Arup Chakraborty
Lake Princess
Lake Princess is as elegant as a heroine of Shakespeare and has won the hearts of the people of Bhopal, the capital of Madhya Pradesh. This 72-foot-long cruise boat with a modern kitchen and air-conditioned rooms used to float with all her stateliness on the Upper Lake, the heart of the City of Lakes, as Bhopal is also called. During the recent rain that has lashed the city for a week, the Lake Princess has been under water for four days and turned into a scrap. The air-conditioners have been out of order, a foul smell is emanating from her kitchen and most of her rooms look creepy. The management of the Boat Club which functions under the MP Tourism Department looks after the Lake Princess. They have, somehow, brought her out of the water, for which they had to work for four days. She immediately needs powder and paint to get back her majestic look. Else, the Lake Princess, introduced in 2011, will wane. A technical team from Hyderabad was called to the city for her maquillage, but the team could not start work because of lack of equipment. People are waiting for Lake Princess’s return to her abode. She may take a few months for that. After all, she’s Bhopal’s princess.
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BJP’s journey to South
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is sparing no effort to put its footprint in Telangana. The party has already wooed a few Congress leaders who never think twice before leaving their parent party. As part of its plan, Union Home Minister Amit Shah met Tollywood star Junior NTR of RRR fame. The party is trying to court the cultural icons of the states like Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. Shah has recently met Ilayaraja, the Mozart of Indian cinema and nominated him to the Rajya Sabha. The icons of South India’s tinsel town have a deep impact on politics of that part of the country. People have already seen that. Besides Ilayaraja, Vijayendra Prasad, writer of Bahubali and RRR, found a place in the Upper House. The BJP could not entice actors, like Kamal Hasan and Prakash Raj who are highly critical of the Central Government led by Narendra Modi. Prime Minister and party president JP Nadda are also likely to meet the film personalities of Telangana. Such meetings have of course had a different connotation. Yet all is not well with the BJP in the southern film industry. There are many like Hasan and Prakash Raj who are averse to the rightwing politics.
Come September
September is at our doorstep. So is autumn. There will be clamminess in the weather for a few more days, because the rain clouds are still roaming about in the welkin, though they look slightly tired. They seem to be ready to bid adieu soon. Therefore, the coming month, other than heralding the beginning of the festival season, is set to bring in a message – a message of change. The Congress is going to launch Bharat Jodo Yatra from September 9. Should it turn into a movement, it may disturb the ruling dispensation. To deal a severe blow to the Congress’s Yatra, the ruling party, though there is no evidence to confirm that, is ready with certain surprises for the grand old party, that the Yatra may fizzle out. People have already seen one in the form of resignation of Ghulam Nabi Azad who snapped his nearly 50-year-old relationship with the party. There may be many more to quit the party in the coming days. The story of September has just begun. The most important part of the story is that Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who has recently snapped his ties with the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) led by the BJP, may begin his journey to the national capital from Jharkhand. Kumar’s mission, though not yet made public, has sent the ruling party into a tizzy and, as a result of that, the country is set to witness some thrilling political dramas. This reminds one Edger Guest’s poem September:
As September crowns with beauty
All works of Mother Earth,
So the gentle God above,
In His mercy and His love,
In the frailest of his creatures will
Find something that’s of worth…
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Tailpiece
A late-riser wakes up early. His wife is shocked to see that.
She says, “Dear, is everything alright? What makes you get up so early?”
The man replies, “I’m making a time machine to get back the years that I’ve wasted with you!”
