Ode to our Government (Read any political party)

In Radio, TV etc, you always have this "dedicate a song" progrma...somehow I always found it funny...but nevertheless, today I want to dedicate a song to our beloved Government of India, and people running it. Here it goes...

One of Gandhi-ji's favourite songs is called "Vaishnav jan." It's always associated with him because he loved the lyrics and tried to follow those ideals. He also wanted to instill those ideas in all he met. He was honoured with the title "Father of India," and I'm sure he would have wanted his children to follow them. No, this post is not about him, as honestly, I am not his "die-hard" fan, but yes, I love some of the things he said/did/believed in...only some though.

The current crop of Indian Leaders (Gandhiji's children, if you may call them) think that they are honoring this great personality by bringing in his glasses and slippers back to India. So today, I want to dedicate a song which was Gandhiji's favorite to these political leaders, with a hope that they change their mind and start following this song in order to pay tribute to our "Father of the Nation"... and if not anything else, this will help us Indians in many ways...

Vaishnav jan to tene kahiye je, peed paraayi jaane re /Par dukhe upkaar kare toye, man abhimaan na aane re//

The true devotee [of God] is one who understands the pain of those who are not their own,
Always ready to help those who are unhappy, and does not let arrogance enter his mind.

If the government was really interested in honouring Gandhi-ji's memory, they should be able to understand the problems that the people are facing. I would say that the biggest problem that we are facing in India now is the ever rising prices of basic food products - rice, lentils, pulses... I mean, give us a break - thats common man's food after all. I would say these things take just a little bit of priority over making a huge noise about Gandhi-ji's things that he gave away during his lifetime and nobody cared about for at least 60 years.

Sakal lok maan sahune vande, ninda na karen keni re / Vaach kaach man nischal raakhe, dhan dhan janani teni re //

She bows to the whole world, does not criticise anybody, Words, deeds, and mind are kept pure, blessed is the mother who has such a child.

Well, this first bit the Indian government does really well. Bows to practically the whole world. "Oho, you want to come and blow up people here? No problem, please go ahead... consequences to you? None, don't worry... we will strongly condemn the acts but words have never hurt anyone. Do you mind if we blame the previous government for your actions? That way you can seem to be victims too!"
Their words are definitely unpure... deeds and minds alike. Mother India is not very blessed with most of the current leaders that we have. Mother India is silent, but how long will we, the people living here, be?

Sam-drishti ne trishna tyaagi, parastree jene maat re /
Jivaa thake, asatya na bole, par dhan nava jhaale haath re //

All are looked upon as equals, desire is abandoned, and he treats women as if they were his mother,
His tongue tires if he attempts to lie, he does not want other people's wealth.

I really wish the government would have this attitude. Right now, men and women are not looked upon equally, different castes are not looked upon equally, hell, ministers and public are not looked upon equally. Violence against women is a huge problem and their opportunities are still restricted in much of the country. Lies are the bread and butter of politics and stealing the taxpayers' money... that's an Olympic sport in itself. If only any of them bothers to read this blog... or if anyone of you know anyone of them...please let them know this song is dedicated to them.

Moh maaya vyape nahin jene, drudh vairaagya jena manmaa re /Ram naam shu taali laagi, sakal theerth tena tan ma re //

Desire and illusion don't hold him, he has detached himself from the world, The name of God is on his lips, all places of pilgrimage are in his body.

Government is very much attached to power, but not so much to the people who give them their power. Detachment is definitely there in them...from their people. They do use God to stay in power as much as possible... for some reason if God / religion is mentioned people forget rational thinking and hand over their brains. So instead of religion being something that unites, politicians use it to divide and the "we will protect you from them" seems to work better in the short term than "we'll get schools and electricity and water," of course the latter are much more difficult than the former, especially when there's nobody to protect against... other than goons who work for the politicians.

Vana lobhi ne kapat rachit chhe, kaam krodh nivaarya re / Bhane narsaiyyon tenu darshan kartaa, kul ekoter tarya re //

He has no deceit, no greed, has given up lust and anger,
If Narsi [the poet] is in the presence of such a person, his whole family will get salvation.

Government's definitely failed on all this... the bad side is shown to the people of the country, they're really nice to foriegners as far as I can tell.So, I'm asking those ministers who want to keep the memory of Mahatma Gandhi alive, take a page from his favourite poem and be that person... building statues, getting bits of memorabilia back won't keep his memory alive... as Gandhi-ji liked to say, "Be the change you want to see in the world," or at the very least, stop interfering with people who want to see change happen.