Remembering a Prime Minister and a brutal death

“…I had no love for politics. I treasured the privacy of my family life.”

It was late night on 21st May 1991. General elections were around the corner. Election campaigning was in full swing. We knew that Rajiv Gandhi was going to be at rally in the South of India. In those days there was no 24-hour television and no live coverage of all the political events. We’d hear about campaigning only on Doordarshan news at the appointed hours, and in the newspapers the next day. Dad and mom were watching some program on television. Engineering exams were not far away so I was studying. And then the news was broken. The Prime Minister had been killed in a bomb blast.

Demonetisation on the mind

Soon after Prime Minister Modi announced the demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes on the night of 8th November, the social media busy-bodies and creative types were back in action! Over the past weeks, I’ve saved some of the interesting images shared by miscellaneous people in miscellaneous Whatsapp groups, before they get lost to time. Done a bit of my own too!

Politics and children

“If Modi does well, then I’ll vote for him when I get to vote.”

“After 10 years? You can vote only after 10 years. And by that time you think Modi will still be there?”

“Why 10 years?”

“Elections are held every 5 years, so while I’ll get to vote in 2019, you won’t be 18 then… so you’ll have to wait till another 5 years.”

This was Gautam, aged 11, and Siddharth aged 13, discussing the upcoming elections. The conversation seemed interesting so I stepped in.