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     Vjavasi Side Hero Username: Vjavasi Post Number: 2163 Registered: 11-2009 Posted From: 59.162.171.60 Rating: N/A |
http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Hard-copy/entry/ree l-to-real-amitabh-and | ||
| Vjavasi Side Hero Username: Vjavasi Post Number: 2162 Registered: 11-2009 Posted From: 59.162.171.60 Rating: N/A |
Reel to real, Amitabh and Modi anchor IndiaRamesh Khazanchi, 02 April 2010, 02:07 PM IST Icons are often worshipped, idolised and eventually deified. Hero worship -- in a broader sense -- defies absolute logic, but is an offshoot of deductive logic. And Amitabh Bachchan -- as a celluloid replica of the real self -- is the perfect example, worth emulating not only pan-India but globally too. Though not designated as such yet, Amitabh is the "brand ambassador" not only for Gujarat, let alone India, but the world at large. For, the Indian silver screen grandmaster's image transcends national boundaries. From Madam Tussads' museum to the Beverly Hills, across the continents from Egypt to Afghanistan, from Europe to West Asia. You name it and he is there... in people's head and heart, having carved a niche image. From Zanjir's angry, young and upright police officer who brings to retributive justice the hardcore criminals... to Deewar's self-sacrificial lad discharging his duty as a young patriarch of the family. Hence, the rare blend of the grand-brand genre with another icon Narendra Modi. Modi is the real-life version of Amitabh's reel-life persona. An upright, no-nonsense patriot (of the Patriot missile kind) who brooks no anti-national activity and tirelessly works for the peace and prosperity of the state he publicly heads. Why the ruckus then? Narendra, who shares his first name with Swami Vivekananda, is accused of orchestrating a "pogrom" against a section of society which willy-nilly harboured anti-national and terrorist elements -- in their midst -- to the detriment of the nation. The allegation of "pogrom" against him is a misconceived notion which -- by repetition ad nauseam -- has assumed the dimension of a Goebbelien "truth". The crux of the matter is that Narendra Modi as head of the Gujarat government prevented the so-called pogrom by nipping in the bud the further escalation of the vicious circle of violence unleashed following the Godhra train carnage. Those who unwittingly attach the opprobrium of a pogrom to Modi's persona better ought to first know the meaning and nomenclature of the very term pogrom. The usage of terms such as genocide, pogrom or holocaust vis-a-vis the Gujarat riots is in the first place a misnomer and in the contextual sense an aberration of certain designer and propagandist political malcontents to dislodge Modi as an embodiment of prosperity, governance and law enforcement and national fervour. And this core cuts across both political and communal barriers. These obnoxious terms like pogrom and genocide only fit the description of the scale of engineered violence and annihilation that Nazi Germany witnessed before World War II. In fact, Modi prevented any such thing from happening. That is why Modi is an icon of the revered type. Those who accuse Modi of engineering a "pogrom" would serve their memory and conscience better if they had a peep into their "napaak daaman" (the robe that stinks of blood and gore) for their pre-meditated acts of violence during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. Using the same yardstick of a distorted terminology, those (individuals, political parties or communities) who accuse Modi of a pogrom are then culpable of a "holocaust" of sorts post-1984 and "genocide" and ethnic cleansing of a particular race in Kashmir post-1990. The meeting of minds between two men of charisma, character, catalysis is like the confluence of Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati. The indomitable influence of this sui generis combination will stand the nation -- and more so Gujarat -- in good stead as the engine for rapid economic growth will rev up. The national frontiers will be safer than ever before as economic prosperity will be antecedent upon public peace, order and security. This augurs well for the nation and the doubting Thomases will prove themselves cataclysmic. |
