Good Wishes to the AAP

An Open Letter of an AAM AADMI – Good Wishes to the AAP

January 30, 2017

Dear Voters of Punjab,

For the last more than two months, I have been writing every Monday An Open Letter of an AAM AADMI expressing my thinking, making comments and observations and also assessments on the forthcoming Punjab elections with particular reference to the Aam Aadmi Party of which I am a humble volunteer. This will be my last letter before the elections to be held on February 4. I will

conclude this series of letters on Monday, 5^th February with some more inputs and calmly wait for the results of this dance of democracy on March, 11 in the run up to formation of the new government in terms of the popular verdict given by the people of Punjab.

Both the AAP and the players have done their best. I take this opportunity to wish the AAP and its candidates all the best and success in realizing their aspirations and goals.

As I have been reiterating that dalit vote in Punjab is crucial. It has the potential of making or marring the next dispensation though it is a divided lot in itself. All parties are not oblivious of this ground reality and focused their campaign in the Doaba region. PM Narendra Modi addressed a public meeting on January 27 at Jalandhar. BJP leader Vijay Sampla, while speaking at the rally, with a view to woo the dalit vote bank, specially mentioned about the Akali-BJP government’s flagship projects – Guru Ravidass Memorial at Khuralgarh and Swami Ram Tirath Memorial at Amritsar. Congress Vice President Rahul went a step further. He not only addressed a rally at Phillour on January 28 but also visited Sachkhand Balan Dera at the outskirts of Jalandhar - the Dera is said have a considerable influence among the dalit voters in the region. Rahul Gandhi declared to name a University after the dalit icon Dr. Ambedkar. AAP while releasing its final manifesto at Chandigarh on January 27 highlighted their offer of the post of Deputy CM to dalits. BSP supremo Mayawati addressed an impressive rally at Phagwara on January 30. It is assessed that a mere 5% vote-swing, in at least 20 constituencies in the Doaba region where dalits are concentrated, will decide the outcome of the elections in the run-up to forming the government. It seems to me, as an Aam Aadmi, right or wrong, that AAP, unlike the traditional parties be it the Congress, Akali Dal, BJP and even BSP, is not fully alive to this hard reality of the Punjab electoral battle.

With a view to rectify the AAP view and placate the dalit educated class, as an Aam Aadmi, I suggested the following three points in this regard to the party leadership for their consideration. I don’t know the party reaction so far except that my communication was duly acknowledged by the high offices of the party. These points are:

1) Support my proposal to declare April 14 (birthday of Dr. Ambedkar) as International Day of Equality - I made this proposal to EAM and PM in May, 2015 and followed up with others. As a result, UN at New York celebrated Dr. Ambedkar's 125th anniversary on April 13, 2016. The enclosed letter of Punjab Speaker, Charanjit Singh Atwal to PM will inform you of the current position of the proposal. My suggestion to Arvind Kejriwal and Sanjay Singh is, as already suggested to the Punjab Dialogue, to make an announcement and assertion that if AAP comes to power in Punjab, the Punjab cabinet and the assembly will pass a resolution and forward it to the Government of India and PM for making a demarche to UN in support of the proposal to declare April 14 as the International Day of equality. It will catch up with the imagination of the dalit youth and benefit the party a great deal. For any further information and clarification, I am available at anytime.

2) Support to Training School for Entrance to Politics - Dr. Ambedkar started this School in July, 1956 at Bombay just a few months before his untimely demise in December, 1956. The School could not continue. There is a proposal to revive the School. The enclosed brief note on the subject will give more information. Given the AAP's own agenda to clean politics and inculcate moral values to politics, support to the revival of the School started by Dr. Ambedkar will go a long way in attracting the imagination of the followers of the greatest son of India. Dr. Shiv Shankar Das and Dr. Kshipra Uke, two JNU scholars have taken up the project. They visited Jalandhar last week and discussed the matter with Ambedkarite intelligentsia. Dr. Kshipra Uke may be contacted on Phone: 09868099669 for further details if required.  I am also available for any further talk on the subject.

3) Special arrangements and facilities for dalit youth to get trained for officer level entry in to Armed forces and central para-military and police forces. You are aware that there is hardly any recruitment of dalits into these forces because there is no reservation. In the absence of reservation, it will be good if dalit youth get special training and motivation to join these outfits. AAP may like to take the credit of bring in this out of the box idea. It will be much appreciated.

As I believed in the in the lofty ideal that politicians need not lie, I thought of sharing this with the voters of Punjab before they go for casting their vote on February 4. With this, I would like to conclude my letter with one suggestion and advice to my dalit brethren. It is a fact and I have been repeating and reiterating it quite often that dalits in spite of their demographic position are nowhere near their due space and share in the corridors of power as they are a divided lot and as such does not have any voice. They are divided on the basis of party affiliations and compete among themselves. This fact has marginalized their strength and even existence. What is the way out? The way out, to my mind, is that they that is the community should unite and stand with one party. Which could be that party? In the given circumstances, the time and political compulsions has thrown a viable option in the form of AAP. The traditional parties have failed in addressing the dalit issues. Let us give a chance to the new player that is AAP which professes to be a party standing for systemic change, transparency, social and economic vision for the empowerment of the weaker sections of the society. If dalits unite and stand by AAP and bring in seats to the kitty of AAP in a substantial measure, they every right and chance to ask for their due share in the power structures of Punjab. Why they should contend with the offer of Deputy CM’s position alone? They can and rightly so even aspire for the coveted post of the CM. After all numbers count in democracy.

With this, I wish AAP and its candidates all the best on February 4 and March 11. I stand for change a positive change.

With regards,

Yours truly,

(Ramesh Chander)

Ambassador – IFS (Retired)

Tele: 09988510940

Enclosures:

Speaker Charanjit Singh Atwal’s letter and A brief Write up on the Training School for Entrance: 

Election Bytes of a Novice

An Open Letter of an AAM AADMI – Election Bytes of a Novice

January 23, 2017

Dear Voters of Punjab,

You are aware that I have been writing about the Punjab elections for the last about two months as an open letter of an aam aadmi. Now the final count of candidates from all political outfits and hues are available. The swords have been drawn for the fight to the

finish. In this letter, I will tend to give some of my random observations on the elections as a novice.

·       I myself was one of the aspirants of the AAP ticket from one of the constituencies in Jalandhar. The party did not endorse my candidature and allotted it to one of my colleagues. I felt bad on one count or the other and conveyed my hurt to the leadership in a disciplined manner without making a hue and cry in public. They, in turn, assuaged my feelings and I decided to leave the matter to rest. Now to put the matter in perspective, I feel that perhaps in politics there is no place for sweet nothings. My written communications to AAP Central Observer Sanjay Singh and AAP Punjab State Convener Gurpreet Ghuggi in this regard did not invoke any answer. Perhaps, leaders respond and engage with only those who have some nuisance value. Good that I don’t boast of any. I am reminded of PM Indira Gandhi’s advice to K. Natwar Singh when he joined politics after resigning from the IFS in early 1980’s. I quote K. Natwar Singh; I left the Indian Foreign Service in 1984. I had four-and-a-half years left in the service. Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and I were walking down the staircase in South Block. I said: “Madam, in a day or two I will be leaving for Bharatpur. My first priority would be to acquire a khadi outfit -- kurta, Jawahar jacket etc”. Her response was immortal, “Now that you are joining politics, a thicker skin would be more useful.” I could not become thick skinned.

·       After watching the ticket distribution exercise of the other parties like the Akali Dal, the Congress Party and the BJP, my ruffled feelings of not getting the AAP nomination received balmy touch. The stalwarts and leaders of standing got crushed by the turncoats and new entrants. The faithful and loyalist were made to make space to the new comers and people with tact and nuisance value. It was gratifying to note to satisfy my own self. The less said the better.

·       The election manifestos are yet another joke. All parties appoint high powered committees to make their manifestos. A lot of hullabaloo is made in announcing and issuing these documents. But it remains only sweet nothings. Only political analysts and academic investigators might have some interest in manifestos, public at large is not concerned. Moreover, political parties tend to forget the manifestos as fast as possible. I would like to believe the two stalwarts of popular politics- Chaudhary Devi Lal said where was the need of a new manifesto? Just change the cover of the last one. On the other hand Babu Kanshi Ram made an off the cuff googly and said that Guru Granth Sahib was his manifesto. US President Abraham Lincoln once said “You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.” It seems the Indian political class has mastered the art of befooling all the people all the time.

·       Political corruption is here to stay. No matter what the political parties and practitioners of politics say. The would-be candidates to get the nominations of their parties spend huge amounts to get the tickets in the run up to elections. AAP party, a new entrant, propped up candidates and made them compete with each other and also make them spend on party propaganda before the allotment of tickets. Congress and BJP delayed their ticket allotment exercise. The ticket aspirants were made to make several journeys to Delhi and stay put in costly hotels to plead for their candidature. Is it not political corruption? In spite of Election Commission’s stipulations, all parties and their candidates are spending huge amounts on their campaigns. Will not the new MLAs tend to make at least what they have spent and also corpus for the future? How will the corruption be stopped? Perhaps, state funding of elections, ban on door to door canvassing, and ban on road shows may offer some respite. The election machinery may organize a few public meetings where candidates may speak about their agenda and programme. More and planned access to print and electronic media and also social media may be resorted to.

·       There should be some stringent stipulations for independent candidates. Most of them are vested interests with personal agenda. Almost all parties have dissidents. They should not be permitted to act as spoilers. Some major players use them as tools to divide votes and gain in the process. They are more vulnerable to succumb to monetary allurements.

More in the coming weeks till the D-date February 4, 2017, the Election Day in Punjab.

With regard,

Yours Truly,

(Ramesh Chander)

Ambassador – IFS (Retired)

Telephone: 09988510940

Post –Script: “The allocation for the development and welfare schemes is multiplying every year with no significant difference of socio economic status of the dalits. Resource allocation, access to jobs, services, health and education facilities must reach the socially deprived sections, failing which , the dalits may emerge as an exclusive vote bank and disturb the political arithmetic of the state.”

Pramod Kumar. Director of Institute for Development and communications – Hindustan Times of January 20, 2017

Naming the Chief Minister of Punjab

An Open Letter of an AAM AADMI – Naming the Chief Minister of Punjab

January 16, 2017

Dear Voters of Punjab,

India is a parliamentary democracy. It means power lies with the people through their elected representatives in the parliament or the legislature. The principle of ‘one vote one value’ has been adopted. At the same time, India professes to be a secular country. This is

Dr. B.R.Ambedkar being sworn as Minister of Law

the constitutional arrangement made for the polity of India. The father of the Indian constitution, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, warned in the Constituent Assembly that the political democracy established by us would have no meaning if this political democracy was not transformed into economic and social democracy. It was also made clear by Dr. Ambedkar that democracy would not come about without establishing a casteless society.

With this background, let us take up the issue of naming the next Chief Minister of Punjab, the subject which is rife in the political circles in the run up to the elections scheduled next month. As per the parliamentary democratic process, the leader of the majority party in the legislature shall be appointed as the CM of the state. There is no ambiguity in this.  The difficulty starts when political parties and its leaders try to bypass the procedure and introduce new rules in the game. I think it shall be stopped forthwith not only in the states but also at the centre for the post of Prime Minister. This extraneous element tends to create unnecessary confusion in the minds of ordinary voters.

The ongoing discussion is leading to avoidable acrimony whether Arvind Kejriwal should be made the CM of Punjab? It is a mindless debate. Why don’t we leave it to the legislative group of the party to decide as to who should lead them when it comes to formation of government? The same is true for other parties. Why are the people being made to bear this unnecessary procedural burden before the parties reach the stage of formation of government? Why Parkash Singh Badal of Akali Dal and Captain Amrinder Singh of the Congress should bother about this? Of course, the government will be formed in terms of the constitutional stipulations and democratic norms to satisfy the political aspects of the exercise.

Now let us come to the economic, social and moral aspects of the exercise in the light of our secular credentials. I think, in spite of the warnings of our fore fathers, no one is paying any attention to these aspects. Punjab’s demographic position is simple with almost equal share of Hindus and Sikhs. Further, going by the caste divide, dalits of both Hindu and Sikh extraction, make more than 32% of the population. It is a matter of gratification that right from independence in 1947, there have been Hindu CMs (Gopi Chand Bhargav and Comrade Ram Kishan) and Sikh CMs, both Jatts and Non-Jatts. But now, when our secular fabric should be rather robust, there is an underlying current that CM should be a Jatt only. Why the political parties, the political players, the academics and intelligentsia at large are not discussing this paradigm? In a democratic system, to put it crudely, numbers count.  Dalits being 32% of the population are not in the reckoning when it comes to the coveted position of CM. Why is it so? Are we not interested in empowering the under privileged and making them equal partners in the polity and society? Why our political class is blissfully ignorant of this aspect of democracy? Political morality is equally important to make our polity strong and vibrant. Dalits should think of these aspects and assert themselves to claim and have their due share and space in the power structures.

The question who would become the CM is not important but who should be the CM is important. Let us sit and think as to how the biggest democracy is transformed into a functional and good democracy to realize the lofty ideals and aspirations of our struggle and ‘Tryst with destiny’.

With regards,

Yours truly,

(Ramesh Chander)

Ambassador – IFS (Retired)

Telephone: 09988510940

E-Mail: rc2345@yahoo.com

Postscript:

It was a pleasure for me and my wife Vidya to host two eminent Ambedkarite scholars, Dr. Kshipra Uke and Dr. Shiv Shankar Das

for a luncheon meeting at our small flat in Jalandhar on January 16. The purpose of the meeting was to make contact and interact with dalit intelligentsia in and around Jalandhar with a view to discuss their project of the revival of Training School for Entrance to Politics founded by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar in July, 1956. I shall write about this separately.

All Set for the Final Rituals of the Punjab Elections, 2017

An Open Letter of an AAM AADMI – All Set for the Final Rituals of the Punjab Elections, 2017

January 9, 2017

Dear Voters of Punjab,

The formal announcement of elections in Punjab has been made. The code of conduct has been set and imposed w.e.f. January 4 and the voting is scheduled on February 4, 2017. The counting of votes will take place on March 11. By the noon of March 11, it will be known who will make the government in Punjab. It is a well geared

election mechanism under the democratic arrangements as enshrined under the rules and the constitution. All political parties and players are fully engaged in the exercise to reach the doors of the Punjab Secretariat and the assembly in Chandigarh. Elections in India are a mind boggling exercise. In Punjab alone for 117 seats, there are 1.97 crore voters. The salient features are that 25% voters are as young as 18-29 years, all voters have ID cards, and there will be 22,600 polling booths and 130 poll observers of the election commission. Rightly so, India is called the biggest democracy of the world.

Let us see the preparedness aspect on the part of the political parties and their candidates and also the enthusiasm of the general masses for this festival of democracy. In terms of announcement of candidates and conducting in depth door-to-door campaigns, AAP seems to be ahead of all. The micro management of the party through their volunteers’ network is marvelous. The AAP candidates got a fairly long time to reach out to the people. But at the same time, it is feared that a sense of fatigue may over power them towards the end. As I wrote earlier also, I think, the AAP managers should give some free hand to handle their campaigns. It would help in boosting up their morale. The Akali Dal is also well set not only in announcing their candidates but also spearheading their campaign with all the resources at their command including the government machinery and finances. The Congress party, as usual, is lagging behind not only in finalizing their candidates but also kick starting their electoral reach. The BJP, the junior partner of the ruling combine with only 23 seats to contest, is also way behind in the campaign. They are yet to name their candidates. The smaller parties are a fledgling lot. They are finding it difficult to find suitable candidates and matching finances. It is a matter of satisfaction that the street noise and hurly-burly of the past is missing and rightly so. The parties and the candidates are keen to engage print and electronic media including social media to conduct their campaign. More and more use of electronics such as video vans, LCDs and Apps like Whatsapp, SMS, Voice messages etc. have taken over from the loud speakers and noisy demonstrations. More needs to be done in this regard to give respite to the general masses from over burden them with unnecessary botheration by the parties and their candidates as done in developed countries of Europe and elsewhere.

The key poll issues of concern and interest in Punjab are many. The anti-incumbency against the ruling combine of Akalis and BJP is a major factor which will determine the outcome of the elections. The Congress and the AAP are all set to exploit this. The AAP leadership is cleverly trying to establish that it is a friendly and family match between the Congress and the Akalis. It appears people tend to buy this argument. Drugs are another important issue besides the fate of farmers and panthic issues. The Akalis are, it appears, on the receiving end in this regard. The water issue (SYL canal) is the only political issue in the elections. Though all major players like the Congress, the Akalis and the AAP are making noises in this regard but, it appears, common people are not much concerned. The law and order and also the indebtedness of the state are yet more important issues which the opponents of the ruling alliance would tend to raise and exploit. The election manifestos have become an unnecessary ritual in the elections. Here also the AAP has taken the lead and has already issued its manifestos for various segments of the society and economic activity. The others are yet to complete this avoidable exercise. These manifestos serve no purpose. It is more air than substance. I think AAP has taken a good decision to go for constituency wise manifestos. It makes lot of sense to my mind. At least people can catch hold of their representative on local issues and make him or her answerable.

All the parties are facing many difficulties in keeping their flock together in the run up to elections. The allegations of corruption and selling of tickets, family oriented approach; criminality, muscle and money power etc. are some of the known reasons of this running around. The major problem with our democratic polity, to my mind, remained that polarization of political forces could not take place on the basis of programme, agenda and policy. People are shamelessly changing their allegiance and affiliation just to satisfy their personal agenda. It is a blot on the system. It will be advisable to teach these turncoats and fly-by-night operators a good lesson by defeating them and conveying in no uncertain terms that people despise them and their conduct. Following the advice of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, people with Gyan and Sheel should be sent to the august Assembly in Chandigarh. He said, “The education can hardly be the sole qualification for membership of the Parliament. If I may use the words of Buddha he said that the man requires two things. One is ‘Gyan’ and the other is ‘Sheel’. Gyan without Sheel is very dangerous. It must be accompanied by Sheel by which we mean character, moral courage, ability to be independent of any kind of temptations, truthful to ones ideals. I am very keen to that no member enters this august assembly who does not possess Sheel in adequate degree.” 

Before I conclude this, let me touch another point which is akin to my thinking – the empowerment of the weaker sections of the society including women. In addition to economically weaker sections of the society belonging to any social strata, dalits alone make more than 32% of the demographic divide. Why the empowerment of these sections of the society is not high on the agenda of political parties. We ushered into political democracy with the dictum, according to the father of Indian constitution, Dr. Ambedkar, of “One vote one value”. But could we establish this practice? The answer is a big NO. The money power, caste system and discrimination against the women folk have negated this lofty ideal. If there is no reservation, I think, perhaps there will be no dalit in the fray. How many dalits have been given tickets from general constituencies by any of the parties? The retired dalit IAS, IFS, IPS and other professionals like doctors engineers, academics are not good enough to become MLAs from general constituencies.  How many women candidates have been favoured with tickets? Some of my friends might counter this thinking and say that we should not encourage these divisive tendencies. Why the dalits and deprived should not think:

जितनी जिस की संख्या भारी;

उतनी उसकी हिस्सेदारी ?

By the time, I write my next letter on the coming Monday, the situation will be more clear and the political pitch will be raised further by the players on ground. It is gratifying to note that voters are getting wiser by each passing day. It is felt that people intend a good change. Will the infant player AAP be able to earn the popular support for that change? I think it can if the leadership understands the dynamics of dalit share in the pie. Many of you may not digest what I say. But in the last election in 2012, Akali-BJP combine could make it only because they could defeat the Congress in reserved seats and could garner support of dalits in general ones. The Congress candidates lost by slender margins of less than 1000 votes in at least ten constituencies. In a poetic parlance, it may be said:

जरा सी नम हो तो यह मिटटी बड़ी ज़रखेज है साकी !

With regards,

Yours truly,

Ramesh Chander)

Ambassador – IFS (Retired)

Tele: 09988510940

E-mail: rc2345@yahoo.com

Postscript:

The potence of Ambedkar

“….aanewaale dino mein dekhna, ki saara karobar, jaise hum pehele note ya sikko se karte the, voh din door nahin hoga jab yeh saara kaarobar, is BHIM app ke dwara chalne wala hai. Yani ek prakar se Babasaheb Ambedkar ka naam saari arthvyvastha ke andar yeh BHIM app ke dwara centrestage mein aanewala hai (See that in the coming days, the whole business which we used to do in coins and notes, the time is not far away that all the business would be done through this BHIM app. It means that in one way, the name of Babasaheb Ambedkar would come to the centre stage of this economy through this BHIM app).”

PM Narendra Modi

A Year of Reckoning for Punjab

An Open Letter of an AAM AADMI – A Year of Reckoning for Punjab

January 2, 2017

Dear Voters of Punjab,

Happy New Year.

We have entered the New Year 2017, a year of reckoning for Punjab. The political landscape of Punjab is undergoing a fast change. Thus far the traditional parties i.e. the Akali Dal, the Congress Party and the BJP have been enjoying power by turn. The Akali-BJP alliance, in the last elections of 2012, came to power for two terms successively. But the scenario has changed with the entry of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). The forthcoming elections scheduled to be held in a month or so, are going to be an interesting and serious bid to grab the levers of power in the state making the ear 2017 as a year of reckoning for Punjab. Apart from the Congress and the Akali-BJP alliance, AAP is the major player at the hustling. The new entrants like the APP of Sucha Singh Chhotepur, TMC of Jagmeet Brar, and Lok Insaf Party of Bains brothers would play as spoilers like the BSP. It seems difficult for the ruling Akali-BJP alliance to make it this time due to incumbency factor and misgovernance. The Congress bid under Amrinder Singh seems half hearted and the infighting would further complicate the situation. The AAP was enjoying an upper hand a few months before but the upswing has been halted due to bad management and lack of maturity. The allegations of corruption and role of money in distribution of tickets have tarnished the image of the party, of late. AAP may still be able to make it provided the leadership does some introspection without delay. I may mention a couple of pointers in this regard not as criticism but as positive suggestions. First, it appears that the central observers or monitors are heavily over-powering the campaign as a top heavy exercise. The candidates are at a loss to understand and direct their efforts according to their capacity and thinking. Most of them have exhausted themselves already much before the announcement of elections. The candidates must be given a free hand to run their campaigns. Second, the leadership and the candidates should stop standing on ceremonies and shed their personal egos in bringing along the estranged volunteers. I think a sincere and serious approach is needed in this respect which is unfortunately missing, it seems. Third, it must be understood clearly that in Punjab, SC vote bank has the master key to the doors of the Secretariat at Chandigarh. Any party who could wean away the SC votes is likely to make it. Congress lost the privilege of enjoying the SC support last time and lost the game. They have yet not done anything visible to rectify the situation. The Akali Dal-BJP alliance is aware of this ground reality, it seems. They, including PM Narendra Modi, are trying their best to own the legacy of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar with an added zeal. The recent

announcement of BHIM App is an immediate pointer in this direction. It appears that AAP has second thoughts in this regard. The AAP dalit candidates and leaders are mute and helpless. This monumental neglect of the SC constituency by the AAP, to my mind as I said earlier also many a times, would prove costly and unrewarding. It is advisable that the party should engage the dalit intelligentsia and seek their views and support on one hand and total involvement of the dalit candidates and volunteers in addressing the dalit issues. The sooner the better before it gets too late.

As I said the year 2017 will be a year of reckoning for Punjab. People want change. They visualized that change coming through the AAP – a party which professed to be a harbinger of Transformation and Systemic Change. Will the AAP meet the challenge and come up to the aspirations of people?  Will the AAP be able to demonstrate and prove that it really is a party with a difference? If the answers to these questions are in the affirmative, it will be good for Punjab and its people. If the answers are in the negative, it will be very unfortunate. Punjab will further slide into the mess of corruption, drugs and loot. 

Dalits who make more than 32% of the demographic share in Punjab require and yearn for due space both in the polity and society. They would need to stop, sit and think whether they can redeem their dreams by joining and affiliating with other parties or they need to go alone as a united entity like the Punjab Scheduled Caste Federation in tune with the original thinking of Babasaheb Ambedkar. With this, dalits may afford to have the balancing power to make or break any political dispensation rather than sitting at the margins without any say. I leave it at this as “food for thought.”

Let us see how the things shape up in the coming months of the New Year 2017. I conclude with my sincere good wishes to all Punjabis in bringing about a good change in Punjab in this year of reckoning.

With regards,

Yours truly,

(Ramesh Chander)

Ambassador – IFS (Retired)

Tele: 09988510940

E-mail: rc2345@yahoo.com

Postscript:-

Nothing Romantic in Being Poor – “Don’t philosophize until you are rich first. I used to be poor and I can tell you there is nothing romantic about it.  When young people, friends say they want to be great creative novelists, I advise them to be copywriter first, make a little money. Don’t be struggling artist; be a happy one.”

Shah Rukh Khan – Indian Films Icon