Taj Ki Baat

Taj Taj Taj. Taj ko vote karo. Vote for Taj. Taj ke liye Vote kijiye.
Taj Taj Taj. Inke baap ka Raj. Bhendi!!!!

I've been stalked, pressurised, compelled, tortured, obligated to vote
for the national monument. Why??....So that it can find it's place in the list of
seven wonders. Competing with the monuments of the world. Television, Radio,
Newspaper ...every medium is used to coerce me to vote for the monument.
Every hour of the day, every day of the week and every week of the
month....I'm listening to a single woe...Taj could loose it's position.

The torment started swelling up till it turned into a matter of national
pride. A matter of self respect. A matter of 'making place in the world map'. A
matter of international recognition. Everybody around me talked about the one and only thing....Taj Mahal. Descriptions about Taj were given. As to who made it. Why it was
made. What it is made of. How old it is. Thanks to all of them for imparting this
knowledge. For had they not been there....how would've I known about the
monument situated in my own country.

Names were given to Taj like Monument of Love, Symbol of Beauty,
Heritage of Romance and copy writers untangled their grey matter for newer
names and adjectives to describe it. Advertisements were aired for public
service, to lead them to vote for Taj. Politicians and their parties, which usually
raised hoardings for exchanging Birthday Greetings, raised hoardings asking their
'janata' to vote for Taj. Masters in asking for votes they being, they took up the
task in their hands too. People painted their bodies. Engraved it on their cropped
heads. Tatooed their soft cheeks. Musicians composed silly songs....every other
thing that was possible, was used a tool to 'motivate' people to bring the
monument on the list of Seven Wonders.

Then they started threatening me...Last three days, last two days, last
day....but I did not yeild to them and am waiting prosecution.

And at last....Taj made it's way up the seven wonders list.
"Congratulations Taj!!!"

Now.....what???
What???...I mean what next???....
This Taj wave will fade out soon. People will forget Taj slowly. Nobody would
care which the seven wonders are. And again next year there will be a poll and
people will go on voting rampage fo the monument. The monument will stand there.

People will visit it. Take photographs
sitting on benches opposite it, foreign presidents, ministers everybody will visit
the Monument of Love. praise it and leave. And givernment will boast the
monument's existence in the nation. Baaki.....

Baaki....they will continue to sell the land surrounding Taj to
industries. Their tall hoses will continue to release gases in in air. These gases
will continue to corrode Taj. The marble used in Taj will keep turning yellower.
and one day it will crumble down. And then antique sellers will sell it's marble
pieces to collectors at hight prices, of course in which, the government too will
have a share of it. I decided I shall not vote for Taj. I did not. I know Taj is a wonder. And
it shall always remain one. I have a view that it does not need any certification
of any organisations to prove it a wonder. I know it is a monument of unending
love, erected by a man madly in love with his dead wife(which he simulteneously
could also afford building). I know it is a sign of national pride. I know everything
about it. Everything that Airtel wants to teach me about it. An I believe a voting
can never change these facts. But there are also some facts which I would also not forget. The
oxidising of the marble walls. Transformation from bright white to dull yellow.
Darkening of the assimilation points of marble tiles. Loosening of marble tiles.
lack of maintainance. Declaration of industrial zone near the monument by the
then government of Uttar Pradesh. No funds for Taj maintainance. Industrial
affluents and many such facts. Facts that lie hidden behind the large voting
campaign. Facts that lie below the large hoardings. Facts comfortably overlooked
while boasting it as a heritage structure. What difference will the appearing of
Taj on the list of seven wonders make???? Will it change these facts???...These
very facts which are a matter of concern regarding the future condition of the
monument. Will the marble of Taj be polished???....will the construction be
reinforced to avoid further damage to it???....will the industries around it be
closed down or shifted somewhere else?????....If any of these changes would
occur.....I am sorry that I did not vote for Taj.

If anybody has benifited from this campaign instead of Taj are the
mobile companies. People casted votes as messages. Each of these messages
cost more than the regular messages. So more the people voted, more did they
earn. And more did the people loose balance on their mobile. And the
website...do I need to tell you how much they must've earned trhough it. And
will even a fraction of this sum be spent on Taj??? The answer is a clear NO.
Kaam ke na kaaj ke...Dushman anaaj ke. In fact"Kaam ke na Taj ke......Dushman Anaaj Ke"

And people voted. Upon that they kept on voting.Maybe people were carried away by emotions. Blind boy asking people
to cast their vote. People throwing his pamphlet on road. And in the end he
requesting people, encashing his disability, to vote for the monument. (The
advertisement, if you know was released by Airtel.)

But let me tell that blind boy something. By the time you grow up my
child....kids with the ability to sight would make similar statement."Maine dekha nahi hai....lekin suna hai ki bahut khoobsoorat tha!!!"