Writefully Yours: October 2016

October 28, 2016

#DonaldTrump and the Indian Americans

The Indian American community is the most prosperous ethnic minority in the United States.The median income of an Indian-American (IA) household is almost twice than the national average. Known for their academic prowess and humility, the Indian-Americans, off late, have gained substantial political ground. President Obama, over the course of his presidency, has appointed many members of the IA community to significant and prestigious positions. Most notable of those has been the appointing of Preet Bharara as the United States Attorney for the Southern District of the State of New York, Manhattan who has spearheaded many crusades against the Wall Street. Even the Surgeon General of USA, or "America's Doctor", is of Indian origin, Vivek Murthy.

The stellar positioning of this community comes with the responsibility of staying united in their endorsements and the use of their political clout. The fact that they possess a considerable fortune and money is the most crucial component of an American political campaign , only makes this responsibility greater.

It's because of these reasons that an event endorsing Donald Trump for President and courting support for him by the Republican Hindu Coalition on October 15th in New Jersey, has set a dangerous precedent.

#DonaldTrump,#Republican,#Hindu,#Coalition,#Party,#Politics,#Modi,#BJP,#Godhra,#American,#Indian,#Immigrants,#Amreading, #Amwriting,#Blog,#Hillary,#Clinton, #Blogchatter, #Blogging, #RHC, #Trump, #Bollywood,#USA

The Hindu pandering extended to the use of inflammatory hashtags on social media.

The event masqueraded as a charity fixture but was a propaganda event of the Hindu Right Wing fringe. It was publicized on the social media with inflammatory keywords and hashtags like #KashmiriPundits, #HinduRefugees and #VictimsofTerror ! Staying true to every Right Wing propaganda, issues seemed to have been strategically mixed and convoluted to serve the sole purpose of rabble rousing. For instance, while the matter of displaced Kashmiri Pundits is old, legitimate and complex, the term "Hindu Refugees", placed right next to it, makes the two look related, which is far from true. But if said in the same vein, it has the potential of unearthing painful memories, from more than 25 years ago. The Hindu Refugees mentioned above are indeed the refugees from Bangladesh (in some cases, from Pakistan) which the Modi government has decided to grant citizenship. For the common public, especially the Diaspora, to realize such nuances is hard.

The dangerous cocktail of dreadful memories and little known facts, served along with, misplaced emotions, and bingo, you have an agitated crowd. That's Politics 101 which RHC probably learned at the Trump University!

What could be the common denominator between Donald Trump and an American Hindu fringe? Or between the displaced Kashmiri Pundits from 1989 and the Bangladeshi Hindu Refugees from today?

Islamophobia!

Yes, as accomplished as American Indians are, there is a fringe that harbors communal hatred against the Muslims. Some afflictions die hard! Distance and nostalgia may just aggravate that. The political activism among Indians in USA, since the "Hindu Hriday Samrat" (roughly: Emperor of the Hindu Hearts), Narendra Modi came to the national political forefront, has increased manifolds. The "academically inclined" and "humble" Indian Diaspora has since then, roughed up journalists and thrown members of the LGBT communities at his rallies, in USA. The community has conveniently also ignored that the aforementioned citizenship program for the Hindu Refugees is religion based, conveniently ignoring the Muslim refugees who are also escaping the same terrorism in those countries.

All Trump had to do to pander to this rich fringe, was just to be, well, Trump! He equated Indians to Hindus, insulting the rich and complicated communal fiber that connects the country. He proclaimed that, if elected, he would be a great friend of India, and famously, in his signature incoherence, that he is a big fan of "The Hindu" (not the newspaper, I assume)!

Via @SchrekReports on Twitter

For Trump, it was not hard to win over the communally charged crowd. As most of the expat Hindus, the crowd was pro-Modi. And if there's one thing that will appeal to them is their leader being not related to the infamous Godhra incident and the Gujarat riots. As ridiculous as it may sound, flyers accusing Hillary Clinton for framing Modi were distributed at the event.

Enough said!

Though the Indian Americans are not expected to deviate from their traditional stance of voting Democratic, because of Trump, such coalition of two extreme nationalistic ideologies is dangerous. The chaos of the Right Wing is contagious. They appeal to the primal fear of the masses and are reluctant to the New World Order.

Most dangerously, it eventually makes obscene, palatable!

Donald Trump is obscene and the Indian American community must not contribute in him becoming palatable.

P.S.

Since this event, Trump has allegedly, appeared in a #AbKiBaarModiSarkar kind of video, speaking Hindi, on the pretext of #Diwali wishes!

Now, I have seen it all!

October 26, 2016

#Blogchatter : #Blogbuddy 3.0 - One For All and All For One !

That constant yearning for writing something new; Being preoccupied till it's done; The frustrations of Writer's Block; The elation of just finishing a post; The immense satisfaction of knowing that people read it and found it a story or a point of view worth telling are just some of the stages that have been a constant for me for a long while now.

7 years, to be precise!

But make no mistake, everything else associated with blogging has changed!

This is the part where I am going to sound like an old man. Trust me, I am not! But I can’t help the reminiscing, when it comes to blogging.

Back in the day (Yo Yo Grandpa, in the house!) blogging was just about two simple things – expression and feedback. I remember writing my posts, from PoliticallyIncorrect, in my hostel room and then sending emails with the link to a group of about 20 people. All that mattered was for those 20 people to read that post and comment on it. Not that my entire readership was just those people, but the concept of “hits” had not, well, hit home yet! The “word of mouth” publicity was unbelievable, largely because it was a University and Hostel set up. The satisfaction of comments cannot be stressed more. In a world where there were barely any smart phones or free Wi-Fi in hostel rooms and Sify “cyber cafes” still charged an upward of ₹30 per hour, logging in multiple times a day to check on every comment and replying back, gave immense contentment.

Things changed rapidly, post 2010, when blogging was no longer, just a hobby. It got elevated to a life choice and even a profession.

Some made it big in the Bull Run, some dropped out, and most, including yours truly, hung around, somewhere in the middle.

The most important reason that I am an active @Blogchatter member is because it’s a great platform that combines the nostalgia of blogging with the need of changing times. Its focus on community building through the weekly chats and the #Blogbuddy program, is today’s version of sending out emails to people with the blog link.

With leaving India, I had left behind great opportunities of networking with fellow bloggers. I left when blogging had started to become big there. I can neither be a part of the lavish and extravagant bloggers’ meets nor can I win any sponsored contests that are commonplace in India now. (Thus depriving my mother of many a “Sharma ji ka beta car jeet laya blogging mein!” moments!)

That’s when #Blogchatter comes into play for me. It stands out among many blogging forums out there in being personal. It lets me be me, while reminding of what needs to be done to stay current and relevant. What I can be is a #Blogbuddy to a select group of dedicated writers with similar goals and shortcomings. I can share my experience and learn from them. The certainty of having a bankable group of people to fall back on is a great motivation to keep moving forward!

Therefore, I am a #Blogbuddy with #Blogchatter !

I had a great year with Blogbuddy 2.0. I am going to be friends with my previous group for life! I am so grateful to them that I am speechless, talking about it. Thank you, #WriteHouse for a fantastic year!