Germany, Italy and other Euro countries; who in turn is mad at Australia for beating its blue boys black - and also taking away the world cup (which it said it would not give back);and at New Zealand (the team most Indians supported in the finals as they wore the new blue called black jerseys) for losing so tamely to Australia. Does it make sense? Possibly not – but nothing does in this mad month of March. Like, I cannot understand why most Indians are blaming actress Anushka Sharma and our cricket hero Virat Kohli for losing the world cup semi finals. Nor can I understand why a 28 year old German pilot will kill himself and 150+ people in a plane crash. Nor why a blogger is hacked to death in Bangladesh. 

Thankfully; there is a bit of sane news; one that allows me the right to express my views without fear of being trolled by the "Netalibanis" is the death of section 66A at the hands of the Supreme Court. Thanks to the fight put up by a brave young lady named Shreya Singhal. Gives me faith that all is not lost. In fact another young lady named Saina Nehwal gave India a reason to smile just after we were all sulking at loosing the cricket world cup. She took over as the No. 1 woman Baddie player in the world; the first Indian to do so.