The Hindu Business Line : Is Modi asking a visa for Siberia?

ONCE upon a time, when we were using Ashton-Tate's dBase software, a common instruction was `modi comm,' short for `modify command,' to open and write programs. A frequent question from students used to be, "Who is this modi?" And computer trainers had to tell them that Tate's product was capable of recognising four-letter words. Thus, for accessing report features, the command was `modi repo'; and to change file structure one typed `modi stru.' But now one finds Modi stew spilling everywhere, even as some diehard fans of the angry CM are feverishly typing `modi visa' on compute screens, only to be rebuffed with error messages. And there are questions, such as:

Why is the world against Modi?

If you're referring to Narendra of Gujarat, the image he enjoys is abysmal. As a sample, try the press release dated March 2 on www.prnewswire.com, of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, providing links to www.nhrc.nic.in and http://hrw.org for reports that make such morbid reading that you'd find the answer to your question. CAIR's communiqué also speaks of how the State's administration distributed a social studies textbook praising Adolf Hitler.

Everyone else is getting visa!

Not everyone. For instance, Major General Alexander Bespalov, the new commander of Russia's military forces in Transcaucasia, has not been able to get an entry visa to Georgia, reports www.mosnews.com. Sudan denied visas to a high-ranking American delegation on a fact-finding mission about the UN's efforts to deal with atrocities in Darfur. Canada denied visa to a Serbian pop star, because they say she is a security concern. Fifteen per cent of Russian students who applied for US visas last year were turned down, and no money was refunded to them. And Astra Morton writes in North Somerset Times about Tissa Madampage, of Alulgama, Sri Lanka, who wants to travel to Portishead, in North Somerset, to thank the town for its support since the tsunami; but the UK government has refused him visa because he does not have a home.

What does the Modi name mean?

Modify is from Old French modifier, from Latin modificare, meaning `to limit, restrain,' from modus `measure, manner,' as Online Etymology Dictionary explains. Modicum and moderate are related words, though these don't gel with our man. On `Modi', there's also help in www.ancestry.com. It says, "Indian (Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Bombay city): Hindu (Bania, Vania), Jain, and Parsi name, from modi meaning `grocer,' `grain merchant' in the various languages of this region." However, saying that this Modi has been grosser has more than a grain of truth.

A great insult to democracy!

True, but this is something we've invited on ourselves. A sad commentary not so much of Modi and his actions, as it is of a system that has been accommodative of him and his ilk!

Are we giving him too much publicity?

That's one irony, which may be called `Modeification,' so even Modi starts relishing the attention he has been able to draw from the US, the UK and elsewhere, without going there.

What're his options?

Well, he's painted himself into a corner, and finds it almost impossible to stir out even to Siberia, for there are rumours of protest in the Poles too, with bears saying, "No, we can't bear him!" Karma is catching up with him, philosophers say, as we find him stewing in his own juice. For Modi who is now arraigned by the world, there's still one option, according to political observers: dig up a hole and go into hiding, as Saddam tried to do, though in vain.

SayCheek@TheHindu.co.in

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