October 2008: Navin Jindal in Mhow

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Note: 04 Feb 2009.
I am resuming posting articles to this blog after a long gap.
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From My Sulekha Weblog.

October 11 2008; Saturday

Navin Jindal the young industrialist and Member of Parliament of the Congress(I) party is in Mhow. He is participating in the National Shooting Championships (Big Bore) being held here in which he is representing Haryana. He ends the day fruitfully with a team bronze. Navin is the young man who filed a PIL (public interest litigation) in the Supreme Court as a result of which any Indian citizen can fly the Indian flag. Earlier this could only be done by government institutions and by educational institutions on days like August 15 and January 26.

[Below: At the Shooting Range, peeping through a telescopic sight.]


Besides his shooting competition Navin was felicitated by a group of prominent citizens of Mhow at an open air function. Besides hearing him speak on various issues the local MLA (Member of Legislative Assembly) Shri Antar Singh Darbar also brought to his attention the many grievances that the local citizens had against the Cantonement Board and the Army. This civil-military confrontation is an unfortunate aspect of most military cantonments in India. The civilians blame the Defence services for following archaic laws and for not allowing the Cantonement town to grow and the Defence Services counter by saying that cantonments are special places where normal rules of entreprenuerial activities cannot be allowed. It is a stalemate and it will be interesting to see how things develop in the coming years.

Below: With Mujib Qureishi and Antar Singh Darbar (then the MLA from Mhow) of the Congress(I).



The young turks, as they are called, are a group of young Members of Parliament. These include, among others, Rahul Gandhi, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Milind Deora, Sachin Pilot and Navin himself. They are generally a no-nonsense group of youngsters who wish to do a lot for India. Will they succeed or will the boa constrictor of the system set up in the six decades after independence crush their enthusiasm? Will their own party let them grow? I remember Rajiv Gandhi had started his innings as the youngest Prime Minister of India on a very confident note. But he was worn out by the time his term came to an end.

With Antar Singh Darbar the MLA from Mhow.


A beaming Navin. I could see that he had won over the hearts of everyone in the audience. The enthusiasm of the young inspires hope in everyone irrespective of political affiliation.


Click here if you wish to see the original post in my Sulekha weblog.