What Rocked and what Shocked this week

What Rocked

• Vande Mataram.....Vande Maataram....maataram

• That thousands turned up for the Republic day parade in Delhi,braving the rain. And best of all,sat patiently through the two hours+ ceremony.

•  Kiran Bedi's lesson on the Solar System during Barkha Dutt's interview.She explained that  Modi was the  star( Sun) ,the Council of Ministers the planets and she somewhere there, completing the constellation.

• Kiran Bedi again !! Her take on the Ghar Wapsi shenanigans was a simple and eloquent " Aana jaana toh laga hi rehta hai. Aana....jaana ....aana....jaana ( all this in tune with  appropriate hand gestures).

• The Rupee 8 lakh pin stripe suit worn by Modi at the dinner for Obama. ( Yes, the same one which had his name woven throughout the fabric )Bade bade deshon mein chote mote kharche toh hote rehte hain......

What Shocked 

• Amit Shah's wife holding up the umbrella for him at the Republic Day parade. 

• That when Major Mukund Varadarajan's  and Naik Neeraj Kumar Singh's wives went to receive the posthumously awarded Ashok Chakra no one stood up. Is laying down your life for the country worth only a bored look through sunglasses ?

•  The humumgous handbag dangling on the arm of  the equally err well endowed Omita Paul, secretary to the President at the dinner hosted for the Obamas. Someone gift her a clutch ,please. Quick, before the next  dinner for a visiting head of state.  
•  Michelle Obama's plastic smile. Is that all what third world countries get??

Ghar Wapsi - to Arnab Goswami

I know I am rather late to the whole Ghar Wapsi  party and most converted  people who had re converted may by now have re re converted  but I just felt I had to tell all the nay sayers of Ghar Wapsi out there that stop blaming the Lotus party.This to and fro prancing is in our DNA. In other words we are genetically programmed to being fickle and then faithful , fickle and faithful or make it  faithfully fickle. 

If you have ever snorted and tsk tsk-ed at people who do the prodigal returns act then take it from someone in the know( me) that  these things, things like Ghar Wapsi do  happen. Yes, if one is really strong and sure and has that stubborn left tilt to the head then the Wapsi thingy may not work for them but for people like me who have a tendency to melt and go weak kneed at a mere inflection in the tone ,well,it happens all the time.

To put the record straight  my Ghar Wapsi has nothing to do with religion but everything to do with our television anchors. So, in 2013 it was Arnab Goswami - in fact so deep was the spell cast that one even contemplated forming  a club to counter the baleful influence of ACDC (Arnab Goswami Detractors Club). This post written at that time http://anjuscorner.blogspot.com/2013/07/here-is-why-i-absolutely-adore-arnab.html?spref=bl  bears testimony to the fervour of feelings for Arnab. But then along trotted 2014,bringing with it the general elections and Rajdeep Sardesai's sardonic smile and pink tie on a pink shirt. Surely no one is going to blame me for converting to being a faithful follower of CNN IBN. So, Rajdeep it was till  he suddenly upped and left his loyalists heart broken. Old habits die hard and a post was written for Rajdeep too http://anjuscorner.blogspot.com/2014/06/why-rajdeep-sardesai-will-be-missed.html?spref=bl 

By the time Rajdeep surfaced again one had got used to surfing channels at 9 p.m. And it was  in the process of surfing I stumbled back to Times Now last evening ,right in the middle of the Arnab Goswami interview of Kiran Bedi ( The same one where Ms Bedi huffed, puffed and upped - and left). Yes, there he was- the master glinter- glinting away at Ms Bedi. It was like being handed your favorite dog eared book or your childhood quilt or your milk mug from which you drank milk through school and college . You get the picture? It was as if one had never been away. Arnab was the same - no change that. He was better, a focused look on his face,listening carefully, smiling cynically- and best of all, asking some meaningful questions.

My Ghar Wapsi has well and truly taken place - atleast for the time being.