TWIST AND SHOUT COLLEGE  ( TASC)

Well, shake it up, baby, now, (shake it up, baby)

Twist and shout. (twist and shout)

Cmon cmon, cmon, cmon, baby, now, (come on baby)

Come on and work it on out. (work it on out)

BEATLES -LYRICS

They twist and they shout! Wondering? If we twist the hands of anyone, he writhes in pain and shouts. In politics it is different. They twist words of others and they shout! And they derive pleasure and not pain. This is practiced by the ruling party spokespersons very frequently. They have a “TASC” (Twist And Shout College). There is no faculty. Each one takes his own training and shouts! A few silent gestures, waving fingers or thumping desks might be done by inaudible and invisible TASC masters. They do not talk as they can not. If they have to talk somebody has to write. He must be Indian, not American! Do not mistake it to TASK. Tasks are for other parties.

After the unbeatable Naredra Modi was received by the people of “hither-to-considered-bastion-of-Congress” Andhra Pradesh, to a rousing reception, TASC students are out like mosquitoes on the muddy waters of Musi river that goes through the heart of Hyderabad competing with the rulers, in foul smell! First it was APCC Chief Botsa Satyanarayana. Most Telugu people do not understand his Telugu. He twisted “Modi's” address and said Modi insulted Armed Forces protecting borders. Did he say that? What he said was UPA Government was bartering the lives of soldiers. He took the “word” 'soldiers' and twisted it and shouted. Fact is most Telugu people do not understand Hindi. They read Telugu papers. It was all in papers what Modi said. He also said “Gujarat” was developed by Congress even before Modi was born. Modi was born in 1950. Supposing it was developed before that it should have been done by the British. Are natural born citizens less liked than the foreigners that ruined us for centuries? He knows better. He is from Congress, a party founded by a foreigner.

Then the CM of AP came out of hiding after a number of days to condemn Modi while half of his state is closed, his ministers fled to Delhi and he is not attending office. Even he cant understand his own Telugu! He says “what right Modi, a CM of a state, has to talk about our borders?” and he elaborated about the borders, bordering on stupidity! He is also a CM, he forgot, perhaps, as he is not attending office. The fact lost upon him was every citizen has a right to say “we should secure our borders”. Then he went on to object that Modi compared Gujarat to AP, no model here. A passing reference was made by Modi that “I want to see Andhra and Telangana both grow as Gujarat”. Is it not true that AP can not give power to farmers for even five hours a day while Gujarat provides 24 hours? Or compare other infrastructure in Gujarat to that in AP.

And then the ever shouting Renuka Jee comes out with the stupidest statement ever. “He read out a speech written by the Americans”. She twisted the tongue to please herself but had to bite it for, her leader never speaks but only reads. She tried to cover up “It is okay if an Indian writes”. She did not clarify if it were okay if an Italian born reads the speech written by Indians. She did not get the twist in the tale as there were no silent gestures, no thumping desks or waving fingers by her invisible evergreen Indian leader!

Then the forever-in-the news -for-no-purpose, Mr. Digvijay Singh comes. He always carries a spade to dig something and ultimately finds himself in the pit. Comes out and eats his words. He tweeted mockingly, on the lines of “ We now have a fake Obama too!” It is the practice since days of yore that famous and successful people are quoted. If he quoted our Prime Minister or his leader we don't know what the reaction of youth would have been in Hyderbad. To quote them too, there is a problem. They never talk. What should he quote, silence? When we can not make a delicious curry at home we borrow! It is the worst fate that India inherited in the past nine years. Mostly Mr. Singh lost it!

Then the “If a puppy falls under the wheels of a car I was not driving”. It was said in a good spirit to say “ I also pity the loss of lives in unfortunate incidents”. Then one Congressman went on record “why puppy, why not a rabbit”. Both are pretty pet animals. Is puppy “secular” and rabbit “communal”? Did people, belonging to all communities not lose their lives in one of the worst riots? Then why the twist? Because they lost all and they have to shout to show what they can do best. They have nothing else to do.

Then comes the “ I am a Hindu, I am Nationalist” comment by Modi. He further added 'I am a Hindu Nationalist “ Gandhi said it. “I am proud to be a Hindu.” He declared himself as a nationalist on the lines of Swamy Vivekananda, the first monk to spread the concept of “Hindu Nationalism” to the world. Do we disown them? That Modi had highest regard for Swamty Vivekananda is apparent when on display in Hyderabad was his huge cut out. To add to the twist one ex BJP man blogs “He should have said 'Nationalist Hindu' and not“Hindu Nationalist”. Does it make a difference to this old gentleman if he is called “Sudhhendra Kulkarni” or “Kulkarni Sudheendra”, as in West? Loss of face in public life sometimes leads to loss of mind. All secular people twisted the word and shouted from roof tops. The correspondent who interviewed him tweeted that his/her remarks were wrongly contextualized. By evening it was removed under “RTR”, Right To Removal”.

Another case of “Twist and Shout” was the “behind the veil (Burkha)” remark. They twisted it to suit their electoral needs. Pseudo intellectuals came running to studios to twist, shout and condemn him. “He is insensitive to the feelings of a community.” was the refrain. When movie after movie tries to denigrate  a particular caste in Hinduism on hair and on dress and Censor Board clears the films, these pseudos hide behind their own veils.

Poverty criterion is twisted and Planning Commision Mandarins shout “you are rich if you earn Rs.33/ in Mumbai or Delhi”. Their leader shouts “67% lack food and are poor”, another twist. To add to the twist one erstwhile actor - turned politician shouts “Barah Rupayein mein aap log Mumbai mein pet bhar khaana kha sakte” He adds “ Roti, so much of rice (he stretches hands), dal, vegetables (with onions too!)” Then comes one from Delhi “You can get a full meal for Rs.5/ in Delhi.” And the great ex-CM of J&K, the most secular ex-CM of the most secular state in India says “Re.1/- is sufficient for a meal. This is all to please India that we are not poor, but we are poor and we are poorly very poor or we are rich but poor. I can not twist more as I am not an alumni of TASC. But one thing is for sure! We are all very rich until elections and then Madam sees real poverty in India!

This is a part of the story. We can write a book on this. Our main stream media contributes to the melee. Some unscrpulous elements on Social Media take this forward. More on this in the next blog. I still feel I will release a small book on the subject before next elections, if I am helped in collecting all twists and shouts for nine years and the enigmatic silence of the “dual leadership” amidst all the chaos. If charity comes, I can get it translated in all languages. Bless me!

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Note: This blog too was inspired by a learned friend on Twitter who,while seeing the endless debates on Visual Media that land either them or us nowhere, advised me to write on the subject. I request all to contribute to the task (not TASC) for furthering the exposure of duplicity of Congress.