Existential Dilemma

Hilarious. Reminded me of my school days when I would take sides with the communist
regimes in the debates that used to held often. (Grown out of it since.)
The article has captured well the pathetic situation of the red jerks.

regards,
SN

You made my day after reading your article. Poking fun is a powerful tool and it hurts not anyone, but only the guilty.

No point rediculing the commies any more. They are a sort of freaks who self destruct by themselves.

BTW do you have any ideas about RSS wallahs and mighty Shiv Sainiks. I love to read them! How about BJP supernationalists. I can`t erase the image that is deeply etched into my psyche about these fellows.- The pot belly, pan juice, picking nose,

---

. crying foul about historic victimhood imposed by Muslims,................. etc.

I have a job for these people. Its in Nepal. prospects seem really good there. The king seems to be ineffectual and the political parties are bickering among themselves.

Also, i noticed this sentence:

``The four comrades who have assembled in this never-padlocked room are in a deep dilemma.``

with the condition of the room and the ``valuables`` in it, what kind of chor in his right frame of mind would venture inside.

Re: # 2
Kamath, the problem is that their power is still not something to be laughed at. The jerks
follow one policy in WB but want to follow another in Delhi. I used to think that at least these
guys (for whatever their faults) will have the courage to be consistent.
Am chastened now.

regards,
SN

Sunil, it is my understanding that in parts of rural North Bihar, the hold of communists – the militant variety rather than the talkative variety depicted here – is extremely strong. I don’t think that problem is going to go away any time soon.

Hope the Bombay floods did not cause you too many problems.

Wishing you well.
Beej.

dear wiseguyin, thanks for your posting. nice to know that you liked the piece and the idea was to reidicule them in the same language they use to confuse others and themselves.
dear kamath, i of course want to do a similar piece on the chaddiwallas too. well, give me some more time and i think i can come up with something equally hilarious. the reds and the saffronites are the two side of a coin. the congress is not even a party worth consideration. so that leaves with nothing in the indian political context. isn`t it a refreshing feeling?
dear netizen, the commies and/or maoists are making a mess in nepal too, and i don`t think they can do much there too. they have made a mess from west bengal to cuba and still they do not learn. which world are they living in?
dear beej, i do not agree. the problem in bihar and other ares (i mean, naxalite menace there) is nothing different from a militant operation. they are just goons, looters. religion is the opium of the muslim fundamentalists. ditto marxism and maoism for these groups operating in andhra and bihar. watch the fun!

Re: # 5
De(e)r Beej,
The bombay floods did not cause me any trouble. I missed them by about 500 miles. Of course
it was a close call, but Gods will and all ... y`aknow.

With due respects, may I know how you arrived at the conclusion that my name is Sunil ?

regards,
SN

Re#6

Sunil,

As far as Bihar is concerned, how is this for starters. The MCC and the like –

(1) They make their own sets of laws. And enforce them.

(2) Their decrees are either complied with or the “violators” get “sentenced”.

(3) They execute individuals after holding public trials.

(4) The police try their best to stay OUT of these people’s way. Sometimes, if these groups can find out where a police party is headed they organize a mob to accost then lynch them publicly.

I believe that the problem is a lot worse and has deeper roots than something which could be just dismissed by calling them goons and looters.

Sincerely,
Beej.

Re#7

That`s funny - especially the salutation. :)

Beej.

Dear Mr. Poolani, Communism in all its flavours have served India well and has been beneficial to its social upliftment at least in the states of Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal. Though the benefits the Red Hordes have brought may not have been much to everyone`s desires. On the other hand, Communism has also had had a drastic affect upon the entire North East, where overtly and covertly Red leaning outfits such as NSCN have put the entire populace hostage. In fact, most of the outfits are engaged in a protracted war with the Indian Union and views themselves as (Indian) Vietcong.

In Nepal meanwhile, where I was fortunate enough to spend time at Maoist Camps interviewing young rebels, the one thing I found distinctly baffling was the impossibility of the dreams these people live in. At least your characters – Mr. Max Nair, Stalin Joseph, Lenin Abdullah, Mao Mennon have begun to question the futility of the Lost Revolution, the Maoists in Nepal still believe in achieving the Communist Nirvana, which strangely again, seems to be achievable mostly due to the stupidity of the Monarch who wants to cling on to the throne overlooking almost all the woes of the populace – Now should the question be asked again – Is communism in all its flavours a lost ideology – an ideology so unusable that even the Recycle bin would not take it? Certainly not, the rag tag army of Maoist in Nepal today not only outnumbers and outguns the Royal Nepalese Army 3 to 1; they control almost 65 per cent of the kingdom. And the People’s Liberation Army or the Communist Party of China aren’t helping them (in fact the Chinese Government offered to help the Monarchy fight the Maoists). To command such influence among the populace through sheer ideology can only prove one thing and that is – Communism or Maoism still holds some truth in it. Similarly, the communist outfits in some parts of Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram have such control that they run a parallel government and the populace in these bordering villages has never seen the tricolour. Surely, for a nation like ours not being able to celebrate its independence inside its own physical boundary for 58 years leaves many questions to be answered…

Thank you for you excellent piece. Satire I surely hope so.

Barun, I have always wondered – why does the red philosophy hold such sway in West Bengal in particular, where it is so institutionalized? What is the connection to the “Bengali” culture?

Not being a great fan of the commies myself, I think the article was an awesome piece of parody. I have heard people say that for India, the communist model is the best...with its promises of equality and `people`e rule`...Nonsense...We need an Indian solution to an Indian problem not Mao`s, Lenin`s, Marx`s. We have our share of philosophers and thinkers too and we must use them...or else we are bound to have such confusing statements (as spoken by the four comrades in this article) made by confusing people to the confused masses.
I reckon that those who are derisively called `the chaddiwallahs` - soon to be pantwallahs are a tad better. I can atleast understand what they are talking about.

Re: # 10
barunroy

``To command such influence among the populace through sheer ideology can only prove one thing and that is – Communism or Maoism still holds some truth in it.``

Poverty, inequality is a breeding ground for communism. Nepal is a very poor country, exploitation is rampant when an opportunistic like Prachanda comes along promising utopia, people believe him.

Did you tell these comrades about the changes in the land of Mao. How china itself is moving towards capatilism and of what relevance is maoism in that country?

Re: # 11
``...I have always wondered – why does the red philosophy hold such sway in West Bengal in particular, where it is so institutionalized? What is the connection to the “Bengali” culture?..``
Bengali culture has nothing to do with it. It is hundred percent stupidity nothing else.

what kamath says, i believe, is absolutely true. the hold of the red philosophy in WB has nothing to do with bengali culture. in fact, i would go so far as to say that bengali culture is the complete opposite of it...and what sort of communisn do they follow...buddhadeb is now going all out to get foreign investment in bengal...further, as netizen rightfully asks - what is the relevance of maoism now in the country of its very birth. i guess the red stuff is only a mask...a mask hiding sheer hypocrisy...in india, it is time to push them out of WB and Kerala. We can only hope that antony/chandy succeeds in the south and buddha subverts his party`s cause in the east.

#14 by kamath
[Bengali culture has nothing to do with it. It is hundred percent stupidity nothing else.]

#15 by Schukler
[what kamath says, i believe, is absolutely true.]
[i guess the red stuff is only a mask...a mask hiding sheer hypocrisy...in india,]

Kamath, don’t you think this is a rather “simplistic” answer? Whether you call it “stupidity” or Schkler calls it “hypocrisy”, I don’t believe there is no rational explanation (maybe Ms. Hindvi has something to contribute (she has on everything else, after all), unless she is still smarting from the drubbing on the other board), I don’t believe it is nostalgia – after all this is at least the third or fourth generation of the followers of that ideology in West Bengal.

Also, after a faith or philosophy or ideology builds up an identity of its own, it does not need continued sustenance from its place of origin – as was seen in case of Buddhism, whose roots are in India but most followers outside it – heck, it probably also applies to Islam and Christianity.