2012: START OF MAYA CALENDAR OR MODI?

More than 5000 years ago, the Mayans of Central America designed what is known as the Long Calendar to last 5125.36 years. It began on Aug 13, 3114 BC and will end on December 21, 2012. While some say the world will end then, according to many prophesies, something important will happen at that time. One Age will end and a new one will begin.

The Mayan calendar sprang up in my mind today morning on reading a news report that in the 2012 Assembly elections of Uttar Pradesh, the Congress party will be devastated, Bihar will be repeated. For a party that did better than anyone expected in UP and nationally in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, the vertical drop is as stunning as it was unexpected only a few months back.

Suddenly, skeletons are tumbling out of the proverbial cupboard almost every day, shocking a nation already gaping in disbelief into a surreal numbness. The sheer scale of the plunder and the disdain with which the Congress party is continuing to dismiss the avalanche of charges in a manner that would be unthinkable in any other country, seem to suggest that India is headed towards some sort of a climactic event, without which there appears, as of now, little hope of any serious corrective measures being put in place, and no possibility of criminals who rule this nation being put out of business and into prison.

Sonia Gandhi, the autocratic President of the Congress party who has made the office her own for life, and who, along with her son, rules the nation by proxy, has turned India almost on its head and disembodied its soul. It is not by accident that India’s plunder has reached unprecedented and unacceptable levels under their careful watch. It is undoubtedly Sonia Gandhi's encouragement and protection that has enabled ministers and officials to do what they would never otherwise have dared, what their conscience would have, perhaps, never allowed them to do. To my mind the manner in which former Andhra Chief Minister YSR Reddy was allowed to loot many billions, and given direct privileged access to 10 Janpath as a reward, sent out the loud message that India was ripe to be plundered again.

You cannot loot a nation and expect that no one will get to know. Nor can you sink below the Nadir and think you will get away with it. Unfortunately, so far the Congress has managed to save itself primarily because there is a serious leadership failure in the opposition, particularly in its principal opponent, the BJP. The failure of its leaders to get the Congress off its high horse is nothing short of monumental. Not one among them has managed to connect with the people, not one has inspired the confidence that a real, honest alternative would have with ease.

This stalemate cannot continue for long. Out of this vacuum and abyss something new has to emerge, if India wants to keep its tryst with destiny.

In 2012, the Mayan calendar ends. But, as my Twitter friend Centerofright brought to my notice, after the obliteration of the Congress, it is the 'Maya' calendar that will prevail in UP: as per the survey, Mayawati will storm back to power. Strange coincidence, seven oceans apart.

If the Congress party does meet its effective demise in UP – the lizard tail will try and fake for some more time -- then there is no way that the Central government will survive 2012. Rats, sensing defeat, will desert Sonia Gandhi. Some whistle blowers hiding in fear might even muster enough courage to pick up the nails needed to shut the coffin for good. The dynasty may well have to take a hurried flight out of India. Who knows what else might happen?

At the very least, Indians will get a shot at choosing a new national government. If the Mayan calendar is right, it will mark the beginning of a new age. Will India’s own Maya, the dalit leader who has shown remarkable tenacity and political skill, usher in the big change? Or will it be Narendra Modi, the solitary political leader who has displayed the vision, grit, single-mindedness and integrity needed to put India into a higher all-round orbit? Or will our voters again fail to see through the ploy of plunderers and vote them back to power? Let us see what answers we have on December 21, 2012.
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