Raju Korti
In the rough and tumble of an insane mess called elections in India, there is something voyeuristically delightful for even a diehard cynic like me. I mean it sounds so lasciviously rib-tickling when headlines suggestively say "Rakhi Sawant declares her assets." But it is the larger picture beyond the innuendo and double entendre that seeks my serious attention.
The irrepressible drama queen contesting the election from Mumbai North West declared, as is required by the law, the details of the property she owns while filing her nomination papers. Forget that she is a self-proclaimed "illiterate". Also ignore she is contesting for a party called Rashtriya Aam Party -- a name that probably didn't occur to Arvind Kejriwal because the cap on his head didn't make him scratch his head enough. But she certainly earns my eyebrows for the Rs 15 crore assets she owns at 36. According to the declaration, she has cash of Rs.96,427 in hand, and Rs.39.13 lakh in fixed deposits. Apart from an investment of Rs.61.26 lakh in bonds and shares and Rs.2.12 crore in insurance and postal savings, she also owns a Ford Endeavour worth Rs.21 lakh and jewelry worth Rs.7.55 lakh.
It is not my case here how she will confront seasoned crooks on the political stage. Nor is it of any concern to me that given her penchant to create entertainment where none exists, she has the potential to ruffle feathers and raise a hornet's nest. Hapless voters desperately need some fun in times where newspapers columns and TV talk time become dreadfully boring.
To me there is something earnestly arresting about candidates declaring their assets. The feeling of deriving a vicarious, proxy pleasure of knowing people's (known and unknown) wealth charms me no end. This charm is peppered with intrigue when you seriously start wondering how most candidates may have acquired their ever-sprouting crores when their means and qualification are woefully ill-equipped. The irony is people who are generous have no money and those with money are not generous.
Sample this supreme irony. While Congress President Sonia Gandhi declared Rs 9 crore as her assets, it is a no brainer that an outlandish Rakhi Sawant is twice as loaded. You have to read between the lines to draw your own conclusions. Politics is a known conduit in rags-to-riches stories, yet it never fails to daze me when candidates reel out details of their riches -- real estate, cash, bank deposits, jewelry, fleet of vehicles, stocks, bonds and what have you. Fortune grows in the lap of luxury!
Fed on the racy pulp fiction of the likes of James Hadley Chase and Raymond Chandler -- occasionally sautéed with the literary finesse of Graham Greene -- in my impressionable days, I have often wondered and toyed with the idea of writing a Capital Chalisa , my own coinage, of course.
Preposterous as it may sound, I honestly believe that as a have-not, I am better qualified to understand and appreciate the worth of money. The fact that the Goddess of Wealth has been more than fickle with me than many others has made little difference to my philosophy. So righteous indignation takes over when people are sometimes referred to --rather uncharitably -- as "filthy rich" or "rolling in money". As a child, senior relatives often told me legendary stories of my great grand uncle who was so rich that he used to roll out cigarettes from notes and smoke them. I heard those stories with awe not because my ancestor was "stinking rich" but for the incredulousness of his riches.
Man does not possess wealth, wealth possesses a man. That will tell you why I am a man of modest means.
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| Pic for only representation |
The irrepressible drama queen contesting the election from Mumbai North West declared, as is required by the law, the details of the property she owns while filing her nomination papers. Forget that she is a self-proclaimed "illiterate". Also ignore she is contesting for a party called Rashtriya Aam Party -- a name that probably didn't occur to Arvind Kejriwal because the cap on his head didn't make him scratch his head enough. But she certainly earns my eyebrows for the Rs 15 crore assets she owns at 36. According to the declaration, she has cash of Rs.96,427 in hand, and Rs.39.13 lakh in fixed deposits. Apart from an investment of Rs.61.26 lakh in bonds and shares and Rs.2.12 crore in insurance and postal savings, she also owns a Ford Endeavour worth Rs.21 lakh and jewelry worth Rs.7.55 lakh.
It is not my case here how she will confront seasoned crooks on the political stage. Nor is it of any concern to me that given her penchant to create entertainment where none exists, she has the potential to ruffle feathers and raise a hornet's nest. Hapless voters desperately need some fun in times where newspapers columns and TV talk time become dreadfully boring.
To me there is something earnestly arresting about candidates declaring their assets. The feeling of deriving a vicarious, proxy pleasure of knowing people's (known and unknown) wealth charms me no end. This charm is peppered with intrigue when you seriously start wondering how most candidates may have acquired their ever-sprouting crores when their means and qualification are woefully ill-equipped. The irony is people who are generous have no money and those with money are not generous.
Sample this supreme irony. While Congress President Sonia Gandhi declared Rs 9 crore as her assets, it is a no brainer that an outlandish Rakhi Sawant is twice as loaded. You have to read between the lines to draw your own conclusions. Politics is a known conduit in rags-to-riches stories, yet it never fails to daze me when candidates reel out details of their riches -- real estate, cash, bank deposits, jewelry, fleet of vehicles, stocks, bonds and what have you. Fortune grows in the lap of luxury!
Fed on the racy pulp fiction of the likes of James Hadley Chase and Raymond Chandler -- occasionally sautéed with the literary finesse of Graham Greene -- in my impressionable days, I have often wondered and toyed with the idea of writing a Capital Chalisa , my own coinage, of course.
Preposterous as it may sound, I honestly believe that as a have-not, I am better qualified to understand and appreciate the worth of money. The fact that the Goddess of Wealth has been more than fickle with me than many others has made little difference to my philosophy. So righteous indignation takes over when people are sometimes referred to --rather uncharitably -- as "filthy rich" or "rolling in money". As a child, senior relatives often told me legendary stories of my great grand uncle who was so rich that he used to roll out cigarettes from notes and smoke them. I heard those stories with awe not because my ancestor was "stinking rich" but for the incredulousness of his riches.
Man does not possess wealth, wealth possesses a man. That will tell you why I am a man of modest means.
raju garu,
ReplyDeleteyou can really write spicy and titilate too with rakhi not with her wares. 30 percent of your write up dedicated to this queen of drama.
it is universally known that even the smallest in politics is shy coy social worker with tons of money overflowing from all sides and brazenly declared as white money.
that makes us black with survival money after taxation.
your great grand uncle would have been afflicted with cancer of a new kind had he smoked even 5 cigs per day for ten years.
what a roller coaster ride wealth in all its forms only is cause for fear rather than happiness.
warm musical regards,
ramesh narain kurpad - :) :) :)