The Modi Fever

We see it everywhere, hear it everywhere. Scores of people are going crazy, chanting "Abki baar Modi sarkar (This time [we want] the Modi government)!" and posting the same on their Facebook pages and Timelines. Indeed, even our beloved Chetan Bhagat wasn't spared from this disgraceful scourge, as evidenced by the selfie he took with Narendra Modi. It seems that the entire country is ready to enter a phase of self-destruction, by voting for a cold, inconsiderate (he has no consideration for the LGBT community), calculating charlatan, who seems to have the majority of the country under his control.
  Pro-Modi people (commonly referred to as Modibots by Congress and AAP-supporters), say that Modi will bring a fresh wave of development to this country. They attempt to bolster their case by citing the example of Gujarat. Gujarat, they argue, is the most developed state of India, and this development occurred under the rule of the Modi government. As a testament to this, they say, every village in Gujarat is electrified, an amenity that most villages in India lack. They do not stop to look at the facts either. For instance the 1996 census shows that all villages in Gujarat were electrified much before Modi entered the scene. Furthermore, the aforementioned villages also have their fundamental deficiencies, such as lack of clean drinking water. BJP, Modi's party, is chock full of incorrigibly corrupt people, many of whom were involved in high-profile scams throughout the country.
  In all of this, we seem to have sidelined poor Kejriwal. He left his position as Chief Minister of New Delhi, not out of cowardice, but taking cognizance of the fact that his party had failed in its duties to the nation, and he couldn't even think of putting on a charade of ongoing development for the sake of his own comfort. His party has more qualified people, some of whom have had political experience abroad, and an AAP government formed would bring these people to the forefront.
  As a Soka Gakkai member, I'm not allowed to take part in political promotions of any kind. But I beseech my fellow countrymen not to vote for a madman with antiquated views, and without the country's best interests at heart.
P.S.: Stop it with the "Abki baar Modi sarkar" shit. It's annoying as hell. The 'Janta maaf nahi karegi' memes are hilarious, though.

End Cruelty Towards Animals

Now before some of you vegan hardliners get any ideas, I want to make one small disclaimer: This post is not about 'cruelty' towards those animals that are commonly used as food. But the ranting that I'm about to do was triggered by an outrageous incident in Noida. A pregnant female stray dog lived close to a traditional sweets shop, a halwaai ki dukaan. The bitch gave birth to a litter of pups not far from the vicinity of the shop. One day, searching for food for her pups, the lactating dog strayed a bit too close to the shop for comfort. Rather than shooing her away like a normal, civilised man would do, the shopkeeper did an abhorrent act of cruelty - he spilled hot oil over the poor dog's mouth. Writhing in pain for hours, the dog succumbed to the severe burns, and when a team of humane people brought her to the nearest vet's, she was declared dead on the spot. It is only small comfort that the pups are in good care. They'll never know their mother's love.
  Dogs are usually used as symbols of weakness or inferiority in many age-old phrases and colloquialisms. When a woman says that all men are dogs, she is clearly abusing the opposite sex. Saale ko kutte ki maut maaroonga literally means, "That bastard will die a dog's death at my hands." There was a time when dog was considered man's best friend. Man hunted animals only for food and attacked them in self-defense, only when in mortal peril of any sort. But now it seems that the sands of time have erased that inherent nature in us, and made us selfish and inconsiderate beings. Now many of us hurt and even hunt animals, not for self-defense or food, but either to satisfy the sadist within us, or for our own luxurious living. Like seriously, what the hell is wrong with today's world? Can't we learn to respect each life as it is? Can't we learn to treat the fellow beings we share this earth with, excluding those below us in the food chain with the kindness and reverence they deserve? Seriously. Just because you want to look fashionable doesn't mean that you have to buy an outrageously expensive fur coat for yourself, not only wasting your money, but also promoting the killing of innocent animals in the process! As a Buddhist and a dog lover, I was filled with outrage when I read about the Noida incident in The Times of India. Stop becoming slaves to your inner demons, people! Wake up, before the earth becomes living hell! Let us strive to make this planet a better place to live in, for all living organisms.