The Baba and the Bagula Bhagat:

Chetan Bhagat, the underaged optimist, wrote in today’s Times of India, that he was disappointed with the Baba’s tame surrender besides the mark of questionability of his yogic powers. He could have lasted longer; but he turned out to be an unequal soldier in the cause of the nation. Ramdev’s language, deportment, following and the cause he espoused suggested that he was a worthy opponent. Instead, he displayed uncommon weakness and gave in quickly, as the government hoped he would.

The Bhagat stood at a safe remove, observed the event, and made his comment.

On the weakness of the common man found everywhere in India.

After all, what is Ramdev, or Anna Hazare before the Majesty and Might of the Government of India? Unless the GOI permits,one may not even protest, much less fast or feast. Once the Home Ministry decides, enough is enough, and a Raj Bala becomes an unfortunate victim, regrettably, but ...there is no alternative, you see! That is what every right-thinking common man must be prepared for. He must know that his is not to question why, his is but to do and die. Given such knowledge, what protests, five point someone, observes the Bhagat.

The well-chosen members of the GOI and the spokespersons of the Ruling Party used the English Media, which was only too willing, to unleash vilification and cool-mockery at the common man, told him firmly that he had neither the power nor the sophistication to run a parallel government and confounded him with innumerable technical issues where he had taken up a single issue which he thought had a bearing on his routine life.

Cleverness and cunning two facets of the same coin.Like Amitabh’s coin in Sholay , the GOI had the advantage either way.A plain-speaking Anna and a bumbling Baba were no match to the Sibals and Pestles of the GOI.

What surprises is Bagula Bhagat’s disappointment at the petering off of Ramdev and the common man. Common men are not meant to be clever or cunning. Or to have great stamina. Before they have raised an issue, the prices of petrol and commodities rise enough to force them to look at issues of day-to-day living. That is why governments are put together in place, so that they can do most of the thinking leaving common men to mind their daily lives.

Admittedly, the Baba ,presiding over a few hundred crores is not as common as the common man. But he is very common compared to the scamsters in the UPA government who have set the country back thousands of crores of resource. Dayanidhi Maran still awaits a possible interrogation in July. Ramdev and his followers had just a few minutes at midnight before tear-gas guns volleyed and thundered.

Bhagat’s observation disheartened me, among other common men for the deceptive ease with which he joined ranks with the government spokesmen

Bhagat should have been disappointed strongly at the government’s exhibition of cunning.