Fire Proof Modi

THE PM-chants began at the victory speech on December 20 and have only got shriller depending on the audience. The most dramatic must have been at the Jaipur venue of an all Congress social affair – the wedding of Governor Kamla’s grand daughter. But the 48-hours of February 6-7 have made Narendra Modi burn-proof against the fires that had till only sometime ago threatened to engulf his career. Well, almost.

I am talking about the triad of events during this period - the clamour at Allahabad, soft-launch at SRCC, and the European Union (EU) disclosure of ending Modi’s isolation. And the fires am talking about are those of the judicial procedures related to riots and encounters going on in various courts.

Till before this period Modi’s national role was a matter of political speculation, journalistic supposition, and general conjecture. With the SRCC speech, the diplomatic acceptability, and the Sangh blessings it has become an existing reality, overnight. Purely because of the broth around his name, touching Modi can easily get branded as a conspiracy now.

The way national media treated the three events, it can be safely concluded that “Jolt-to-Modi” headlines could become a restrained, if not totally shunned habit very soon. Like the EU, the Delhi media has only started to learn to live with Modi. It might take a while but it would happen. Politically, the 48-hours have cemented a scenario most parties were already anticipating.

And that brings me to the conclusion. From here on, no one can stop Modi from becoming the Prime Ministerial candidate of the BJP (am not saying NDA yet). And, while it can be dangerous in politics to stick your neck out, let me wager: Modi’s Agni Pariksha might not be over yet, but he can take it easy. The fires are not going to singe him any more.

Beyonce, Christina, and The Star Spangled Banner

WHAT’S with the US national anthem? Singer Beyonce Knowles has been hauled up for lip-syncing a pre-recorded version at the second inauguration ceremony of President Barack Obama, rather than singing it extempore. In 2006, another diva Christina Aguilera tried heroically only to jumble up the lyrics during the Superbowl inaugural, creating similar controversy in the American media.

Well, I researched. And here are the facts. What can one expect from a song written by a lawyer? The notoriously difficult song – both in its wordings and music – was lawyer Francis Scott Key’s tribute to a solitary American flag flying despite a night’s bombardment of Fort McHenry by the British during the Battle for Baltimore in 1812.

Essentially a war song, only one of the four stanzas is sung – much like our national anthem Vande Mataram – and yet such is the difficulty that much to its chagrin, the US government found in 2005 (thru a poll) that as many as 61 per cent Americans could not recall even that stanza correctly. Road shows were launched in response to this to educate Americans about their anthem.

The folklore on the difficulty of the American anthem has found its way into literature and satire as well. It has been humored that the British lost the battle of fort McHenry not because of the American weaponry but because they got scared of the song composed by the young lawyer! And interestingly, though the British were the enemies in that battle, the music for the anthem is borrowed from a London club song! Also, a short story by American writer Isaac Asimov on World War-II by the name ‘No Refuge Could Save’ has a German spy nabbed for he sings the third stanza of the anthem to prove his Americans, something no real American can do!