Ides of March ?

In ancient Roman calendar , 15 March is called , " Ides of March "

A few days earlier in 44 BC , a seer had warned Julius Caesar to " Beware of the Ides of March "

On that day , on his way to Senate , Caesar joked to the Seer ,

" Ides of March have come "

Seer replied ,

" Aye , Caesar , but not gone "

Once inside the Senate , Caesar was assassinated !

Caesar paid the price for ignoring the warning  !

Thankfully , 2000 years later , there are no physical assassinations

But , what about political " harakiri "  ?  Self - inflicted wounds  ?

Entirely possible , when ego combines with anger - a deadly cocktail !

Why else should Arvind Kejriwal threaten ALL media by saying ,

" Media are corrupt . They are bribed by political parties and businessmen to air PAID NEWS

If we come to power , we will investigate and send ALL of them to jail "

Of Course , we understand the anger , the enthusiasm , the frustration with the present political system and can forgive AAP leaders for the following :

>  a few hundred people were inconvenienced when Arvind travelled by

    rickshaw / local train in Mumbai

>  some AAP workers misbehaved in their enthusiasm to show their

    support to Arvind's crusade

>  AAP organizers did not  apply for the necessary police permissions

    sufficiently in advance

We can also concede that media will place before the public , not the real / total / unblemished picture - but its " tainted " version , dependent upon that media's political leanings

Eg :

How many TV anchors thought it fit to place Nitish Kumar ( CM - Bihar ) in the witness box , when he brought the entire state to a grinding halt , a few days back  ?

Or when those election rallies of Narendra Modi / Rahul Gandhi disrupt millions of lives ?

Sure , Arvind is given to hyperbole and we could have brushed aside if he were to say ,

" In my perception ,- and I have no proof - , some TV channels are being financed by some people / parties , to tell white lies and to malign AAP

If we come to power , we would investigate such nexus , if any , and try to make media , truly independent of such undesirable influences "

But he allowed his ego to overtake his genuine / well-placed anger  !

ARVIND

It is still not too late to be warned - to militate with decency  !

The Ides of March is here  !

*   hemen  parekh (  15  March  2014  /  Mumbai  )