And it happened at Day 1 Agenda Aajtak 2014
After having a great time on the first day of Agenda Aajtak, I was super excited for Day 2 because some really interesting subjects were planned for panel discussions. The day did turn out to be thoroughly entertaining as expected. Not only some great discussions took place on burning issues of Religion, Conversion, Politics, Delhi Elections, Clean India, Hindi as a Language, World Cup 2015 but also it was mesmerizing to see and hear India’s superstar Mr. Amitabh Bachchan in person.
The first session themed ‘Dharm ke Naam Pe’ was thought provoking. It talked about secularism, different religions and how vote banks were influenced on the name of religion. Maulana Mahmood Madani added some very decent points and said that religion was about togetherness and not division. He also said if all Muslims behaved as they must, people would have been forced to fall in love with them long back. Swami Chinmaynand said that any government if tried to divide people based on religion would collapse because religion was above these individual gains. There are people who are doing it, they will be unmasked and will see a downfall.
I pray for sanity for all the gullible people who endorse leaders based on religious manipulations. And those who try to play a mastermind should be dealt with. I wonder how can people cheat others in the name of GOD.
Newly appointed CBI Director Anil Sinha came out to be a very balanced, smart and knowledgeable person. This was his first interview since he had taken the coveted position. He said that he knew that a very great responsibility was on his shoulders and he prayed everyday to do the right. Mr. Sinha also praised his wonderful team for their efforts but he said that he wanted that all the cases handled by them should fall in ‘zero defect zone’. When asked that does CBI have an influence of the ruling party. To this Mr. Sinha said he had never ever attended any call which pressurized him to change decisions. For him each case has always been very important and his team ensures that they go to every bit of it without being biased to any previous view created by media.
Next there was a face off between BJP senior leader Syed Shahnawaz Hussain and Congress senior leader Salman Khursid. Like all others BJP representative seemed confident but he too had the same ranting that lot of things are happening. He also praised Mr. Modi’s foreign policies, his visits to several countries and how he had instilled confidence and hope in Indians. To this Congress minister was not happy and of course he retaliated back saying that the vision is not clear, nothing concrete has come of taking strong stand against Pakistan too.
Well I really wanted to go and tell these leaders that BJP should not go about singing their own tune, they haven’t yet done anything out of the box. They should work and deliver, people will notice on their own. Our PM Modiji does has a vision and they should all learn from him and go about bringing the change. As far as opposition party is considered they must accept that when it was their chance they did not perform, so now when the ruling party is doing something good, they must let it happen for the good of the country.
The duo of Vishal-Shekhar sang some beautiful melodies for the audience. When asked about their chemistry, they answered by praising each other and said that the mutual admiration for each other always led them to good work. The audience also got to know that for them its one person who accepts and rejects their song and that is Shekhar’s 12-yr old daughter who has a great sense of music.
Sonakshi Sinha and Arjun Kapoor were absolute fun and entertaining. They both are coming together in the latest flick thats called Tevar. Sonakshi was wearing Hemant and Nandita Spring/Summer 2015 and she looked different in her new haircut. Arjun Kapoor was well dressed and he spoke well too. I quite liked his answer when he said that ‘We are not horses in a race. We are the youngest in the bollywood and are blessed to have got the opportunity to act. I am quite enjoying my profession. We love to act because we enjoy our work.’
Post Lunch, the session with Maharashtra and Uttarakhand CM was about how states used to get step-motherly treatment under Planning Commission. The new CM Devendra Fadnavis looked dynamic and promising and he assured that every state would get proper attention from Mr. Modi. The other CM had his share of complains and again it hinted at BJP-Congress tussle.
The whole India has been talking about the Clean India Campaign since Modiji has taken it to a new level, thus a much needed talk on cleanliness did happen in here as well. Meenakshi Lekhi from BJP, Jairam Ramesh from Congress and Yog Guru Baba Ramdev were on the panel to share their views. The arguments did happen but everyone did accept the fact that cleanliness was the need of the hour and it should just not remain a form of tokenism but turn into a mass movement. Baba Ramdev was happy that 21st June was declared as International Yoga Day and he tried to balance the discussion by saying that Congress had made little efforts but now BJP was doing it on a much larger scale which was for the good of the country. Of course his inclination towards BJP is known by all but as a person he always talks sane and here also he had some valuable points to add to the discussion.
Annu Kapoor, Kumar Vishwas and Neelesh Mishra had a session on ‘Hindi Hai Hum’ where they added some really valuable thoughts that why Hindi as a language was not seen as our national language and why society had a bias towards English speaking people even if they spoke incorrect. Personally, I feel its been long that we have surrendered to English and since English is a widely spoken language, it is here to stay. Yes, we must take pride in our own language and that is Hindi.
Manoj Tiwari, BJP MP was invited over to be a part of the session ‘Pehli Pehli Baar’. He sounded sensible and wise when he said ‘Let me work first and then my actions will speak for themselves. He said that he was chasing cleanliness of Ganga and Yamuna and the day is not far when these places will become great tourist spots. Amen to this thought!
A discussion on upcoming elections of Delhi where ministers from all three parties were invited to put their points. Manish Sisodia from AAP, Satish Upadhyay from BJP and Haroon Yusuf from Congress. It was just about allegations and 49 days of Arvind Kejriwal’s leadership. Time will tell what happens and what the people of Delhi have in their heart and mind.
World CUP 2015 is awaited and everybody is looking forward to the new champions. While Virat Kohli is going great guns, somewhere we all know India needs good fast bowlers because this time they will make the difference. Great cricketers from India and Pakistan sat down together with Mr. Rajdeep Sardesai to put in their points. I loved seeing Wasim Akram because I have been a great fan of his. As far as these discussion are concerned, I always feel its all about how teams handle the pressure on the day of the match. When asked about favorite teams, mostly everyone put their bet on South Africa. Fingers crossed, hope India wins.
The part of the show that will be etched in my mind for long was ofcourse the session with Mr. Amitabh Bachchan. He talked beautifully about his relationship and interactions with his father, read out poems from Madhushaala, told us a little piece of his growing up days, his struggle when ABCL was closed and his passion for acting. It was an honorable moment to share the roof with the legend of Indian cinema. I am sure every person in India who follows Indian cinema wishes to see him, meet him once. For me, it was a triumph as a blogger. I was not in the mad race to ask questions and get clicked with him but ofcourse whenever I would get a chance, I would grab it. He is an inspiration and I bet every word of his sounded mesmerizing. Do catch up his complete video on aajtak website, it definitely deserves a watch.
Overall, it was a great day, great show put up by India Today Group. I love such events because they are a mirror to our society. It helps to have a closer look at the people who run our country, people who are in the opposition, who handle important ministries, people who have done wonderful things in life and somewhere it brings me closer to the realities of the country.
I had the opportunity to attend this mega event in the capacity of official blogger.
