Two interesting stories.

A donkey was tied to a tree. One night a ghost cut the rope and released the donkey free.

The donkey went and destroyed the crops in an adjacent farmer's land. Infuriated, the farmer's wife shot the donkey and killed it.

The donkey's owner was devastated at the loss. In reply, he shot dead the farmer's wife.

Angered by his wife's death, the farmer took a sickle and killed the donkey's owner.

The wife of the donkey's owner got so angry that she and her sons set the farmer's house on fire.

The farmer, looking at his house turn into ashes, killed the wife and children of the donkey's owner.

Finally, when the farmer was full of regret, he asked the ghost as to why did it kill them all?

The ghost replied, "I killed nobody. I just released a donkey that was tied to a rope. It is all of you who released the devils within you which resulted into everything bad that occurred thereafter".

Today's media is like that ghost. It keeps releasing donkeys on a daily basis. And people react and argue with each other, hurt each other, without having a second thought.

In the end, the media dodges all responsibilities. So, it's our responsibility not to react on every donkey released by the media and preserve our relationship with our friends, relatives and community.

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I wish to share a nice answer I read in Quora today.

Question : Is Narendra Modi really transforming India?

Jay Agarwal, works at Federal Government of the United States and has this to say : "Since I have not lived in India for almost 25 years, I can only answer this as a perspective. Note that as US citizen, I can neither vote in Indian elections nor have any vested interest in the electoral outcome in India. Hence, objectivity! I will narrate two stories to make my point. And I will not use any boring statistics!"

Story 1

A routine Uber ride in Washington DC and an Afghani driver picks me up. After a few minutes, he asks me If I am an Indian, I say yes and he smiles and says that he loves Bollywood. I smile back. His next question, do you know when somebody will make a movie on Modi. I am a little shocked, not at the movie suggestion but that he would even know Modi. Anyway, I ask him why. His answer is that Modi is considered a magician in Afghanistan and the Afghanis pray that they get a leader like him to make Afghanistan like India.

Story 2

My beloved coworker from Nigeria, Iteogu, starts every morning at work with a curse at the Nigerian President Buhari. In his expert opinion, Buhari has sunk Nigeria. He then gives me a blissful look and says, what do you care, you have Narendra Modi. Look at where India is today. After this morning routine, we get our coffee! Same story. Every morning.

So, two completely random non-Indians, with no political agenda, want somebody like Modi to run their respective countries because they believe Modi can turn their fortunes around.

Nobody has fed them propaganda.

They simply see what India has become under Modi and how its international prestige has soared.

I am not saying anybody is perfect, but in my 25 years in the US, I have never seen India receive so much attention and status as it has under Modi. You have to give credit where it is due.

Haters will hate but it is undeniably Modi's magic, pure and simple.

He has nailed it.

Tailpiece.

Got up leisurely, at a quarter to 7, it being a Sunday, the chores and was ready by a quarter to 10. A quiet Sunday and the both of us went about our routine work.

In the evening we got the latest update. The number of guests at a wedding should not exceed 30 - 15 from the bride's side and the other 15 from the bridegroom's side. The numbers are getting to be very low. 

I only hope that our movement, sometime later this week to my parents' place, will not be thwarted by a likely lockdown between districts! My nephew's wedding is on 02 May!!