Bring on The Empty Horses

Farzana ji . . . no doubt you go slowly come back quickly when you take on Indian politics. But the fact remains that at least we have a choice, even though the moon is a ballon.

The real dhandaa continues in the background, and as far as I am concerned, I am grateful that regardless of the system in India, it is my system, and not one imposed on me by Colonel Bogey.

The author writes:

[......because in times of the rising GDP, the masses do not count. The great middle class space has been enlarged to include the solitaire society.....]

How so? During the elections, it is precisely the masses who count. How big is the middle class and how much bigger are the poor? And exactly how small are the rich and the super-rich? In terms of sheer numbers, it is the poor who determine the elections in India. If your thesis is true, we will not be holding elections in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand or Orissa.

If the poor don`t matter, we won`t have Leftists like the Congress, the Communists and the Socialists in various garbs running for and winning elections.

You may be frustrated that we have majority rule in India. Sorry, but that IS the definition of democracy: the majority rules. In India, that means the poor, not the middle class, not the rich. (It might also mean the dumb and not the intelligent, which probably frustrates you even more!) In fact, it is easier to get the poor to vote rather than the middle class because political parties offer the poor transportation to and from the polling booths and a whole lot of other incentives; as a perceptive person once put it to me, their Diwali rolls around once in five years.

If despite the uneven development and widespread poverty in India, the poor do not vote for the Leftists, maybe it is not because the filmstars work for one party or another. The poor do see through all the advertisements, all the feel-good factors, the `gharibi hatao` slogans and realize that the only thing that matters to the politicians is ``India is ....``. While politicians are probably better in the acting department, the filmstars at least bring glamor to the electoral platform: they are not constrained to wear white khadi clothes or the Nehru cap all the time!

The indian system of democracy,flawed though it may be is still the best system we have.It can be fine tuned and tweaked as the population desires but representation is a right of every citizen.You see the reason we`re known as the world`s largest democracy is self evident.Be ye clown or rocket scientist,rich or poor,educated or uneducated a citizen of India has a say in who will form the next government either at the center or the state.And the mightiest of politicians have to respect the verdict and step down from office if defeated.Yes there are guns and goondas, but only up to a point.That`s what makes us a free nation answerable to none,but ourselves.Considering the diversity of nations that make up the commonwealth of India we should be proud of the fact that we`re not only achieving a sense of unity in diversity but that we`re also thriving economically, culturally and scientifically.eg. bollywood, IT,manufacturing, pharmaceuticals ,education and educated manpower.

I like your riffing.regarding who stands who wins-at least there is a platform for people to stand and contest.as it is said,democracy is not perfect but it is the best of the existing options.every year the roots get a little deeper a little stronger.I am sorry to have seen 2 generations wasted in india when i compare india to s korea ,but some of the alternative paths we may have chosen would have left us worse than the erstwhile yugoslavia.

``Bring on the Empty Horses`` what does the expression mean. Someone please educate me.

When you are

1. standing in 40 degree C heat in the middle of rural/small town India, getting there at considerable expense to your creditors,

2. and the local party organisation is missing or apathic because you didnot do much for them in five years

3. or local party organisation is defunct because they shifted to the other party

4. and there is noone in sight that you can ask to vote you back into power, because in five years you didnot do much for them either

5. your job, your position in the party and privileges as a politician are in danger of sinking in bottomless pit of the ballot box..

At such a time, having a famous film star by your side is priceless.

#5 by Urstruly

Exactly my question too. What is an ``empty`` horse .... or a ``full`` horse???

it seems that veeresh in his response, as cryptic as it appeared knew exactly what farzana was referring to. to demystify the title. .`bring on the empty horses` is written by david niven (one of my favorite actors), and ferz and veeresh correct me if i`m wrong is part of a series of autobiographical accounts, and has insights about celebrities and life in hollywood.

and this might help put things in context some more:

``A story came to mind that seemed to illustrate vividly the essence of our position: Hollywood director Mike Curtiz, best-known for his film ``Charge of the Light Brigade``, spent an entire morning setting up a shot that would consume less than 30 seconds of screen time. The scene involved a herd of 100 riderless wild horses galloping across a plain toward the camera.

It took him half a day to prepare the shot because these were wild horses-riderless-each having its own notion of what to do. Some wanted to stroll over to the river for a drink, some wanted to trot around and see who else was in the herd, and sane wanted to run free and fast, albeit in several completely different directions. When Curtiz completed the camera set-up and got the horses settled down as best he could, he paused for a moment and then -instead of issuing the standard ``action`` command-shouted ``Bring on the Empty Horses!``

The ground shook for miles with the thundering hooves of those powerful animals, all moving together towards a shared destination. Well, we don`t have such a director; we don`t have anyone who can force us to run at the saw- speed at the same tin-e and in the same direction toward the same destination. . .``

remarks made by nancy elkington. .in connection with library preservation attempts. source:http://palimpsest.stanford.edu/byorg/abbey/an/an15/an15-3/an15-309.html

i meant the context of the title. .not of farzana`s article itself. . lest that be misunderstood.

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Dear Farzana:
I think that your prognosis is a little premature. We still do not know what effect these glamour toys will have on the results. As of now, it seems that the ruling combination was doing better before it enlisted these stars and starlets than it is now. People might go to see these celebs. but may not necessarily vote for them.
Re. Govinda, I can`t say much about him based on his half-a-film that I have seen. But based on his quotes in your articles, he comes across not as a buffoon but a pretty smart guy. And do you really not like Bachan or are just being an iconoclast?
And I wont be surprised if the BJP discovers, as Narsimha Rao did a decade ago, that those who benefited from their policies are less keen to exercise their franchise than those who have not.
BTW I think that Sonia Gandhi handled the campaign better than most people thought that she would. She may not win but I dont think that she will be humiliated.

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Could someone please explain this article to me in about 5 lines or less ? Not
being flippant here - I truly do not get it.

plats8:

i think what it means is that the masses are asses! no. . .that is not what it means. it means that what need have the candidates to buy/convince the voters to vote for them when bollywood shining stars will do the convincing for them.
not quite five lines but i don`t think i`ve done it justice : )

Farzana ji

Interesting article....You have dissected the personalities of Govinda and Amitabh very well. Esp Govinda. Although I won`t like to argue what these elections are or are not. Overall, I feel we Indians are lucky to have democracy in our country. Don`t you think so?

Achcha...please answer one question for me. It`s a request.

If you could move to another country(we don`t want to lose you but..nevermind)....If you had a chance/choice to spend the rest of your life elsewhere...where would you like to live, Farzana???? And why??
Europe, Iran, Spain, Pakistan, Iraq, China, USA, India, Australia....where?? Pls tell....I am waiting for your reply

Me