Schrodinger's Cat.

I stepped into my car;

Mr  Satan in the passenger seat,

And he said, “ I shall spare this life of yours,

Shall you be willing to take me to Hell’s Kitchen.”

Sensing the casual loop I said,

“Well as you like it ,Mr Baton.”

“And just what did you call me, Mr Dible?”

“I would prefer Incrad, sugarpie.”

It seemed as if a role reversal had taken place.

An implosion was imminent,

With Dark Angels too?

The wrath was infernal, swallowing everything in its path.

My brain wasn’t dead , they said,

And I had a choice to make.

To enter a parallel universe ,

To avoid sipping poison from the cup, like my friend, the cat

That was so perfectly placed, oh the effervescence.

Like Satan studied Feng Shui.

I evaded death in surrealism.

And even Satan succumbed to his own connivance.

I can see Einstein , Podolsky, and Rosen, gleaming with pride,

Smiling with my smile.

Thanks to Erwin Schrodinger,

I can still do that for a while.

India 2014: Varanasi's Roadshow Rut and the Road to Delhi

For the whole of last week, it seemed India's capital had shifted some 500 miles south east to the holy town of Varanasi. Nestled on the banks of the river Ganga, Varanasi - known locally as Kashi or Banaras, has become more than a just a town linked to the spirituality it bestows upon its visitors; it has become larger than life; for on May 12 it will bear witness to the most decisive political battle in this year's Lok Sabha elections.

Lenity would force observers into believing that the fight for the Varanasi seat is a three horse race (Uttar Pradesh's ruling Samajwadi Party (SP) isn't even in the running). This is indeed music to the ears of his detractors, but they may have to concede that Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) PM-candidate Narendra Modi is the frontrunner to wrest the key constituency. Other claimants for Varanasi include the Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) Arvind Kejriwal, whose short-lived stint as Chief Minister of Delhi was seen as utterly tumultuous and a betrayal of those who voted for him; and the Congress's lesser known candidate Ajay Rai, who built his chequered career as a BJP legislator before defecting to the former.

The 2014 election is touted to be 'the biggest' poll of its kind, not only because of the enormity of India's voting populace (estimated to be well over 800 million), but because come May 16, the world's largest democracy is likely to witness the proverbial and electoral decimation of the ruling Congress party.

The Congress, patronized and run by the Gandhi family for decades has had a vice-like grip on the nation's political and jugular vein. Modi, who's making his first foray into national politics, is widely expected to ride the eponymous wave of fervor and anti-incumbency and form India's next government.

Holding the Congress's last stand is the family’s diffident heir Rahul Gandhi, who has failed to sway the tide in his party's favor. When all hope was lost, he even went about influencing voters in poll booths during polling in his constituency Amethi, but was let off scot free by the Election Commission of India
(EC) even after several complaints were lodged in his name.

The EC's credibility as a neutral poll body came under fire when it rejected BJP's application for Modi to hold a rally in Varanasi's Benia Bagh, but granted his opponents including Kejriwal, Gandhi and Uttar Pradesh's Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav permission to campaign at the same venue.

Making the most of what he could, Modi instead led a gargantuan roadshow from the Kashi's prestigious Banaras Hindu University (BHU) to the party's headquarters in the city. The three mile stretch took more than four hours to cover, as hordes of supporters and townsfolk thronged the streets to catch a rare glimpse of a man who could very well be India's next Prime Minister. Beyond doubt, Modi's procession made a greater impact than a rally ever would have. Such was its success that it forced his political rivals to stage roadshows of their own.

"If Modi comes, can Kejriwal be far behind?" asks one observer, who witnessed all the other Modi-induced rallies. Kejriwal indeed wasn't far behind. A day after Modi came and conquered Kashi, "Kejriwal was met with many supporters, but this didn't seem quite different to his protest rallies and his dharna," he adds. Only a few months ago, Kejriwal graduated from full time agitator to bit-part politician to unsettled administrator. His party has come of age a little too quickly, but it seems it hasn't quite shaken off its cantankerous side.

Only days earlier, Modi addressed a massive rally in the Gandhi’s bastion Amethi, which came as an alarm to the first family. It didn't come as much of a surprise when Gandhi returned Modi's favor, showing up with his own motorcade in Varanasi in a relatively meek show of strength. Much to the former’s dismay, not only was his Kashi rally dwarfed by Modi's, he had to deal with a rival procession a few miles away from his own – Akhilesh Yadav's. Yadav's rally had no real purpose behind it, except perhaps, to avoid a loss of face in the state he has sloppily ruled.

As has become quite fashionable this election, all three men went all guns blazing on Modi. What they didn't realize however is that, in an attempt to emulate Modi and throw dirt on him, they have actually played into his hands. Not only is Modi expected to win a majority of the Hindu vote (Hindus comprise 85% of Varanasi's population); the close contest between the other parties will ensure that the minority vote is split between the three. Modi couldn’t ask for more.

In all honesty, the Varanasi roadshow rut was unnecessary yet exuberant. For once, it did illuminate the 'City of Lights'; probably like never before, or after.

'2 States' bears testimony to India's cultural divisions

Not many books or movies successfully capture the oneness of India despite all of its diversity. Few go further and capture how divided it is despite its oneness.

Based on and named after Chetan Bhagat's book, 2 States (inspired by the real life romance between the author and his wife) does exactly that.

An appropriately vivid tale about how two contrasting India cultures are made to reconcile in the face of love, 2 States is utterly Indian in every sense of the word, evokes both pride and dismay, and will leave you yearning for more.

If you haven't read the book (I haven't), you should definitely watch the movie for the whole package - emotion, laughter, humour, and a good story to back it up. All of these you can find in Bhagat's other works (which later spawned movies of their own), and he knows how fully well how to bubble-wrap all these elements in his lucid manner.

Back to the movie. Not only did it leave me satisfied, it also gave me many things to think and talk about but perhaps the one thing that got me thinking was this:

For Delhiites and Punjabi Delhiites in particular, 2 States reinforces the idea of the typical Punjabi and the stereotype that revolves around the community. As the reel ticked on, I saw glimpses of myself, my folks, and my community as a whole. Reality bites hard for the Punjabi viewer when we are seen as an unabashedly disparate, undesirably boisterous lot (which we kinda are). Though the references are mostly correct, the film purveys the idea that Punjabi-ness is in a way, some kind of a cultural abomination to and in India.

Post-show, the more I ponder over what I saw, the more it makes me realize that maybe the Punjabi Delhiite wasn't actually inaccurately represented. Since I work in the Middle East, where several thousand Indians ship out to make a better living, the very mention of 'Delhiite' is enough to cause an unexpected flinch of the eye. A latent awkwardness that pervades the air for a second. Add to that the term 'Punjabi', and it may well be enough to give a 'Tamilian' worry lines all over his forehead.

Much to my surprise, this isn't what happens in '2 States'; at least between the lovers. A Punjabi Krish (hardly the typical Punjabi munda) and an uncharacteristically Tamilian Ananya , the two central characters played by Arjun Kapoor and Alia Bhatt respectively, find common ground in everything else - tandoori chicken, Economics and the simplest relationship between two persons - friendship. The stark difference in their backgrounds only begins to appear once they decide to get married and bring their parents into the picture.

And you guessed right: the parents simply do not get along with one another as prevailing cultural stigmas get fortified, with neither side refusing to budge.

Throw in a Punjabi wedding for good measure, and one truly begins to understand the deep chasm north Indian culture vis-a-vis the south. We are loud; they are reticent. We are overly possessive; they are indifferent. When under the influence, we are fun and yet a menace to deal with; they're perennially wonkish. All this and more brings out the incongruity of India's varied cultures.

I don't know whether this movie will draw the ire of Punjabis (or even Tamilians); whether it will encourage them to improve how they interact with other communities (better yet), or simply choose not to react to it.

I do know that while there is a minority of revisionists within the Punjabi community, most of us take pride in what we do, eat and drink. It is the way how the Punjabi simply is, and I believe a lot of it should remain as it is. Though I am among the most passive, I can speak for Punjabis, because I am one. We all need to speak up and sometimes against our folks.

Beyond a shadow of a doubt, 2 States bears testimony to India's cuItural divisions. In the India we want our children to live in, it should be absolutely acceptable for a Tamilian to marry a Punjabi, an Assamese to wed a Gujarati, or for any two Indians to whom community comes second to love.

All in all this movie is a treat to watch. Perseverance conquers all.