I was watching the debates between politicians, news anchors and analysts on television during the Gujarat election coverage and what caught my attention was the regular use of the word Secular/Secularism by all political parties.
The Congress kept talking about secularism and how the party has fought for the rights of minorities (read Muslims). Some secularism that, huh! I guess the Sikh riots of 1984, the Mumbai Riots of 1993, appeasement politics are all classic signs of Secularism, and if that is the yardstick to measure a secular party, then you can’t find a more Secular one than the Congress. The British divided the country in 1947; the Congress saw merit in the Divide and Rule policy and continues in its secular ways of dividing the country.
The Left claims to be the guardian of secularism and democracy in India. I guess Taslima Nasreen would beg to differ. I am plain curious; Do Communism and Democracy have the same meaning? And India must be the only country where Communists celebrate the existence of God; Durga Puja in West Bengal, the Kerala government administers temple affairs. Or are we to believe that the politicians are Communists while the citizens who vote them to power are democrats?
As for the BJP, it never claimed to be secular. I have no political or religious leanings, but I feel that the BJP is an honest devil than the Congress and/or the Left because it wears its spots proudly, unlike the other two who behave like wolves in sheep clothing.
On the likes of Mulayam Singh and Mayawati, silence is golden. What can you write of those for whom ignorance is bliss? For them secularism means anarchy.
As for the people of India, after 60-odd years of being taught secularism by politicians, we understand the term differently, depending upon our political leanings.
In short, we may be the largest Democracy in the world; however, we are anything but secular. Teesta Setalvad may beg to differ with me. To her I say being pro-any religion is not being secular. It’s being prejudiced. And terming anyone who does not align with your views as communal ain’t being secular either.
So dear friends, we as a country must be the single-largest bunch of hypocrites on planet Earth. And for those who are interested in understanding the meaning of the word secular as given in the dictionary, please continue reading.
sec·u·lar /ˈsɛkyələr/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[sek-yuh-ler] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
Adjective
1. Of or pertaining to worldly things or to things that are not regarded as religious, spiritual, or sacred; temporal: secular interests
2. Not pertaining to or connected with religion (opposed to sacred): secular music
3. (Of education, a school, etc.) concerned with nonreligious subjects
4. (Of members of the clergy) not belonging to a religious order; not bound by monastic vows (opposed to regular)
5. Occurring or celebrated once in an age or century: the secular games of Rome
6. Going on from age to age; continuing through long ages
Noun
7. A layperson
8. One of the secular clergy
sec·u·lar·ism /ˈsɛkyələˌrɪzəm/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled
1. Secular spirit or tendency, esp. a system of political or social philosophy that rejects all forms of religious faith and worship
2. The view that public education and other matters of civil policy should be conducted without the introduction of a religious element
n.
Religious skepticism or indifference
The view that religious considerations should be excluded from civil affairs or public education
sec'u·lar·ist n., sec'u·lar·is'tic adj.
Noun
A doctrine that rejects religion and religious considerations
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Monday, December 24, 2007
An Inconvenient Truth
A lot is being said about Global Warming and Climate Change lately and how if we do not act, the world would become an increasingly inhospitable place. In the midst of all the debates in newspapers, magazines, news and enovironment channels, a friend suggested that I watch a documentary An Inconvenient Truth hosted by former US Vice President Al Gore.
I for one have never been a great fan of US politicians, though I must sadly admit that they are far better than their Indian counterparts, at least when it comes to patriotism and protecting their country. You may ask why do I write that; the answer is no matter the internal differences, when it comes to facing the rest of the world, they put up an joint show. Now can we say that of our politicians? I say NO; you have a right to your own opinion.
Coming back to climate change, I decided to watch An Inconvenient Truth. And am I glad I did that. The doumentary talked about how years of industrialization, mechanization, deforestation, and a general apathy toward protecting our environment have taken their toll on our atmosphere. It shows how the ice-capped Antartica is melting and how rising sea waters would in the not-so-distant future submerge cities by the sea.
The documentary with facts and figures tells us how political apathy coupled with economic greed has repeatedly pushed environmental concerns in the background. And it tells us that we have about eight years to try and reverse the damage caused or else pay the price, a heavy one at that.
One can agree with what Al Gore has to say or dismiss it as being similar to the Y2K threat that fizzed off. But if we were to map temperatures in our lifetime we will realize that there is truth in what proponents of Climate Change have to say. In the summers, Mumbai now touches 40 degrees celcius; while I was a kid the temperature used to be around 32-33 degrees celcius. That is a 7 degree increase in a span of 25 years. And if one were to map the change in the last five years, then 4 of that 7 degrees have happened since 2002.
You can dismiss this as the rantings of a believer in the Climate Change message. But you would be doing so at your own peril. As we prosper economically, we as a world are going to buy more cars, air-conditioners, refrigerators, computers and other gadgets that directly or indirectly contribute to Global Warming.
I am not saying that we should learn to do without these things. What we must do is demand eco-friendly products, opt for brands that comply with environment regulations and force businessmen, politicians to listen to us.
How do we do that? By not subscribing to products that are not environment friendly and by not voting for politicians and parties that fail to go beyond lip service; in short, reject those who refuse to walk the talk. When we do that, companies and politicians will realize that they have just one option. That is to spend on research and development of ecofriendly products.
Here dear bloggers I would request all those who share my views on climate change with people they know and are uniformed. And I say 90% of our people are uniformed; when Mumbai observed Batti Bandh on December 15, 2007, between 7.30 pm and 8.30 pm, only 10% of Mumbai switched off power supply.
That dear friends is a sad testament of the apathy and ignorance that most people show to the subject of Global Warming and Climate Change. It's for you to decide whether you want to, even if in a small way, contribute to preserve out atmosphere and protect life from the ill-effects of Global Warming. Whether you want to fight for Right to life or Die in silence is a choice I will let you decide.
I for one have never been a great fan of US politicians, though I must sadly admit that they are far better than their Indian counterparts, at least when it comes to patriotism and protecting their country. You may ask why do I write that; the answer is no matter the internal differences, when it comes to facing the rest of the world, they put up an joint show. Now can we say that of our politicians? I say NO; you have a right to your own opinion.
Coming back to climate change, I decided to watch An Inconvenient Truth. And am I glad I did that. The doumentary talked about how years of industrialization, mechanization, deforestation, and a general apathy toward protecting our environment have taken their toll on our atmosphere. It shows how the ice-capped Antartica is melting and how rising sea waters would in the not-so-distant future submerge cities by the sea.
The documentary with facts and figures tells us how political apathy coupled with economic greed has repeatedly pushed environmental concerns in the background. And it tells us that we have about eight years to try and reverse the damage caused or else pay the price, a heavy one at that.
One can agree with what Al Gore has to say or dismiss it as being similar to the Y2K threat that fizzed off. But if we were to map temperatures in our lifetime we will realize that there is truth in what proponents of Climate Change have to say. In the summers, Mumbai now touches 40 degrees celcius; while I was a kid the temperature used to be around 32-33 degrees celcius. That is a 7 degree increase in a span of 25 years. And if one were to map the change in the last five years, then 4 of that 7 degrees have happened since 2002.
You can dismiss this as the rantings of a believer in the Climate Change message. But you would be doing so at your own peril. As we prosper economically, we as a world are going to buy more cars, air-conditioners, refrigerators, computers and other gadgets that directly or indirectly contribute to Global Warming.
I am not saying that we should learn to do without these things. What we must do is demand eco-friendly products, opt for brands that comply with environment regulations and force businessmen, politicians to listen to us.
How do we do that? By not subscribing to products that are not environment friendly and by not voting for politicians and parties that fail to go beyond lip service; in short, reject those who refuse to walk the talk. When we do that, companies and politicians will realize that they have just one option. That is to spend on research and development of ecofriendly products.
Here dear bloggers I would request all those who share my views on climate change with people they know and are uniformed. And I say 90% of our people are uniformed; when Mumbai observed Batti Bandh on December 15, 2007, between 7.30 pm and 8.30 pm, only 10% of Mumbai switched off power supply.
That dear friends is a sad testament of the apathy and ignorance that most people show to the subject of Global Warming and Climate Change. It's for you to decide whether you want to, even if in a small way, contribute to preserve out atmosphere and protect life from the ill-effects of Global Warming. Whether you want to fight for Right to life or Die in silence is a choice I will let you decide.
Remembering Dad
On a December day five years ago my Dad signed off. He was there the night, gone the next morning, just the way he always said he would. You will, he always said, wake up one morning and won't find me, but do not mourn my passing for in life where change is a reality, moving beyond the body is the only constant. His words still ring in my ears as loud as when said, and I fondly remember him.
For seventy years he lived his life to the full; simple in thought, uncomplicated in his interactions, every time I think of him and the happy times spent together, these memories liven my day. So what's new, you may ask; everyone shares a similar relationship with their father. True, but to that I say this ain't an exercise in proving my father was better than other fathers. This is just me remembering my creator.
When I think of him, I am reminded of his innate ability to procrasinate, and incidents bring a smile to my lips. I was seven and demanding a new pair of shoes. When I said I needed shoes, he would smile and say tomorrow. And when I asked him the next day, he would with a smile on his face ask me, what did I tell you yesterday? I would say tomorrow, and he would laugh and say, there you have your answer.
Before you say what a cruel dad, let me say that the pair of shoes that I had was perfectly fine and my dmeand was more because my friend had bought a new pair of shoe. Coming back to the incident, he would keep saying that until my shoe was in bad shape and then we would on a Saturday evening set out ot by me a pair of shoes.
He was a Bata loyalist, and that's why to this day I can never feel comfortable in a shoe that is not a Bata. Once we reached the shop, he would pick up a shoe with strings and I, a slip-on. Slip ons were a craze in the seventies, thanks to Amitabh Bachchan. I would fight with him, but eventually his choice would prevail with the promise of revisiting a slip-on the next year.
Another trait in my father that I simply loved was his ability to always speak the truth. Many a times he got into trouble, lost friends, and had to once quit his job. But he never wavered and taught me to do the same. I, however, cannot claim to be as correct as him. But then Dad was Dad and it would be foolish of me to try and become him. Having said that, I always try and walk the path he taught me, though at times what prevails is better sense as is called in today's world. I would say it is more self preservation than better sense, but in these times, better sense, self preservation is thy second name.
My Dad allowed me the freedom to decide what I wanted to study, the profession I wished to take up, marry the woman I loved. He did not do so because he was scared of losing me as a son if he didn't agree, but because he believed that if one has to be successul in life, then one needs to follow his calling. In short he did what most parents fail to do. He did not want me to live his life and fulfil his unfulfilled desires; he wanted me to walk my path and realize my dreams. That was my father for everyone; for me that is my father, as I am a part of him and in me he continues to live.
I love you Dad, forever.
For seventy years he lived his life to the full; simple in thought, uncomplicated in his interactions, every time I think of him and the happy times spent together, these memories liven my day. So what's new, you may ask; everyone shares a similar relationship with their father. True, but to that I say this ain't an exercise in proving my father was better than other fathers. This is just me remembering my creator.
When I think of him, I am reminded of his innate ability to procrasinate, and incidents bring a smile to my lips. I was seven and demanding a new pair of shoes. When I said I needed shoes, he would smile and say tomorrow. And when I asked him the next day, he would with a smile on his face ask me, what did I tell you yesterday? I would say tomorrow, and he would laugh and say, there you have your answer.
Before you say what a cruel dad, let me say that the pair of shoes that I had was perfectly fine and my dmeand was more because my friend had bought a new pair of shoe. Coming back to the incident, he would keep saying that until my shoe was in bad shape and then we would on a Saturday evening set out ot by me a pair of shoes.
He was a Bata loyalist, and that's why to this day I can never feel comfortable in a shoe that is not a Bata. Once we reached the shop, he would pick up a shoe with strings and I, a slip-on. Slip ons were a craze in the seventies, thanks to Amitabh Bachchan. I would fight with him, but eventually his choice would prevail with the promise of revisiting a slip-on the next year.
Another trait in my father that I simply loved was his ability to always speak the truth. Many a times he got into trouble, lost friends, and had to once quit his job. But he never wavered and taught me to do the same. I, however, cannot claim to be as correct as him. But then Dad was Dad and it would be foolish of me to try and become him. Having said that, I always try and walk the path he taught me, though at times what prevails is better sense as is called in today's world. I would say it is more self preservation than better sense, but in these times, better sense, self preservation is thy second name.
My Dad allowed me the freedom to decide what I wanted to study, the profession I wished to take up, marry the woman I loved. He did not do so because he was scared of losing me as a son if he didn't agree, but because he believed that if one has to be successul in life, then one needs to follow his calling. In short he did what most parents fail to do. He did not want me to live his life and fulfil his unfulfilled desires; he wanted me to walk my path and realize my dreams. That was my father for everyone; for me that is my father, as I am a part of him and in me he continues to live.
I love you Dad, forever.
Friday, December 7, 2007
Random Thoughts
What will happen if the moon and sun collide? Will we have two moons and two suns? Will the heat of the sun disintegrate the moon, or will the cold moon douse the blazing sun?
Imagine if we can energize ourselves Star Trek style. What will happen to the transportation industry? How will it feel to make love during the journey? Will travel be a public enterprise or compete as private enterprises?
What will happen if one of the sexes vanishes just as civilizations and species have over the years? If only men remain, would sodomy still be a crime? If it is only women, how will dildo stocks fare?
If the earth realizes that it ain’t flat, will people fall off the surface? And if people fall off, how long will they keep falling, and where will they land?
If all water on earth dries up, what will we drink? And if all land is covered by water, will we live in the bottom of the ocean?
If every action stops having an equal and opposite reaction, what do we do with Newton? If humankind loses the power to think, what will happen to all the inventions?
If we become immortal, what will we do with all the weapons? If we conquer illness, will doctors become cobblers?
If we can build castles in the air, what will happen to the ones on Earth?
If people can actually burp and taste, will they still fart and waste?
If Rajnikanth could actually fire a bullet and then split it with a blade to kill two targets with one bullet, would Newton die of acidity?
And if we forget how to read and write, what will happen to all us bloggers on www.blogger.com.
P.S. These as the title suggests are just random thoughts. Please do not try and make sense of them.
Imagine if we can energize ourselves Star Trek style. What will happen to the transportation industry? How will it feel to make love during the journey? Will travel be a public enterprise or compete as private enterprises?
What will happen if one of the sexes vanishes just as civilizations and species have over the years? If only men remain, would sodomy still be a crime? If it is only women, how will dildo stocks fare?
If the earth realizes that it ain’t flat, will people fall off the surface? And if people fall off, how long will they keep falling, and where will they land?
If all water on earth dries up, what will we drink? And if all land is covered by water, will we live in the bottom of the ocean?
If every action stops having an equal and opposite reaction, what do we do with Newton? If humankind loses the power to think, what will happen to all the inventions?
If we become immortal, what will we do with all the weapons? If we conquer illness, will doctors become cobblers?
If we can build castles in the air, what will happen to the ones on Earth?
If people can actually burp and taste, will they still fart and waste?
If Rajnikanth could actually fire a bullet and then split it with a blade to kill two targets with one bullet, would Newton die of acidity?
And if we forget how to read and write, what will happen to all us bloggers on www.blogger.com.
P.S. These as the title suggests are just random thoughts. Please do not try and make sense of them.
Monday, November 26, 2007
Respect—It’s Simple Give And Take
Respect is something that all of us expect from others. But when it comes to others do we have the same feeling? The answer in most cases is NO.
So why is it that we feel slighted when people do no respect us, but we fail to see that point when dealings with others? In a restaurant most patrons show little or no respect to waiters, but expect waiters to be servile to the extent of licking their soles.
The reason according to me is Ego and the belief that I am special. What we fail to realize that the other person is also thinking on the same lines. Where and how does that leave us as a society? Lonely, rude, and violent, I say.
Mahatma Gandhi had said that you can judge a person’s character by the way he treats people who are lower down the economic ladder than him. If we use that yardstick to map peoples’ characters in our country, I assure you that we as a nation will be found woefully wanting.
Our problem is that most respect only wealth and success. And given the fact that people in a country are never going to be equally wealthy and/or successful, we are individually never going to respect each other.
As we do not respect each other, we do not respect and cherish our country. As a result, we see no wrong in fighting with each other, destroying one other’s homes, damaging public infrastructure, and behaving in a manner that’s unbecoming of civilized societies.
That brings me to another issue. Are we a society civilized? To answer that question, let us look at the meaning of “civilized”.
In the verb form, civilize means “to bring out of a savage, uneducated, or rude state; make civil; elevate in social and private life; enlighten; refine.”
In the adjective form civilize means: a) having an advanced or humane culture, society, etc; b) polite; well-bred; refined; c) of or pertaining to civilized people; c) easy to manage or control; well organized or ordered.
Now do we as a society behave in any of the manner that the definitions of civilized denote. I would say NO. You as a reader are free to form your own opinions. That according to me is respecting your freedom to decide.
In short, how great we as a people or as a country are should be determined by how well we treat one another and not by our ability to fight, accumulate wealth, build nuclear arsenals, increase the size of our armed forces, and treat fellow beings as inferior to us.
We always crib that the West does not treat us with the respect that we deserve. My question is why anyone should treat us with respect when we do not accord the same treatment to our fellow countrymen? The day we start respecting our fellow citizens is the day the world will start respecting us. It’s for us to decide if we give respect and gain respect or keep treating people with disdain and continue to be paid back in the same coin.
So why is it that we feel slighted when people do no respect us, but we fail to see that point when dealings with others? In a restaurant most patrons show little or no respect to waiters, but expect waiters to be servile to the extent of licking their soles.
The reason according to me is Ego and the belief that I am special. What we fail to realize that the other person is also thinking on the same lines. Where and how does that leave us as a society? Lonely, rude, and violent, I say.
Mahatma Gandhi had said that you can judge a person’s character by the way he treats people who are lower down the economic ladder than him. If we use that yardstick to map peoples’ characters in our country, I assure you that we as a nation will be found woefully wanting.
Our problem is that most respect only wealth and success. And given the fact that people in a country are never going to be equally wealthy and/or successful, we are individually never going to respect each other.
As we do not respect each other, we do not respect and cherish our country. As a result, we see no wrong in fighting with each other, destroying one other’s homes, damaging public infrastructure, and behaving in a manner that’s unbecoming of civilized societies.
That brings me to another issue. Are we a society civilized? To answer that question, let us look at the meaning of “civilized”.
In the verb form, civilize means “to bring out of a savage, uneducated, or rude state; make civil; elevate in social and private life; enlighten; refine.”
In the adjective form civilize means: a) having an advanced or humane culture, society, etc; b) polite; well-bred; refined; c) of or pertaining to civilized people; c) easy to manage or control; well organized or ordered.
Now do we as a society behave in any of the manner that the definitions of civilized denote. I would say NO. You as a reader are free to form your own opinions. That according to me is respecting your freedom to decide.
In short, how great we as a people or as a country are should be determined by how well we treat one another and not by our ability to fight, accumulate wealth, build nuclear arsenals, increase the size of our armed forces, and treat fellow beings as inferior to us.
We always crib that the West does not treat us with the respect that we deserve. My question is why anyone should treat us with respect when we do not accord the same treatment to our fellow countrymen? The day we start respecting our fellow citizens is the day the world will start respecting us. It’s for us to decide if we give respect and gain respect or keep treating people with disdain and continue to be paid back in the same coin.
Thursday, November 22, 2007
East & West
Sorry Mr. Friedman, the world ain’t flat. In fact, the world appears to be even more topsy-turvy than ever before. I read an article in the Economic Times this morning of how a group of women in Sweden was protesting its inability to swim topless in pools. The logic is if men can do so why not women?
Fair enough. And I don't see most men protesting that logic. I think even the pundits, mullahs, and priests won’t object as long as they can keep womenfolk in their respective areas of control behind veils.
The point I am trying to make is the vast difference in issues faced by people living in the underdeveloped/developing world and those in the developed world.
Back home, water, housing, clothing, corruption are issues that haunt people. In the developed world, it’s all about been there done that and being able to return to basics: we roamed nude before we became intelligent, didn’t we?
For us, a train compartment supposed to hold 72 but carrying 400 is a problem. For the West, having to stand in crowded compartments (nothing compared to our locals) is trauma.
Back home, indiscriminate smoking and spitting in public is irksome; in the West, not being able to smoke in public is. As for spitting, they hold competitions to determine who can spit the farthest. The winner even gets to take home a trophy and a cash prize.
For us eating out is a luxury, though that’s changing. For the West, it’s the way of life. We struggle to regulate our own. They fight to regulate the world. Caring for the aged is a given for our people; they have old age homes. Though most here in today’s time curse their luck for being saddled with the aged, they use that as a virtue to point fingers at the West. The West has no such doubts; when cattle grow old, leave them out to graze is their philosophy.
Yes, the world is indeed flat when one talks about money. East or West money does make the world go round. Other than that, it’s all about barely existing versus existing with plenty.
Sorry, Mr. Friedman, I beg to differ. The world certainly ain’t flat.
(Thomas Friedman is the celebrated NewYork Times journalist who wrote the book, The world Is Flat.)
Fair enough. And I don't see most men protesting that logic. I think even the pundits, mullahs, and priests won’t object as long as they can keep womenfolk in their respective areas of control behind veils.
The point I am trying to make is the vast difference in issues faced by people living in the underdeveloped/developing world and those in the developed world.
Back home, water, housing, clothing, corruption are issues that haunt people. In the developed world, it’s all about been there done that and being able to return to basics: we roamed nude before we became intelligent, didn’t we?
For us, a train compartment supposed to hold 72 but carrying 400 is a problem. For the West, having to stand in crowded compartments (nothing compared to our locals) is trauma.
Back home, indiscriminate smoking and spitting in public is irksome; in the West, not being able to smoke in public is. As for spitting, they hold competitions to determine who can spit the farthest. The winner even gets to take home a trophy and a cash prize.
For us eating out is a luxury, though that’s changing. For the West, it’s the way of life. We struggle to regulate our own. They fight to regulate the world. Caring for the aged is a given for our people; they have old age homes. Though most here in today’s time curse their luck for being saddled with the aged, they use that as a virtue to point fingers at the West. The West has no such doubts; when cattle grow old, leave them out to graze is their philosophy.
Yes, the world is indeed flat when one talks about money. East or West money does make the world go round. Other than that, it’s all about barely existing versus existing with plenty.
Sorry, Mr. Friedman, I beg to differ. The world certainly ain’t flat.
(Thomas Friedman is the celebrated NewYork Times journalist who wrote the book, The world Is Flat.)
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Of Knowledge And Power
Human beings, since recorded history and maybe before, have always acknowledged the value of knowledge and its potential to break down barriers. Scriptures count the knowledgeable as wealthy and not the moneyed. However, the flip side of the coin: knowledge has also always been equated with power.
More so in today’s times when mankind is busy milking knowledge to accumulate power. Parents and teachers are emphasizing the value of knowledge as a tool to make money and gain power through knowledge. Nothing wrong in that, except excess of even nectar is poison.
Students graduate with starry money dreams. In the quest for money and through it power, the very basic of knowledge dispelling darkness and helping people look beyond self has been limited to books. I don’t think this truth of life is even taught anymore. If anything, this fact is so well hidden that it is being considered more of a vice than virtue.
It’s perfectly alright to utilize knowledge to make money and assume leadership roles. But I am not so sure of using knowledge to unleash a vicious cycle of power and greed.
Politicians implore people to rise above the petty for the betterment of mankind. Unfortunately, they fail to practice what they preach and rise above self and the chair and work for the benefit of their fellow beings. Businessmen talk of corporate social responsibility, but most use it more as a marketing tool. We, the commons, eagerly point out the ills of others, but commit the very same mistakes. And when I commit it, the reason is necessity and not greed.
The very essence of acquiring knowledge is to help not so fortunate fellow beings bridge the gap and rise up the social ladder. If we believe in God, then Knowledge according to that God is supposed to be the elixir of life and not the poison that it has become today.
In the power crazy times that we live today, we have forgotten that when social and class divides narrow, discord will reduce. When differences are not so stark, satisfaction will become the rule and not the exception. It’s then that peace will reign supreme.
But with every passing day we are moving further away from this truth. We have learnt that to get work done, to be heard, Power is essential. And how does one get power? How else but through having more of the precious commodity called Money. And the vicious cycle continues to play out every day.
Our main problem is the need to own everything. That knowing well that we bring nothing and take nothing amazes me. All of us know this truth, but do not wish to acknowledge. The reason: that’s the way we are conditioned from birth. It’s for us to break this thought process. It’s never too late to realize the potential of knowledge to bring positive change.
So let’s use learning to bring down established walls, help people, and eliminate limiting barriers. Let’s act on what we have always known: using knowledge for the betterment of mankind over personal gains. In that process, if there are personal gains, so be it. And such gains according to me will be more in terms of self satisfaction, peace, and happiness at having helped others. Let us use knowledge to facilitate peace, eliminate barriers, and narrow the gap between the have and have not. If we don’t, then trust will be an extinct commodity. People will live in isolated prisons, and destruction will be the order of the day.
It’s for us to decide whether we want to live in heaven or hell, for it’s all here.
More so in today’s times when mankind is busy milking knowledge to accumulate power. Parents and teachers are emphasizing the value of knowledge as a tool to make money and gain power through knowledge. Nothing wrong in that, except excess of even nectar is poison.
Students graduate with starry money dreams. In the quest for money and through it power, the very basic of knowledge dispelling darkness and helping people look beyond self has been limited to books. I don’t think this truth of life is even taught anymore. If anything, this fact is so well hidden that it is being considered more of a vice than virtue.
It’s perfectly alright to utilize knowledge to make money and assume leadership roles. But I am not so sure of using knowledge to unleash a vicious cycle of power and greed.
Politicians implore people to rise above the petty for the betterment of mankind. Unfortunately, they fail to practice what they preach and rise above self and the chair and work for the benefit of their fellow beings. Businessmen talk of corporate social responsibility, but most use it more as a marketing tool. We, the commons, eagerly point out the ills of others, but commit the very same mistakes. And when I commit it, the reason is necessity and not greed.
The very essence of acquiring knowledge is to help not so fortunate fellow beings bridge the gap and rise up the social ladder. If we believe in God, then Knowledge according to that God is supposed to be the elixir of life and not the poison that it has become today.
In the power crazy times that we live today, we have forgotten that when social and class divides narrow, discord will reduce. When differences are not so stark, satisfaction will become the rule and not the exception. It’s then that peace will reign supreme.
But with every passing day we are moving further away from this truth. We have learnt that to get work done, to be heard, Power is essential. And how does one get power? How else but through having more of the precious commodity called Money. And the vicious cycle continues to play out every day.
Our main problem is the need to own everything. That knowing well that we bring nothing and take nothing amazes me. All of us know this truth, but do not wish to acknowledge. The reason: that’s the way we are conditioned from birth. It’s for us to break this thought process. It’s never too late to realize the potential of knowledge to bring positive change.
So let’s use learning to bring down established walls, help people, and eliminate limiting barriers. Let’s act on what we have always known: using knowledge for the betterment of mankind over personal gains. In that process, if there are personal gains, so be it. And such gains according to me will be more in terms of self satisfaction, peace, and happiness at having helped others. Let us use knowledge to facilitate peace, eliminate barriers, and narrow the gap between the have and have not. If we don’t, then trust will be an extinct commodity. People will live in isolated prisons, and destruction will be the order of the day.
It’s for us to decide whether we want to live in heaven or hell, for it’s all here.
Friday, November 2, 2007
Left Right Left
The Left parties never cease to amaze me. For one, I could never figure out how can a set of people be so far removed from the realities of the modern world. I read in a newpaper today that the left wants the Government to intervene and stop the senseless rise of the Sensex. My first reaction was to laugh. The reason was even funnier, "to prevent accumulation of huge wealth by a handful at the cost of pauperisation of the common man's hard-earned savings."
Then a cheeky thought crossed my mind. Could it be possible that parties like the Left may be thinking of whether they can regulate the number of times married couple make love in a month? The more I thought of it, the more I realized that these guys could actually do something to that effect. What more can you expect of a bunch of people who because they enjoy support of the electorate in two states do not bat an eyelid in holding the country to ranson on any issue that they think is not correct? It's as though God has been partial in the distribution of intelligence; you see only Left leaders have the capacity to think right, everyone else is a fool. Only the Leftists are patriots, the rest are traitors.
That is the sad plight of democracy in India. A party steeped in an ideology, communism, whose time has passed is trying to teach the country the meaning of Democracy, i.e., it's version of the meaning of Democracy. We are right, everyone else is wrong. If you agree with that, you are democratic in thought. If not, you are anti-secular, against democracy, and an anti national.
What more can you make of a people who do not think it is anti-national to humiliate the Country's Prime Minister in front of international audiences. If given a choice, I would end this coalition business.
I would enforce a strict two party system of rule at the center. Regional parties should be restricted within their regions. One can have regional parties forming governments at the state level, but they should have no say at the National level. That would enable Central governments to be more active and give them the room to implement policies, laws, and changes that will align with global norms.
The world is becoming an increasingly global village, and whether the Left likes it on not, India is an intergral part of the Global village. Change is the only constant in life, and those who do not move with the times get left behind. The sooner the Left understands this fact of life, the better it is for these parties and the Country at large. If they fail to do so, I think the time has come for the government to seek people's mandate to outlaw parties like the Left and throw them out of mainstream politics.
Then a cheeky thought crossed my mind. Could it be possible that parties like the Left may be thinking of whether they can regulate the number of times married couple make love in a month? The more I thought of it, the more I realized that these guys could actually do something to that effect. What more can you expect of a bunch of people who because they enjoy support of the electorate in two states do not bat an eyelid in holding the country to ranson on any issue that they think is not correct? It's as though God has been partial in the distribution of intelligence; you see only Left leaders have the capacity to think right, everyone else is a fool. Only the Leftists are patriots, the rest are traitors.
That is the sad plight of democracy in India. A party steeped in an ideology, communism, whose time has passed is trying to teach the country the meaning of Democracy, i.e., it's version of the meaning of Democracy. We are right, everyone else is wrong. If you agree with that, you are democratic in thought. If not, you are anti-secular, against democracy, and an anti national.
What more can you make of a people who do not think it is anti-national to humiliate the Country's Prime Minister in front of international audiences. If given a choice, I would end this coalition business.
I would enforce a strict two party system of rule at the center. Regional parties should be restricted within their regions. One can have regional parties forming governments at the state level, but they should have no say at the National level. That would enable Central governments to be more active and give them the room to implement policies, laws, and changes that will align with global norms.
The world is becoming an increasingly global village, and whether the Left likes it on not, India is an intergral part of the Global village. Change is the only constant in life, and those who do not move with the times get left behind. The sooner the Left understands this fact of life, the better it is for these parties and the Country at large. If they fail to do so, I think the time has come for the government to seek people's mandate to outlaw parties like the Left and throw them out of mainstream politics.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Today, Do You Get Hired Or Acquired?
When a company recruits you, does it hire your services or acquire you? This is a question that has been in my thoughts for days. The reason: expectations were different when I started working 15 years ago; it used to be eight hours a day for five days and 4 hours on Saturday. Now, it’s 24/7.
Agreed that new recruits on average do earn at least 5 times more than what I used to when I started my work life. But then costs have also increased by at least 6 times [half a glass of tea (called cutting in Mumbai lingo) costs Rs.3 now compared to 50p 15 years ago. Companies are also making more money than ever. So if they are paying more, they are doing so more out of compulsion than choice. Of course, there always are exceptions to the rule, but I ain’t talking about exceptions.
What is it with companies nowadays that a workday never seems to end at a reasonable hour? People are expected to be in office by 9 am latest; however, no boss will be willing to commit a time when one can call it a day. Bosses proudly tell job aspirants that you come in by 9 in the morning but there is no saying when you will get to go home. And with a satanic smile, they ask, how does it sound? Does it interest you? To me, that’s akin to asking a man how he feels on the day he is going to be hanged. O yeah! He is going to say on top of the world, right?
So how does one analyze this trend of why do companies expect people to kill themselves? What is so great that any company offers that would want people to push themselves to tipping point? I am in no way saying that people should not work hard; if people can work smart, even better.
What I am talking about is a proper work-life balance. What are companies doing to ensure that the large majority of the people who enable a few at the top to become billionaires lead a full life? By full life I do not mean having coffee machines, five star canteens, television sets, and bunk beds at work. I am talking about ensuring that employees reach home at a reasonable hour, spend at least an hour with family during earthly hours, and get a good night’s sleep.
I don’t think companies are at present bothered about such niceties. The attitude is if I am paying, I need you to be my doormat. My question: Do companies have the right to have such expectations bordering on exploitation; exploitation of a person’s need to earn a livelihood, take care of his family, and provide for his future? I say NO.
I have asked myself many times that after working for 14 to 15 hours a day 24/7 if I happen to fall seriously ill and am rendered incapable of working for a year, will the company grant me a year’s paid leave to recuperate, and return to resume my duties? No matter how desperately I want to believe this will happen I know that 99 of 100 times it won’t.
Then the key question is how can any company expect me to kill myself? Some may find my thoughts to be Leftist. To them, I say NO, my thoughts are just plain human without a political agenda. I am no Prakash Karat or Sitaram Yechury, and I thank God for that. I am just looking for answers to a question that all of us must have thought about at some point of time.
I know it’s a tricky problem, but one that demands solutions. Many may argue, it’s a person’s choice whether to work for a company or not. To them I say, yes you are right. But at what cost, is my question.
Agreed that new recruits on average do earn at least 5 times more than what I used to when I started my work life. But then costs have also increased by at least 6 times [half a glass of tea (called cutting in Mumbai lingo) costs Rs.3 now compared to 50p 15 years ago. Companies are also making more money than ever. So if they are paying more, they are doing so more out of compulsion than choice. Of course, there always are exceptions to the rule, but I ain’t talking about exceptions.
What is it with companies nowadays that a workday never seems to end at a reasonable hour? People are expected to be in office by 9 am latest; however, no boss will be willing to commit a time when one can call it a day. Bosses proudly tell job aspirants that you come in by 9 in the morning but there is no saying when you will get to go home. And with a satanic smile, they ask, how does it sound? Does it interest you? To me, that’s akin to asking a man how he feels on the day he is going to be hanged. O yeah! He is going to say on top of the world, right?
So how does one analyze this trend of why do companies expect people to kill themselves? What is so great that any company offers that would want people to push themselves to tipping point? I am in no way saying that people should not work hard; if people can work smart, even better.
What I am talking about is a proper work-life balance. What are companies doing to ensure that the large majority of the people who enable a few at the top to become billionaires lead a full life? By full life I do not mean having coffee machines, five star canteens, television sets, and bunk beds at work. I am talking about ensuring that employees reach home at a reasonable hour, spend at least an hour with family during earthly hours, and get a good night’s sleep.
I don’t think companies are at present bothered about such niceties. The attitude is if I am paying, I need you to be my doormat. My question: Do companies have the right to have such expectations bordering on exploitation; exploitation of a person’s need to earn a livelihood, take care of his family, and provide for his future? I say NO.
I have asked myself many times that after working for 14 to 15 hours a day 24/7 if I happen to fall seriously ill and am rendered incapable of working for a year, will the company grant me a year’s paid leave to recuperate, and return to resume my duties? No matter how desperately I want to believe this will happen I know that 99 of 100 times it won’t.
Then the key question is how can any company expect me to kill myself? Some may find my thoughts to be Leftist. To them, I say NO, my thoughts are just plain human without a political agenda. I am no Prakash Karat or Sitaram Yechury, and I thank God for that. I am just looking for answers to a question that all of us must have thought about at some point of time.
I know it’s a tricky problem, but one that demands solutions. Many may argue, it’s a person’s choice whether to work for a company or not. To them I say, yes you are right. But at what cost, is my question.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Nothing
Nothing is a word that we use very often. Today in the morning a friend asked what are you doing? I said nothing. The moment I said nothing, I started thinking is it possible to ever do nothing?
I am still thinking but my thought is veering more towards “not possible”. Although I am not fully convinced, I am there about 90% in believing that doing nothing is not a possibility.
One can justify that I have not moved even a finger hence, I am doing nothing. But can the mind do nothing? The more I think about it the nearer I am to being convinced that the mind cannot cease thinking.
If that’s the case, then how can we ever say that we are doing nothing? To me doing nothing is being in a state of mental vacuum. That is being in a state of shunya, the ultimate goal of meditation.
I am not sure how many of us have experienced being in a state of shunya. If one has, then it’s nirvana. Come to think of it, does the mind ever stop thinking? I can’t speak for others but mine doesn't. Please do let me know if any of you can achieve or have achieved a state of shunya.
Given that the mind works tirelessly 24/7, can we rightly claim to be doing nothing? I don’t know and am looking for answers. Does anyone have one?
I am still thinking but my thought is veering more towards “not possible”. Although I am not fully convinced, I am there about 90% in believing that doing nothing is not a possibility.
One can justify that I have not moved even a finger hence, I am doing nothing. But can the mind do nothing? The more I think about it the nearer I am to being convinced that the mind cannot cease thinking.
If that’s the case, then how can we ever say that we are doing nothing? To me doing nothing is being in a state of mental vacuum. That is being in a state of shunya, the ultimate goal of meditation.
I am not sure how many of us have experienced being in a state of shunya. If one has, then it’s nirvana. Come to think of it, does the mind ever stop thinking? I can’t speak for others but mine doesn't. Please do let me know if any of you can achieve or have achieved a state of shunya.
Given that the mind works tirelessly 24/7, can we rightly claim to be doing nothing? I don’t know and am looking for answers. Does anyone have one?
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
God And Ownership
Over the past 15 days the country celebrated Eid and Dusserah. There air was festive and the city wore a colorful look. It made me extremely happy to see a city that never sleeps and always on the run take a pause to celebrate life. But there was another thing that caught my attention. The increasing trend of ownership, i.e., mobs collectively exhibiting their might and right to own God.
I say this not in the sense of disapproving belief in God, but in the way these mobs usurp public property in their show of faith. I have always believed that God and one’s belief in the creator are personal matters to be practiced within the four walls of the house or inside a temple. But increasingly people are taking their beliefs to the street and forcing their way of celebrating God on others.
I don’t think God is interested in public show of faith; I don’t feel that God approves the destruction of public property to acknowledge his existence. I do not question the right of people to believe in God; even I am a believer. But I do question the right of people to resort to organized chaos to keep reinforcing their belief. My take: if you need to keep reinforcing your faith, then you are completely lost. And your claim of believing in God is hollow.
Do people think that holding public gatherings, blocking roads, littering roads with waste will make them dearer to God than someone who practices his faith in the quiet confines of his home? This Dusserah, newly laid roads have been dug to erect poles that hold huge cutouts of known politicians and wannabes with God mercifully finding a brief mention and/or a small space in one corner of the banner. Does that mean that the Politician has replaced God in the religious equation? I am not even counting the loss to the taxpayer who pays for repairs of roads and other public infrastructure.
I agree that we are a democracy and I am thankful for that. But does democracy mean everyone does as he pleases? What worries me more is the increasing blurring of lines between religion and politics. It’s been a while since politicians have been cleverly exploiting peoples’ belief in God to secure votes. But do they have to go to the extent of supporting and exhorting people in damaging public property? I guess that too works in their benefit; every time they relay a road or dig a gutter, a new contract is issued. That means added source of income for politicians and political parties through bribes and kickbacks.
I agree that in India corruption has reached a stage where legalizing it looks like a realistic solution than trying to eradicate the menace. Politicians feel that from my right to speak to the country’s right to vote everything should be controlled, and there is very little that the common man can do to prevent it. But trying to own, market, and sell God? That in my book is taking things too far.
Over the years what we have done is come this close to patenting God. We claim to protect God and fight for the need to ensure his longevity. Can someone please tell me that if God stands for Generator, Operator, Destroyer, then why on earth does the creator need our protection? Has creating the Universe and all of us depleted his energy to such a level that he is crying for protection?
The answer to all these questions is a capital NO. God does not need our protection nor does he demand public display of affection. If God is the creator, then by default he is our parent. And no matter how errant a child, a parent never wishes ill for his ward. So God is not going to punish us for not taking out processions, for not trying to protect him, and for not trying to spread his name by forcing our thought on others. God is God and needs no introduction, protection, or publicity.
So dear devotees, stop using God’s name to achieve personal goals, settle personal scores, and to try and prove there is no devotee better or bigger than you. You cannot please God or gain his love by causing trouble to your fellow human beings. Hence, please spread the message of love and peace; that will be the true way of expressing your love to the creator of the Universe.
I say this not in the sense of disapproving belief in God, but in the way these mobs usurp public property in their show of faith. I have always believed that God and one’s belief in the creator are personal matters to be practiced within the four walls of the house or inside a temple. But increasingly people are taking their beliefs to the street and forcing their way of celebrating God on others.
I don’t think God is interested in public show of faith; I don’t feel that God approves the destruction of public property to acknowledge his existence. I do not question the right of people to believe in God; even I am a believer. But I do question the right of people to resort to organized chaos to keep reinforcing their belief. My take: if you need to keep reinforcing your faith, then you are completely lost. And your claim of believing in God is hollow.
Do people think that holding public gatherings, blocking roads, littering roads with waste will make them dearer to God than someone who practices his faith in the quiet confines of his home? This Dusserah, newly laid roads have been dug to erect poles that hold huge cutouts of known politicians and wannabes with God mercifully finding a brief mention and/or a small space in one corner of the banner. Does that mean that the Politician has replaced God in the religious equation? I am not even counting the loss to the taxpayer who pays for repairs of roads and other public infrastructure.
I agree that we are a democracy and I am thankful for that. But does democracy mean everyone does as he pleases? What worries me more is the increasing blurring of lines between religion and politics. It’s been a while since politicians have been cleverly exploiting peoples’ belief in God to secure votes. But do they have to go to the extent of supporting and exhorting people in damaging public property? I guess that too works in their benefit; every time they relay a road or dig a gutter, a new contract is issued. That means added source of income for politicians and political parties through bribes and kickbacks.
I agree that in India corruption has reached a stage where legalizing it looks like a realistic solution than trying to eradicate the menace. Politicians feel that from my right to speak to the country’s right to vote everything should be controlled, and there is very little that the common man can do to prevent it. But trying to own, market, and sell God? That in my book is taking things too far.
Over the years what we have done is come this close to patenting God. We claim to protect God and fight for the need to ensure his longevity. Can someone please tell me that if God stands for Generator, Operator, Destroyer, then why on earth does the creator need our protection? Has creating the Universe and all of us depleted his energy to such a level that he is crying for protection?
The answer to all these questions is a capital NO. God does not need our protection nor does he demand public display of affection. If God is the creator, then by default he is our parent. And no matter how errant a child, a parent never wishes ill for his ward. So God is not going to punish us for not taking out processions, for not trying to protect him, and for not trying to spread his name by forcing our thought on others. God is God and needs no introduction, protection, or publicity.
So dear devotees, stop using God’s name to achieve personal goals, settle personal scores, and to try and prove there is no devotee better or bigger than you. You cannot please God or gain his love by causing trouble to your fellow human beings. Hence, please spread the message of love and peace; that will be the true way of expressing your love to the creator of the Universe.
Friday, October 12, 2007
Anwar
My name is Anwar. I live on the streets of Mumbai and am a rag picker by profession. I don't know how old I am, and I don't know who my parents are. I was found by Mariam apa about five years ago on Falkland Road, Mumbai's infamous red light area, in South Mumbai. According to her I must be around eight as she perceives me to have been three when she found me.
Mariam apa passed away last month and I am on my own again. I generally work the area from Mahim to Andheri, rummaging dustbins for plastic, paper, and anything else of value. I make about 40 rupees a day, which takes care of my food. But I would have liked life to be different.
When I observe life on the streets, at signals, when I see children going to school with their parents, when I see children traveling in cars, playing at parks, I ponder how it would be to have a roof over my head. I wonder how it would be to have a mother, a father, brothers and sisters. I wonder how it would be to sit with family and have a meal.
My heart yearns for a mother's love, father's care. How I wish I could go to school, study and make it in the real world. I long for some one to call me bhaiyya (brother). It's the holy month of Ramzan, and when I see kids along with parents going to pray, breaking their fast in the evening, I, in my heart, ask God why am I lonely? Why do I not have anyone to call family, why is it that I do not have a place to call home?
I wonder how it feels to be fed by a mother. How it feels to be scolded by a father when I do something wrong. I yearn for a family, I wish I could study, I wish for a life different from the one that I live.
But I know that all I could do is yearn, for life is the way it is. It's fair to some, unfair to others. Then I take solace in the fact that I am not the only one without a roof over my head. There are millions like me in this county called India. Millions of children who aimlessly roam the streets of the country, who have no future, nowhere to go, nothing to achieve.
Mariam apa used to tell me that children are God's gift to mankind. Now she is no more and as I sit and recollect her words, I start doubting them. If children were God's gift to mankind, then why are so many like me wandering the streets? Why are so many like me abandoned by parents? Don't they believe in God, don't they love their own flesh and blood?
Sometimes on a bad day when I haven't earned anything, hunger forces me to seek alms. Most don't give any, but they do make it a point to tell me mehnat karo (work). At that time I feel sad, it hurts. I ask myself, aren't children supposed to be God's gift to mankind.? Aren't children supposed to study and play? Aren't children supposed to be sans survival worries? Are children supposed to work when they are supposed to be studying, leading a protected and secure life?
I know the answer is yes, they are meant to be without survival worries. Then why am I on the streets, why am I at such an young age working for a living? I will grow up illiterate. Don't I have a right to live life as other fortunate children? Or am I condemned to a life of misery forever?
I search for answers but find none. Do you have one?
Mariam apa passed away last month and I am on my own again. I generally work the area from Mahim to Andheri, rummaging dustbins for plastic, paper, and anything else of value. I make about 40 rupees a day, which takes care of my food. But I would have liked life to be different.
When I observe life on the streets, at signals, when I see children going to school with their parents, when I see children traveling in cars, playing at parks, I ponder how it would be to have a roof over my head. I wonder how it would be to have a mother, a father, brothers and sisters. I wonder how it would be to sit with family and have a meal.
My heart yearns for a mother's love, father's care. How I wish I could go to school, study and make it in the real world. I long for some one to call me bhaiyya (brother). It's the holy month of Ramzan, and when I see kids along with parents going to pray, breaking their fast in the evening, I, in my heart, ask God why am I lonely? Why do I not have anyone to call family, why is it that I do not have a place to call home?
I wonder how it feels to be fed by a mother. How it feels to be scolded by a father when I do something wrong. I yearn for a family, I wish I could study, I wish for a life different from the one that I live.
But I know that all I could do is yearn, for life is the way it is. It's fair to some, unfair to others. Then I take solace in the fact that I am not the only one without a roof over my head. There are millions like me in this county called India. Millions of children who aimlessly roam the streets of the country, who have no future, nowhere to go, nothing to achieve.
Mariam apa used to tell me that children are God's gift to mankind. Now she is no more and as I sit and recollect her words, I start doubting them. If children were God's gift to mankind, then why are so many like me wandering the streets? Why are so many like me abandoned by parents? Don't they believe in God, don't they love their own flesh and blood?
Sometimes on a bad day when I haven't earned anything, hunger forces me to seek alms. Most don't give any, but they do make it a point to tell me mehnat karo (work). At that time I feel sad, it hurts. I ask myself, aren't children supposed to be God's gift to mankind.? Aren't children supposed to study and play? Aren't children supposed to be sans survival worries? Are children supposed to work when they are supposed to be studying, leading a protected and secure life?
I know the answer is yes, they are meant to be without survival worries. Then why am I on the streets, why am I at such an young age working for a living? I will grow up illiterate. Don't I have a right to live life as other fortunate children? Or am I condemned to a life of misery forever?
I search for answers but find none. Do you have one?
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Growing Up With Big B
It was the seventies, the time when I was growing up, learning to read, write, and starting to understand worldly ways. It was also the time a certain Amitabh Bachchan was growing up, professionally. Amitabh turns 65 today and what a journey it has been. For him, and for me.
To cut a long story short, I, like most of that generation, grew up with Mr. Bachchan. Fridays that marked the release of a Bachchan starrer used to be big days for me. I would stand in line when plans opened and walk out in the afternoon with a ticket in hand. The world was my oyster then.
Life with Amitabh was exiting to say the least. The first real anti-hero taking on a corrupt system. An Indian Robin Hood of sorts who used the system to get at the system. I was sold. I laughed with the Shahenshah, cried with him, fought on his side, and mourned his onscreen death. I watched Sholay maybe 25 times, maybe more, every time expecting the ending to be different, expecting Jai to walk into the sunset with his lady love.
His onscreen death used to weigh me down for days. That after knowing very well that it was just cinema to me was the ultimate tribute to the man's talent. You left the theatre believing completely in make believe. He was a seller of dreams and continues to be one to this day.
There have been better actors than him, there will be in the future. But Amitabh is Amitabh. There is something very sophisticated about him, yet something very earthy. His sense of style, his famous baritone, his hair style, his shoes; he is in a league of his own.
How can I forget growing my hair over my ear and pushing it to the back of the ear in school and hoping that no one would spot it. Long hair was banned in school. Unfortunately, I used to be caught finally; I have had many a haircut at the school's expense. And believe me it used to be brutal. Then I used to feel one with Amitabh wanting to fight the system. When I look back I realize my enthusiasm was misplaced. But what the heck, aren't these episodes part of the joys of growing up?
The phenomenon of Amitabh spawned a whole generation of Bachchan clones, including your's truly. My father used to tear his hair out everytime I returned from an Amitabh movie and demanded new clothes, shoes and the works that would be in line with Bachchan's latest.
I watched in joy the transition of Amitabh the actor to Amitabh the mega star. I saw him carry movies with flimsy story lines, poor scripts, and funny songs purely on his talent. The cash registers were ringing non stop.
Then came 1982, the making of Coolie. Who can forget the accident, and the whole country was in mourning. I remember waking up everyday in the morning praying to God that newpapers did not carry the dreaded news. There was no 24x7 television then. I prayed for his health, rejoiced at every news of his getting better, and visited Siddhi Vinayak the day he walked out of hospital. I know many will call me a fool. To them I say, I am glad to be one.
In the nineties I saw him stutter a bit. But never did the thought occur that this could be the beginning of the end of a glorious career. And am I glad that that the thought never crossed Mr. Bachchan's mind either.
I agree that he is as human as any of us. He committed errors, but so what? So do we. And today when I am entering the third quarter of my life, I do so with great confidence. The confidence of having seen Mr. Bachchan fight and win. It's been a long journey and I too hope to emerge victorious too. Not in the manner that Mr. Bachchan has, but then I am not Mr. Bachchan.
To cut a long story short, I, like most of that generation, grew up with Mr. Bachchan. Fridays that marked the release of a Bachchan starrer used to be big days for me. I would stand in line when plans opened and walk out in the afternoon with a ticket in hand. The world was my oyster then.
Life with Amitabh was exiting to say the least. The first real anti-hero taking on a corrupt system. An Indian Robin Hood of sorts who used the system to get at the system. I was sold. I laughed with the Shahenshah, cried with him, fought on his side, and mourned his onscreen death. I watched Sholay maybe 25 times, maybe more, every time expecting the ending to be different, expecting Jai to walk into the sunset with his lady love.
His onscreen death used to weigh me down for days. That after knowing very well that it was just cinema to me was the ultimate tribute to the man's talent. You left the theatre believing completely in make believe. He was a seller of dreams and continues to be one to this day.
There have been better actors than him, there will be in the future. But Amitabh is Amitabh. There is something very sophisticated about him, yet something very earthy. His sense of style, his famous baritone, his hair style, his shoes; he is in a league of his own.
How can I forget growing my hair over my ear and pushing it to the back of the ear in school and hoping that no one would spot it. Long hair was banned in school. Unfortunately, I used to be caught finally; I have had many a haircut at the school's expense. And believe me it used to be brutal. Then I used to feel one with Amitabh wanting to fight the system. When I look back I realize my enthusiasm was misplaced. But what the heck, aren't these episodes part of the joys of growing up?
The phenomenon of Amitabh spawned a whole generation of Bachchan clones, including your's truly. My father used to tear his hair out everytime I returned from an Amitabh movie and demanded new clothes, shoes and the works that would be in line with Bachchan's latest.
I watched in joy the transition of Amitabh the actor to Amitabh the mega star. I saw him carry movies with flimsy story lines, poor scripts, and funny songs purely on his talent. The cash registers were ringing non stop.
Then came 1982, the making of Coolie. Who can forget the accident, and the whole country was in mourning. I remember waking up everyday in the morning praying to God that newpapers did not carry the dreaded news. There was no 24x7 television then. I prayed for his health, rejoiced at every news of his getting better, and visited Siddhi Vinayak the day he walked out of hospital. I know many will call me a fool. To them I say, I am glad to be one.
In the nineties I saw him stutter a bit. But never did the thought occur that this could be the beginning of the end of a glorious career. And am I glad that that the thought never crossed Mr. Bachchan's mind either.
I agree that he is as human as any of us. He committed errors, but so what? So do we. And today when I am entering the third quarter of my life, I do so with great confidence. The confidence of having seen Mr. Bachchan fight and win. It's been a long journey and I too hope to emerge victorious too. Not in the manner that Mr. Bachchan has, but then I am not Mr. Bachchan.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Land Of Reservation
Over the past three years, the word reservation has assumed a different meaning. And again who do we have to thank? The humble politician. Now reservation has assumed a secular meaning. The reason: politicians have hijacked the word secular too and changed it to pro-minority from equal rights sans discrimination.
I know that a lot has been written about the merits and demerits of reservations and I do not wish to be another in a long line of reservation analysts. I have decided to get secular about reservations, in line with the government’s interpretation of the word.
Why not bring reservations into every aspect of life? Imagine if the government were to implement reservations for the usage of public urinals. For every one person from the general category using the toilet, it would be mandatory for 8 people from the reserved categories to use. In short, if another person from the general category wants to use the restroom, he will have to wait for eight from the reserved category to do so before he can relieve himself.
And imagine swipe cards with chips and all to use the toilet. How else will they monitor usage?
The government will also make reservations mandatory for admissions to hospitals. In a 100 bed hospital, 95 will be reserved. And even if the 95 are vacant, they will not be allotted to the general; an effective way of reducing population. Since the hospital will run into losses given the high non-occupancy rate of reserved beds, the government will charge the general public a non-occupancy tax. Goes without saying that the reserved category will use the hospital for free and the general will subsidize 100%.
Reservations will be mandatory in the private sector. For every 5 businessmen from the general category, it would be mandatory that 50 will be from the reserved category. And how does the government achieve this? In the same way as Kerala implemented land reforms in the sixties. Take businesses away from the general category and pass it on to the reserved category. Do I hear the Ambanis applying for membership in the reserved category?
Next will be reservations in the Army. And if the Congress government continues for another 10 years, we will have quotas for Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, Sri Lankans, and the Chinese in our armed forces. The reason: Kashmir will be with Pakistan, Assam and some other north-eastern states with Bangladesh, Arunachal Pradesh with the Chinese, and Tamil Nadu with the Lankans. So people from these territories will be given Indian overseas passports, and hence, a right to join the Armed forces.
The only place that will not have reservations will be Politics and the Parliament. There’s no point in biting the hand that feeds, right?
I know that a lot has been written about the merits and demerits of reservations and I do not wish to be another in a long line of reservation analysts. I have decided to get secular about reservations, in line with the government’s interpretation of the word.
Why not bring reservations into every aspect of life? Imagine if the government were to implement reservations for the usage of public urinals. For every one person from the general category using the toilet, it would be mandatory for 8 people from the reserved categories to use. In short, if another person from the general category wants to use the restroom, he will have to wait for eight from the reserved category to do so before he can relieve himself.
And imagine swipe cards with chips and all to use the toilet. How else will they monitor usage?
The government will also make reservations mandatory for admissions to hospitals. In a 100 bed hospital, 95 will be reserved. And even if the 95 are vacant, they will not be allotted to the general; an effective way of reducing population. Since the hospital will run into losses given the high non-occupancy rate of reserved beds, the government will charge the general public a non-occupancy tax. Goes without saying that the reserved category will use the hospital for free and the general will subsidize 100%.
Reservations will be mandatory in the private sector. For every 5 businessmen from the general category, it would be mandatory that 50 will be from the reserved category. And how does the government achieve this? In the same way as Kerala implemented land reforms in the sixties. Take businesses away from the general category and pass it on to the reserved category. Do I hear the Ambanis applying for membership in the reserved category?
Next will be reservations in the Army. And if the Congress government continues for another 10 years, we will have quotas for Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, Sri Lankans, and the Chinese in our armed forces. The reason: Kashmir will be with Pakistan, Assam and some other north-eastern states with Bangladesh, Arunachal Pradesh with the Chinese, and Tamil Nadu with the Lankans. So people from these territories will be given Indian overseas passports, and hence, a right to join the Armed forces.
The only place that will not have reservations will be Politics and the Parliament. There’s no point in biting the hand that feeds, right?
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Hyde Wins, Rest In Peace Jekyll
We claim to live in a civilized society, yet we knowingly behave in uncivilized ways. We are aware of the law, legal and moral, yet we willingly stray. So what is it that leads so many of us astray? What is it that brings out the Hyde in us even when the Jekyll begs abstinence?
Last evening on my way home from work I saw a couple of guys zoom past on a bike. They slowed as they approached a girl walking about 200 meters ahead. And in a flash the pillion rider thrust out his hand, squeezed the girl's buttock, and before the girl could react zoomed away.
The girl was shocked. She just stood there for a minute, then gathered herself, and looked around guiltily. The next thing I knew, she hailed an autorickshaw and left in a hurry. As she got into the rick, she looked back and I could see tears in her eyes.
I was left thinking as to what kind of a society are we living. A girl gets molested, the molesters ride away as if what they did was their birth right. And worse, the girl ends up feeling guilty for no crime of hers.
Shouldn't it be the offenders who should feel guilty? The guys looked educated. So what is it that makes literate people do things that most so called illiterates refrain from indulging? Are parents not teaching children what's right and what's wrong? Aren't schools imparting education that teaches people to treat fellow beings as humans and not as objects with which one can behave in any manner that one deems fit?
Why is it that if someone were behave in a similar manner with the sister/mother/wife of one or both of the bike riders, their reaction would have been one of outrage and anger? Isn't every woman the mother, sister, or wife of someone?
And I have always wondered, what pleasure does one derive from such acts that hurt people? I am at a loss. Looks like when it comes to satisfying desires, Hyde is scoring over Jekyll 10 on 10. That dear friends is a sad reflection of the heady times that we live in.
Last evening on my way home from work I saw a couple of guys zoom past on a bike. They slowed as they approached a girl walking about 200 meters ahead. And in a flash the pillion rider thrust out his hand, squeezed the girl's buttock, and before the girl could react zoomed away.
The girl was shocked. She just stood there for a minute, then gathered herself, and looked around guiltily. The next thing I knew, she hailed an autorickshaw and left in a hurry. As she got into the rick, she looked back and I could see tears in her eyes.
I was left thinking as to what kind of a society are we living. A girl gets molested, the molesters ride away as if what they did was their birth right. And worse, the girl ends up feeling guilty for no crime of hers.
Shouldn't it be the offenders who should feel guilty? The guys looked educated. So what is it that makes literate people do things that most so called illiterates refrain from indulging? Are parents not teaching children what's right and what's wrong? Aren't schools imparting education that teaches people to treat fellow beings as humans and not as objects with which one can behave in any manner that one deems fit?
Why is it that if someone were behave in a similar manner with the sister/mother/wife of one or both of the bike riders, their reaction would have been one of outrage and anger? Isn't every woman the mother, sister, or wife of someone?
And I have always wondered, what pleasure does one derive from such acts that hurt people? I am at a loss. Looks like when it comes to satisfying desires, Hyde is scoring over Jekyll 10 on 10. That dear friends is a sad reflection of the heady times that we live in.
Monday, October 8, 2007
Of Love And Life--A Blast From The Past
I saw a young couple at a bus stop arm in arm engrossed in each other, oblivious to the world around them. It took me 15 years into the past to my student days. The eighties had ended and we had just entered the nervous nineties, a time filled with new hope. India was on the verge of shedding the garb of socialism and embracing capitalism. It was the time of Narasimha Rao and liberalization.
Love however was still in the flower kissing a flower stage and public show of affection was considered Western. It was the time when love came knocking on my heart doors and I too spent time at bus stops with my beloved (now my wife of 11 years). But no arm in arm and a distance of at least 6 inches between the two of us.
I am not trying to compare different generations. I am just plain nostalgic. I remember the times that we spent in the library studying together. Taking tea breaks in the canteen, going for walks around the University campus in the evenings. And then parting to meet the next day.
The parting used to be the most difficult part of the day. When one is young and in love, life holds no other meaning than being together, being care free. Not that the feeling changes as you age, but priorities do as you are dragged down by the burdens of living. We were no different. Those were the days when we used to dislike Sundays. There were no lectures and getting out of the house was difficult. Many questions asked as to why do we need to go out on a Sunday, where, and with whom. Our parents were not aware that we were dating.
Dating was an alien concept for parents in those times. And so were telephones. And in our case, she had one, I did not. Those also were the days of the black monstrous but sturdy public phones that let you make never-ending calls for 50 paise. But then getting a fifty paise in itself was a Herculean task. It was strictly no pocket money on holidays. So the entire week used to go in trying to save that 50 paise for the Sunday call. And sometimes a wrong number or faulty instrument would lay you low.
Eating out used to be the roadside Chinese stall and tea used to be cutting chai (half a glass) at the coner (naka) stall called a katta in Mumbai lingo. Travel used to be strictly by buses and local trains. A rickshaw ride used to be reserved for birthdays when parents used to loosen their purse strings and let us splurge. On that day lunch at a Udupi followed by ice cream at Vadilal was the norm. And boy, how we used to wait for that one day of the year.
We used to dream of completing our studies, finding good jobs and settling down in life. Those were the last days of a lifestyle immortalized by Hrishikesh Mukherjee in his movies--just plain simple yet beautiful. Being Amol Palekar was the mantra of the day, but a slowly fading mantra.
We graduated, found jobs, jumped jobs, and raced ahead in life. We married, bought a house. Finally, in my dad's parlance, "we were settled". We no longer drank cutting chai at kattas, long walks were long forgotten, and life fell into a pattern.
The couple at the bus stop broke that thought pattern, albiet briefly. It was a refreshing blast from the past. Of times spent making promises many of which we went on to break in our quest for a better life. But I guess very few couples actually remember and honor all the promises they make to one another. No complaints on that front for some of the promises in retrospect were plain silly such as "I will listen to whatever you say". I guess all of us want equal partners and not doormats.
I know change is the only constant and I have no regrets in my time having passed. It will for the couple at the bus stop and for everyone else. What matters is how well we adapt to changing times while keeping our dreams, hopes alive. And like all things love too changes from the physical to the emotional. From sound to silence. And after being in love for over 15 years one finds that love can beautiful in silence too.
The need to say much is gone, a slight nod of the head, a wave of the hand, the blink of an eye says much more than a thousand words. For me that works and if it does for you too, then friends I believe you have succeded in keeping love alive in changing times.
Love however was still in the flower kissing a flower stage and public show of affection was considered Western. It was the time when love came knocking on my heart doors and I too spent time at bus stops with my beloved (now my wife of 11 years). But no arm in arm and a distance of at least 6 inches between the two of us.
I am not trying to compare different generations. I am just plain nostalgic. I remember the times that we spent in the library studying together. Taking tea breaks in the canteen, going for walks around the University campus in the evenings. And then parting to meet the next day.
The parting used to be the most difficult part of the day. When one is young and in love, life holds no other meaning than being together, being care free. Not that the feeling changes as you age, but priorities do as you are dragged down by the burdens of living. We were no different. Those were the days when we used to dislike Sundays. There were no lectures and getting out of the house was difficult. Many questions asked as to why do we need to go out on a Sunday, where, and with whom. Our parents were not aware that we were dating.
Dating was an alien concept for parents in those times. And so were telephones. And in our case, she had one, I did not. Those also were the days of the black monstrous but sturdy public phones that let you make never-ending calls for 50 paise. But then getting a fifty paise in itself was a Herculean task. It was strictly no pocket money on holidays. So the entire week used to go in trying to save that 50 paise for the Sunday call. And sometimes a wrong number or faulty instrument would lay you low.
Eating out used to be the roadside Chinese stall and tea used to be cutting chai (half a glass) at the coner (naka) stall called a katta in Mumbai lingo. Travel used to be strictly by buses and local trains. A rickshaw ride used to be reserved for birthdays when parents used to loosen their purse strings and let us splurge. On that day lunch at a Udupi followed by ice cream at Vadilal was the norm. And boy, how we used to wait for that one day of the year.
We used to dream of completing our studies, finding good jobs and settling down in life. Those were the last days of a lifestyle immortalized by Hrishikesh Mukherjee in his movies--just plain simple yet beautiful. Being Amol Palekar was the mantra of the day, but a slowly fading mantra.
We graduated, found jobs, jumped jobs, and raced ahead in life. We married, bought a house. Finally, in my dad's parlance, "we were settled". We no longer drank cutting chai at kattas, long walks were long forgotten, and life fell into a pattern.
The couple at the bus stop broke that thought pattern, albiet briefly. It was a refreshing blast from the past. Of times spent making promises many of which we went on to break in our quest for a better life. But I guess very few couples actually remember and honor all the promises they make to one another. No complaints on that front for some of the promises in retrospect were plain silly such as "I will listen to whatever you say". I guess all of us want equal partners and not doormats.
I know change is the only constant and I have no regrets in my time having passed. It will for the couple at the bus stop and for everyone else. What matters is how well we adapt to changing times while keeping our dreams, hopes alive. And like all things love too changes from the physical to the emotional. From sound to silence. And after being in love for over 15 years one finds that love can beautiful in silence too.
The need to say much is gone, a slight nod of the head, a wave of the hand, the blink of an eye says much more than a thousand words. For me that works and if it does for you too, then friends I believe you have succeded in keeping love alive in changing times.
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Who Let The Dogs Out
It's 11 in the night and the lane that I live in turns into a virtual playground for strays. So much so that it's impossible to walk. Even bike rides are a strict no-no. The dogs chase bikes and try to dig their teeth into any available calf.
So am I to assume that one is supposed to be under house arrest post 2300 hours because no one wants to do anything about the strays? This is where I have a bone to pick with the so called animal lovers. The main reason why strays roam freely on the streets while humble citizens like me stay behind locked doors.
I have an aging mother at home. What happens if I need to go out to get the doctor post 2300 hours in a medical emergency? Or do the animal lovers feel that to humor their warped sense of equality towards animals, I let my mother suffer the worst possible fate?
I have a few questions for these so called animal lovers. Why do they selectively fight tooth and nail to support only dogs? If they have managed to secure freedom for strays, why do they not step up and take them into their folds and look after them? Or do they think that their duty is to just fight for the rights of dogs to roam the streets free terrorizing ordinary citizens?
And my key question. Do they think only dogs qualify for animal rights? There is a chiken shop outside my building gate and at any given point of time in the day I see the owner of the shop decapitating poor hapless chicken. So my question is if decapitating chicken is fine, then what's the harm in rounding up strays and sending them to the slaughter house.
Humans eat meat, fish and other forms of life. Why are these animal rights activists not fighting to get a ban on killing any animal or bird? There are temples where they behead a chicken and use its blood for rituals. People slaughter goats on Bakri Eid. I don't see these animal activists protesting any of these religious rituals.
I guess they do not have the guts to question organized religion or take on the powerful religious zealots. So what best to do than fight the ordinary citizen who has no voice, nor the time and energy to counter these so called well wishers of animals. In short, these dog lovers are behaving in no different manner than goondas or bullies who often take on the weakest in society to prove their point.
My challenge to these animal lovers is if you feel so much for the strays adopt them and fill your houses with them. Or create facilities where these strays can be shifted and taken care of. Please do not fight half battles, and let the common man fight the war. The war of surviving the strays in the night.
Will PETA or any other organization or animal rights activists pay compensation if someone is bitten by a stray? God forbid, if someone dies of rabies, will these farcical dog lovers look after that person's family? I tell you, the answer is a big NO.
If these people cannot do any of the above-mentioned things, then in my book they have no right to expect the common people to put up with their nonsense. I think it's high time people like you and me, people who are hugely affected by strays, call their bluff, take them on and force them to be accountable for their actions.
I agree that dogs are faithful creatures and 10 of 10 times will stand by its master while many may do so 1 of 10. I have no problems with people wanting to take care of strays. But I certainly have a problem with them doing a half job and unleashing monsters of Frankenstien proportions.
And yes, please do not give me the logic of if you do not harm them they will not attack you. That is a convenient argument, but an untruth. So dog lovers, rise and be ready to clean your mess. If you can't, then get off you high horses and face reality. Strays are a problem, a huge one at that. Many children have lost their lives, don't wait for tragedy to strike you home. If you do, it will be too late to react.
So am I to assume that one is supposed to be under house arrest post 2300 hours because no one wants to do anything about the strays? This is where I have a bone to pick with the so called animal lovers. The main reason why strays roam freely on the streets while humble citizens like me stay behind locked doors.
I have an aging mother at home. What happens if I need to go out to get the doctor post 2300 hours in a medical emergency? Or do the animal lovers feel that to humor their warped sense of equality towards animals, I let my mother suffer the worst possible fate?
I have a few questions for these so called animal lovers. Why do they selectively fight tooth and nail to support only dogs? If they have managed to secure freedom for strays, why do they not step up and take them into their folds and look after them? Or do they think that their duty is to just fight for the rights of dogs to roam the streets free terrorizing ordinary citizens?
And my key question. Do they think only dogs qualify for animal rights? There is a chiken shop outside my building gate and at any given point of time in the day I see the owner of the shop decapitating poor hapless chicken. So my question is if decapitating chicken is fine, then what's the harm in rounding up strays and sending them to the slaughter house.
Humans eat meat, fish and other forms of life. Why are these animal rights activists not fighting to get a ban on killing any animal or bird? There are temples where they behead a chicken and use its blood for rituals. People slaughter goats on Bakri Eid. I don't see these animal activists protesting any of these religious rituals.
I guess they do not have the guts to question organized religion or take on the powerful religious zealots. So what best to do than fight the ordinary citizen who has no voice, nor the time and energy to counter these so called well wishers of animals. In short, these dog lovers are behaving in no different manner than goondas or bullies who often take on the weakest in society to prove their point.
My challenge to these animal lovers is if you feel so much for the strays adopt them and fill your houses with them. Or create facilities where these strays can be shifted and taken care of. Please do not fight half battles, and let the common man fight the war. The war of surviving the strays in the night.
Will PETA or any other organization or animal rights activists pay compensation if someone is bitten by a stray? God forbid, if someone dies of rabies, will these farcical dog lovers look after that person's family? I tell you, the answer is a big NO.
If these people cannot do any of the above-mentioned things, then in my book they have no right to expect the common people to put up with their nonsense. I think it's high time people like you and me, people who are hugely affected by strays, call their bluff, take them on and force them to be accountable for their actions.
I agree that dogs are faithful creatures and 10 of 10 times will stand by its master while many may do so 1 of 10. I have no problems with people wanting to take care of strays. But I certainly have a problem with them doing a half job and unleashing monsters of Frankenstien proportions.
And yes, please do not give me the logic of if you do not harm them they will not attack you. That is a convenient argument, but an untruth. So dog lovers, rise and be ready to clean your mess. If you can't, then get off you high horses and face reality. Strays are a problem, a huge one at that. Many children have lost their lives, don't wait for tragedy to strike you home. If you do, it will be too late to react.
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
No Smoking
The business of helping people smoke themselves to death is a lucrative one. And why not, when at least a fifth of the world's population willingly subscribe to it, knowing fully well the damage caused every time the haze settles.
Can't blame businesses for they will engage in a trade as long as there is money to be made. Isn't that the meaning of enterprise? And can't blame them of misguiding people; don't they write on the box "Consumption of tobacco products is injurious to health", or "Smoking is injurious to health".
What amazes me are the people who read the warning and still willingly lead themselves to the slaughter. One may say it's my choice to smoke. Agreed, I have no issues with that. But yes, I do have an issue with someone polluting my lungs with second hand smoke.
If one claims a right to smoke, then I claim the right of not wanting to be subjected to that smoke. Smoke your guts out, kill yourself by all means, but do not exhale. If you can do that, be my guest.
We are worried about terrorists planting bombs and killing us. But we are not in the least bothered of smokers killing us each minute. I leave it for you to decide who is the bigger threat, terrorists or smokers. Sometimes I feel the terrorists are wasting their time killing people who are anyways intent on committing harakiri.
The government's attitude is even better. They will try to ban smoking, but not the manufacture and sale of cigarettes. And why would they ban companies from making these cancer sticks when they earn billions by way of taxes. Big tobacco know how to keep the machines well oiled.
To me, higher taxes and hiking prices of cigarettes and smoking bans are just a farce. A show of action to mask inaction. A look at Parliamentarians gives us an idea of how they think. Most are addicted to smoking.
The Left leaders who are so concerned of the nuclear deal and its impact on the people of this country see no danger in puffing away to glory and of polluting the atmosphere. Can't help taking a dig at the Left; according to me they deserve it for trying to force upon the masses an ideology whose time has passed.
No cigarette vendor is supposed to be anywhere close to a school, educational institution or hospital. That's not what I say. That's what the rule book says. But as ususal we love bending rules; the result, we have a cigarette vendor within spitting distance of most schools, at least in Mumbai.
Dev Anand in Hum Dono had immortalized the deadly cancer stick when he mouthed the song, "Mein zindagi ka saath nibhata chala gaya, har phikr ko duaen mein udata chala gaya." The writer of thar song would have done a great service to mankind if he had written "Mein phikr ka saath nibhata chala gaya, zindagi ko duaen mein udata chala gaya." What say?
Can't blame businesses for they will engage in a trade as long as there is money to be made. Isn't that the meaning of enterprise? And can't blame them of misguiding people; don't they write on the box "Consumption of tobacco products is injurious to health", or "Smoking is injurious to health".
What amazes me are the people who read the warning and still willingly lead themselves to the slaughter. One may say it's my choice to smoke. Agreed, I have no issues with that. But yes, I do have an issue with someone polluting my lungs with second hand smoke.
If one claims a right to smoke, then I claim the right of not wanting to be subjected to that smoke. Smoke your guts out, kill yourself by all means, but do not exhale. If you can do that, be my guest.
We are worried about terrorists planting bombs and killing us. But we are not in the least bothered of smokers killing us each minute. I leave it for you to decide who is the bigger threat, terrorists or smokers. Sometimes I feel the terrorists are wasting their time killing people who are anyways intent on committing harakiri.
The government's attitude is even better. They will try to ban smoking, but not the manufacture and sale of cigarettes. And why would they ban companies from making these cancer sticks when they earn billions by way of taxes. Big tobacco know how to keep the machines well oiled.
To me, higher taxes and hiking prices of cigarettes and smoking bans are just a farce. A show of action to mask inaction. A look at Parliamentarians gives us an idea of how they think. Most are addicted to smoking.
The Left leaders who are so concerned of the nuclear deal and its impact on the people of this country see no danger in puffing away to glory and of polluting the atmosphere. Can't help taking a dig at the Left; according to me they deserve it for trying to force upon the masses an ideology whose time has passed.
No cigarette vendor is supposed to be anywhere close to a school, educational institution or hospital. That's not what I say. That's what the rule book says. But as ususal we love bending rules; the result, we have a cigarette vendor within spitting distance of most schools, at least in Mumbai.
Dev Anand in Hum Dono had immortalized the deadly cancer stick when he mouthed the song, "Mein zindagi ka saath nibhata chala gaya, har phikr ko duaen mein udata chala gaya." The writer of thar song would have done a great service to mankind if he had written "Mein phikr ka saath nibhata chala gaya, zindagi ko duaen mein udata chala gaya." What say?
Sunday, September 30, 2007
To Udipi With Love
It was Sunday morning and we got talking about how it's been a while since we ate out. These days newspapers, magazines, travel and news channels all seem to be talking about food, good food. The Times of India even comes out with regular updates of its Good Food Guide booklet. What made it a done deal was Kunal Vijaykar's Sunday morning show The Foodie on Times Now.
My wife and I decided that's it; we have to eat out today. Once that decision was made came the mouth-watering but laborious task of narrowing down on a mutually agreeable restaurant.
We thought Italian, disucssed Mexican, travelled through Chinese lanes, sniffed at imaginary Thai delicacies, wondered about Lebanese, and drew pizzas and burgers on paper. By now you must have decided what a wonky couple. I agree, we are more than wonky. Imagine what happens when two indecisive Librans decide to set a common agenda.
But wait, there is a twist in the tale. Any guesses on what we settled for? Surprise, Surprise... it was good, old, clean Udipi food. That decision taken, we landed at a restaurant called Woodlands near Juhu beach in the north-western Mumbai suburb of Vile Parle.
The setting was decent but not out of the ordinary. As we drank water we discussed the ambience, compared it with many a new-age joint and found it was bit wanting. But what the
heck, we were there to eat the food and not the ambience.
As many others we first settled for the Idli-Vada samabar routine. That's one thing my friends and relatives find funny. You see, for TamBrams, idli is a home affair. So most of the people who know me find it funny that I go to a restaurant and order something that is made at home almost every second day. To them I say, can't help it, I am addicted.
Then it was time for the main course. I settled for a Bissibele bath, while my wife ordered a Mysore Masala dosa. The food was excellent, the service to die for. I am yet to see waiters in the fancier restaurants that I have visited serve me like they do in mst Udipis, with love and a smile straight from the heart. I guess that enhances the tase of the food, increases your appetite, and sets the mood for the day.
The service brought back memories of a fancy Chinese restaurant that we had visited a few months ago. The food was decent at the most, the charges exhorbitant, and unbelievable as it
may sound, we had to serve ourselves. It was buffet you see. It left me with the feeling of having been cheated. What idiot would want to pay 1000 bucks for an averagely decent meal and then end up serving oneself. You guessed it right, this idiot.
Back to the Sunday in question, we wound up our meal with steaming cups of filter coffee, again much better than the lattes, mochas, and cappucinos in westernized outlets. For all the food that we ate, I was pleasantly surprised when the waiter brought the bill. A grand total of Rs.240 plus taxes.
On our way back from an excellent value for money lunch, we were left thinking of the many lunches that we have had over the years at some fancy hotels. Rarely did we walk out feeling so content and satisfied. And the money had nothing to do with it.
So friends, for us when it comes to eating out nothing comes remotely close to the Udipi experience. And at least I am yet to come across anyone known to me who has been laid low by
an Udipi meal, money and otherwise.
My wife and I decided that's it; we have to eat out today. Once that decision was made came the mouth-watering but laborious task of narrowing down on a mutually agreeable restaurant.
We thought Italian, disucssed Mexican, travelled through Chinese lanes, sniffed at imaginary Thai delicacies, wondered about Lebanese, and drew pizzas and burgers on paper. By now you must have decided what a wonky couple. I agree, we are more than wonky. Imagine what happens when two indecisive Librans decide to set a common agenda.
But wait, there is a twist in the tale. Any guesses on what we settled for? Surprise, Surprise... it was good, old, clean Udipi food. That decision taken, we landed at a restaurant called Woodlands near Juhu beach in the north-western Mumbai suburb of Vile Parle.
The setting was decent but not out of the ordinary. As we drank water we discussed the ambience, compared it with many a new-age joint and found it was bit wanting. But what the
heck, we were there to eat the food and not the ambience.
As many others we first settled for the Idli-Vada samabar routine. That's one thing my friends and relatives find funny. You see, for TamBrams, idli is a home affair. So most of the people who know me find it funny that I go to a restaurant and order something that is made at home almost every second day. To them I say, can't help it, I am addicted.
Then it was time for the main course. I settled for a Bissibele bath, while my wife ordered a Mysore Masala dosa. The food was excellent, the service to die for. I am yet to see waiters in the fancier restaurants that I have visited serve me like they do in mst Udipis, with love and a smile straight from the heart. I guess that enhances the tase of the food, increases your appetite, and sets the mood for the day.
The service brought back memories of a fancy Chinese restaurant that we had visited a few months ago. The food was decent at the most, the charges exhorbitant, and unbelievable as it
may sound, we had to serve ourselves. It was buffet you see. It left me with the feeling of having been cheated. What idiot would want to pay 1000 bucks for an averagely decent meal and then end up serving oneself. You guessed it right, this idiot.
Back to the Sunday in question, we wound up our meal with steaming cups of filter coffee, again much better than the lattes, mochas, and cappucinos in westernized outlets. For all the food that we ate, I was pleasantly surprised when the waiter brought the bill. A grand total of Rs.240 plus taxes.
On our way back from an excellent value for money lunch, we were left thinking of the many lunches that we have had over the years at some fancy hotels. Rarely did we walk out feeling so content and satisfied. And the money had nothing to do with it.
So friends, for us when it comes to eating out nothing comes remotely close to the Udipi experience. And at least I am yet to come across anyone known to me who has been laid low by
an Udipi meal, money and otherwise.
Friday, September 28, 2007
The Indian Patient
All of us must have visited a Doctor's dispensary at some point of time in life. And all of us must have observed how time becomes all important the moment patients enter a clinic.
Why do we visit a doctor? I guess because we are ill. And logically when we are ill aren't we supposed to relax, take it easy? Then why is it that some patients always appear to be in a tearing hurry to see the doctor?
Obviously whatever one is suffering from ain't life threatening 9 of 10 times if we have walked into the clinic to meet the physician. Then why is it that some patients give others the look of I have more important things to do in life than you; so why don't you wait while I sneak in for a quick peek?
Clinics today have become mobile business centers. Cellphones are ringing from all sides. Imagine the plight of the very ill, the discomfort that the different shrill tones cause. And the misery doesn't end there. You will get to hear everything from the prices of shares, to how Bush is ruining the world, all within the confines of a 10 x 10 clinic. Speaking softly is not a virtue, especially if we are tying to look important.
Amid all these conversations most patients have an eye on the Doctor's door and a foot ready to charge. It's almost like a mini battle being waged; who outhinks the other, who is quicker on his feet than others.
What happened to ethics. People must have taken appointments, many must be waiting for hours. So what gives a few the right to assume that they are the chosen ones and hence should have the right to see the doctor the moment they land?
Seventy, eighty year olds are waiting patiently while twenty somethings are pacing up and down, trying to bribe their way past compounders or charm their way in if muscle tactics fail. And their reasons for the hurry are as varied from not wanting to miss a movie to reaching for some dinner party on time. My question: if they are fine enough to watch a movie in an airconditioned auditorium, attend dinner parties, then why are they wasting their time and testing the patience of people who are there because they are unwell.
It's interesting times that we live in. Health is wealth we say, but many do not spare time to mend a tired body or a fatigued mind. All of us are in a hurry. But when will we stop to realize that to enjoy life, one has to be alive and healthy. Or are we willingly courting death in our quest to Live Life King Size?
Why do we visit a doctor? I guess because we are ill. And logically when we are ill aren't we supposed to relax, take it easy? Then why is it that some patients always appear to be in a tearing hurry to see the doctor?
Obviously whatever one is suffering from ain't life threatening 9 of 10 times if we have walked into the clinic to meet the physician. Then why is it that some patients give others the look of I have more important things to do in life than you; so why don't you wait while I sneak in for a quick peek?
Clinics today have become mobile business centers. Cellphones are ringing from all sides. Imagine the plight of the very ill, the discomfort that the different shrill tones cause. And the misery doesn't end there. You will get to hear everything from the prices of shares, to how Bush is ruining the world, all within the confines of a 10 x 10 clinic. Speaking softly is not a virtue, especially if we are tying to look important.
Amid all these conversations most patients have an eye on the Doctor's door and a foot ready to charge. It's almost like a mini battle being waged; who outhinks the other, who is quicker on his feet than others.
What happened to ethics. People must have taken appointments, many must be waiting for hours. So what gives a few the right to assume that they are the chosen ones and hence should have the right to see the doctor the moment they land?
Seventy, eighty year olds are waiting patiently while twenty somethings are pacing up and down, trying to bribe their way past compounders or charm their way in if muscle tactics fail. And their reasons for the hurry are as varied from not wanting to miss a movie to reaching for some dinner party on time. My question: if they are fine enough to watch a movie in an airconditioned auditorium, attend dinner parties, then why are they wasting their time and testing the patience of people who are there because they are unwell.
It's interesting times that we live in. Health is wealth we say, but many do not spare time to mend a tired body or a fatigued mind. All of us are in a hurry. But when will we stop to realize that to enjoy life, one has to be alive and healthy. Or are we willingly courting death in our quest to Live Life King Size?
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Is Water, Food, Clothing, And Shelter Only For The Rich?
Isn't being born on Earth supposed to come with some privileges? All of them basic such as water to drink, food to eat, a place to stay, and clothes to wear.
Then why is it that more than 50% of the world's people are deprived of these needs?
We human beings take pride in success and nothing succeeds like succes. A classic example of this point is Team India. In March, most of them would have been scared to even venture out of their homes for fear of being attacked. The reason: a first round exit at the 50-50 World Cup. Today, the Chief Minister of Maharashtra is going to Mumbai AIrport to receive them and the players are going to be then taken in a motorcade to the Wankhede Stadium to be felicitated. The reason: we are the T20 World Champions.
As a reader you would be wondering what's the connection. I assure you there is a strong one.
We as a race have used success as the benchmark for survival. We proudly spout Darwin's Survival of the Fittest theory. My question: Is suffering and misery the only rewards for those who ain't as succesful or as gifted as some of us? It's a different issue that the successful also suffer and most waddle in miseries of the imaginary kind.
Have we as a people become a inhuman race? So much so that we do not bat an eyelid or spare a thought while profiting from the suffering of others?
Am I to assume that if I am very ill and do not have the money, then the only option for me is to die? Aren't hospitals supposed to care for the ill? Isn't medicine supposed to be a noble profession? Or is there nothing noble in today's world that ain't a for profit?
Homeless children roam our streets scavenging, shifting junk in dustbins to find a morsel to eat. It ain't vastly different in villages where kids are dying of hunger while the rest of the world is busy packaging food for a profit.
Most people do not have drinking water, while a few are profiting from bottling this very life saving commodity. Most people do not have a decent roof over their heads (please do not call slums homes), while a few are busy pocketing and selling vast tracts of land for a cost that most can't afford.
So is water, food, clothing, and shelter only for the rich? What happened to the basic rights of people to these essentials?
Please do not tell me that people need to work hard to get these things and please do not quote religious texts to tell me one should not be bothered about the fruits of labor or it's one's karma. Most people who do not have one or more of these essentials work harder that most in air-conditioned offices who surf the net to appear busy.
These are convenient answers to mask crimes committed by a few on the many.
We cite proudly as enterprise how Dhirubhai Ambani in his early days melted currency coins in Uganda because the gold that came out of those coins were worth more than the value of the denomination on those coins.
Ambani senior had questioned "Is it a crime to make money?" I say no. But yes it is a crime to profit from the misery of mankind. And we all know that it ain't possible to be super rich if one is squeaky clean.
So what are we celebrating here, the enterprise of corruption and crime? Were the same things to be done by a desperate farmer or beggar, the poor fellow would not have expereinced freedom for the rest of his life.
As answers to most of my queries we will cite government inefficiencies and a whole lot of other reasons. But to me it nothing but the plain greed of a few. The day we started acknowledging sleight of hand as enterprise, the day started recognizing wealth as God, we as humans failed God.
You can call my writing a crib, you can call it waste of web space, but once you finish reading it, I assure you none, including me, can walk away free of guilt of not having succumbed to the lure of wealth. So much for the right to live!
Then why is it that more than 50% of the world's people are deprived of these needs?
We human beings take pride in success and nothing succeeds like succes. A classic example of this point is Team India. In March, most of them would have been scared to even venture out of their homes for fear of being attacked. The reason: a first round exit at the 50-50 World Cup. Today, the Chief Minister of Maharashtra is going to Mumbai AIrport to receive them and the players are going to be then taken in a motorcade to the Wankhede Stadium to be felicitated. The reason: we are the T20 World Champions.
As a reader you would be wondering what's the connection. I assure you there is a strong one.
We as a race have used success as the benchmark for survival. We proudly spout Darwin's Survival of the Fittest theory. My question: Is suffering and misery the only rewards for those who ain't as succesful or as gifted as some of us? It's a different issue that the successful also suffer and most waddle in miseries of the imaginary kind.
Have we as a people become a inhuman race? So much so that we do not bat an eyelid or spare a thought while profiting from the suffering of others?
Am I to assume that if I am very ill and do not have the money, then the only option for me is to die? Aren't hospitals supposed to care for the ill? Isn't medicine supposed to be a noble profession? Or is there nothing noble in today's world that ain't a for profit?
Homeless children roam our streets scavenging, shifting junk in dustbins to find a morsel to eat. It ain't vastly different in villages where kids are dying of hunger while the rest of the world is busy packaging food for a profit.
Most people do not have drinking water, while a few are profiting from bottling this very life saving commodity. Most people do not have a decent roof over their heads (please do not call slums homes), while a few are busy pocketing and selling vast tracts of land for a cost that most can't afford.
So is water, food, clothing, and shelter only for the rich? What happened to the basic rights of people to these essentials?
Please do not tell me that people need to work hard to get these things and please do not quote religious texts to tell me one should not be bothered about the fruits of labor or it's one's karma. Most people who do not have one or more of these essentials work harder that most in air-conditioned offices who surf the net to appear busy.
These are convenient answers to mask crimes committed by a few on the many.
We cite proudly as enterprise how Dhirubhai Ambani in his early days melted currency coins in Uganda because the gold that came out of those coins were worth more than the value of the denomination on those coins.
Ambani senior had questioned "Is it a crime to make money?" I say no. But yes it is a crime to profit from the misery of mankind. And we all know that it ain't possible to be super rich if one is squeaky clean.
So what are we celebrating here, the enterprise of corruption and crime? Were the same things to be done by a desperate farmer or beggar, the poor fellow would not have expereinced freedom for the rest of his life.
As answers to most of my queries we will cite government inefficiencies and a whole lot of other reasons. But to me it nothing but the plain greed of a few. The day we started acknowledging sleight of hand as enterprise, the day started recognizing wealth as God, we as humans failed God.
You can call my writing a crib, you can call it waste of web space, but once you finish reading it, I assure you none, including me, can walk away free of guilt of not having succumbed to the lure of wealth. So much for the right to live!
Friday, September 21, 2007
Lonely Child
I saw a baby in the park
Playing all by herself
I looked for her mother
And found a servant instead
My mind traveled into the past
To the same old park
I saw my sister at play
With kids of her age I say
They laughed, they sang
They pushed one other to the ground
The air was ringing with joy
Of little hearts playing in happiness
Mothers seated on benches
Rejoicing the sea innocence
Exchanging notes and sweets
Describing many a anecdote
I hear the screech of tyres
It's back to the future
In front of me the lonely child
With none to play and a servant in tow
Playing all by herself
I looked for her mother
And found a servant instead
My mind traveled into the past
To the same old park
I saw my sister at play
With kids of her age I say
They laughed, they sang
They pushed one other to the ground
The air was ringing with joy
Of little hearts playing in happiness
Mothers seated on benches
Rejoicing the sea innocence
Exchanging notes and sweets
Describing many a anecdote
I hear the screech of tyres
It's back to the future
In front of me the lonely child
With none to play and a servant in tow
House Warning
How does one describe residential complexes of today? Matchbox houses, community homes that look so identical that they would make Prakash Karat and company proud (you see equality is their USP), or dog pens?
I was looking at an advertisement placed by a large recently-listed builder in one of the national newspapers. The builder claimed to be selling dreams not homes. One look at the picture that went with the ad and I realized how true.
It was indeed a dream that was on offer. But an ugly looking one. There stood a giant structure with maybe over a 1000 flats. It reminded me of some of those sci-fi flicks where for some strange reason writers and directors depict aliens as gory creatures living in frighteningly monstrous abodes.
I took another look at that ad and this time what caught my attention was the scheme. Pay Rs.50,000 and take home the key. Yes, I said to myself, the rest we will keep sucking in EMIs. If I were to buy the house outright it will cost me Rs.12 million. If I opt for the EMI, Rs30 million. I guess that's a conservative estimate.
Rs. 12 million for this pig pen, I asked myself. The communists would have been proud at the construction, but would have seen a US hand in the pricing. The monster breaks down all walls of differenciation. Each house looking a mirror image of the next. Two we call a twin, so what do we call a 1000? A freak show, I say.
So now we will have 1000 more families living together in similar prison sells. Living the great urban dream. How I yearn for the time when each home had an individual feel and look. Yet there was unity in diversity.
Today, we are united in greed, divided at heart. How times are a changing. I know change is the only constant and out of chaos will emerge sanity. But I rue the passing of innocence, the coming of deception. But there is hope as I await the return of innocence. Maybe in vain, but there is great joy in letting hope float.
I was looking at an advertisement placed by a large recently-listed builder in one of the national newspapers. The builder claimed to be selling dreams not homes. One look at the picture that went with the ad and I realized how true.
It was indeed a dream that was on offer. But an ugly looking one. There stood a giant structure with maybe over a 1000 flats. It reminded me of some of those sci-fi flicks where for some strange reason writers and directors depict aliens as gory creatures living in frighteningly monstrous abodes.
I took another look at that ad and this time what caught my attention was the scheme. Pay Rs.50,000 and take home the key. Yes, I said to myself, the rest we will keep sucking in EMIs. If I were to buy the house outright it will cost me Rs.12 million. If I opt for the EMI, Rs30 million. I guess that's a conservative estimate.
Rs. 12 million for this pig pen, I asked myself. The communists would have been proud at the construction, but would have seen a US hand in the pricing. The monster breaks down all walls of differenciation. Each house looking a mirror image of the next. Two we call a twin, so what do we call a 1000? A freak show, I say.
So now we will have 1000 more families living together in similar prison sells. Living the great urban dream. How I yearn for the time when each home had an individual feel and look. Yet there was unity in diversity.
Today, we are united in greed, divided at heart. How times are a changing. I know change is the only constant and out of chaos will emerge sanity. But I rue the passing of innocence, the coming of deception. But there is hope as I await the return of innocence. Maybe in vain, but there is great joy in letting hope float.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Season Of Love
There's love in the air
It's that time of the year
The rain's bidding adieu
There's hope in the air
Give in to its call this fall
It's the season of peace
Looking at us with hope
Begging us to yield to its call
Will we rise together
Listen to the heart's call
Give life a new chance'
And embrace the season of love
Will we move with the times
Or watch time pass us by
Will it be the usual if
Or will it be a season of love
As trees shed dry leaves
And await a new beginning
Will the world shed its fears
And give love a chance
Time and tide waits for none
Will it be a moment wasted again
Or will we open our hearts to love
This season of love
It's that time of the year
The rain's bidding adieu
There's hope in the air
Give in to its call this fall
It's the season of peace
Looking at us with hope
Begging us to yield to its call
Will we rise together
Listen to the heart's call
Give life a new chance'
And embrace the season of love
Will we move with the times
Or watch time pass us by
Will it be the usual if
Or will it be a season of love
As trees shed dry leaves
And await a new beginning
Will the world shed its fears
And give love a chance
Time and tide waits for none
Will it be a moment wasted again
Or will we open our hearts to love
This season of love
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Indo-Pak Joint Agreement
What if Indian and Pakistani leaders have a high level meeting wherein they come to an understanding on how to live and let live? The manifesto of the survival guide will read somewhat as below.
1) We will mutually agree from time to time to rake up irrelevant cross-border issues to divert attention form pressing internal matters.
2) Pakistan will every three months send a few thousand armed men across the border into Jammu & Kashmir. This will help Pakistan to reduce religious pressure at home. India will benefit by having a reason to post its army in J&K. The army will be gainfuly employed in hunting and eliminating the Pakistani intruders. A win-win situation for both Pakistan and India.
3) India will allow Pakistan to send arms experts to carry out a series of bomb experiments across India once every 7 to 8 months. The twin benefit: it will help Pakistan research and develop newer bomb technologies while the explosions will help India curb it's burgeoning population.
4) India and Pakistan will agree to disagree on the Siachen issue. That will help the armies of both nations to gainfuly employ men across this inhospitable terrain. Also another diversionary tactic for both countries to ward off public attention from more pressing internal matters.
5) Both countries will compulsively indulge in an arms race. The benefits: possibly one day both India and Pakistan will have enough arms and ammunition, nuclear or otherwise, to obliterate the Rest of the World. That fear, they hope will give them the bargaining power to force America and allies to accord India and Pakistan Superpower status.
6) Politicians of both countries will agree to mutually cooperate in the procurement of arms from suppliers known to them so that kickbacks are higher, and the fear of the news of kickbacks getting into wrong hands is near zero.
7) Both countries will shift attention to Bangladesh. Pakistan will shift all training camps to Bangladesh soil and India will eventually shift all troops along the Bangla border. The benefit: It's more easier to contain the situation if things get out of hand and also have a whipping boy in Bangladesh if things go wrong.
8) Pakistan will help India forge better ties with China. For India, the worry on the Arunachal Pradesh front is reduced. For Pakistan, China will act as a stronger deterent in case of escalation of tensions with India.
9) Indian politicans want the whole of J&K to be Indian, Pakistani politicians want the whole territory to be Pakistani. The Kashmiris want Independence. But who cares what the Kashmiris want. (Kashmiri Pandits, your position is like that of Tibetans. So no point in protesting or harboring hopes of going back to Kashmir. Find accomodation and gainful employment in other parts of India.) The solution: Pakistan will keep sending armed men, India will maintain troops, though at a minimum. Once in a while we will mutally agree to escalate tension. Otherwise, we will keep snipping at each other. This will be called the Great Art of Peaceful Mutual Disagreement. The logic: it's better than fighting a costly war.
In short, Indian and Pakistani politicians will live happily ever after. Damn the people of both countries.
1) We will mutually agree from time to time to rake up irrelevant cross-border issues to divert attention form pressing internal matters.
2) Pakistan will every three months send a few thousand armed men across the border into Jammu & Kashmir. This will help Pakistan to reduce religious pressure at home. India will benefit by having a reason to post its army in J&K. The army will be gainfuly employed in hunting and eliminating the Pakistani intruders. A win-win situation for both Pakistan and India.
3) India will allow Pakistan to send arms experts to carry out a series of bomb experiments across India once every 7 to 8 months. The twin benefit: it will help Pakistan research and develop newer bomb technologies while the explosions will help India curb it's burgeoning population.
4) India and Pakistan will agree to disagree on the Siachen issue. That will help the armies of both nations to gainfuly employ men across this inhospitable terrain. Also another diversionary tactic for both countries to ward off public attention from more pressing internal matters.
5) Both countries will compulsively indulge in an arms race. The benefits: possibly one day both India and Pakistan will have enough arms and ammunition, nuclear or otherwise, to obliterate the Rest of the World. That fear, they hope will give them the bargaining power to force America and allies to accord India and Pakistan Superpower status.
6) Politicians of both countries will agree to mutually cooperate in the procurement of arms from suppliers known to them so that kickbacks are higher, and the fear of the news of kickbacks getting into wrong hands is near zero.
7) Both countries will shift attention to Bangladesh. Pakistan will shift all training camps to Bangladesh soil and India will eventually shift all troops along the Bangla border. The benefit: It's more easier to contain the situation if things get out of hand and also have a whipping boy in Bangladesh if things go wrong.
8) Pakistan will help India forge better ties with China. For India, the worry on the Arunachal Pradesh front is reduced. For Pakistan, China will act as a stronger deterent in case of escalation of tensions with India.
9) Indian politicans want the whole of J&K to be Indian, Pakistani politicians want the whole territory to be Pakistani. The Kashmiris want Independence. But who cares what the Kashmiris want. (Kashmiri Pandits, your position is like that of Tibetans. So no point in protesting or harboring hopes of going back to Kashmir. Find accomodation and gainful employment in other parts of India.) The solution: Pakistan will keep sending armed men, India will maintain troops, though at a minimum. Once in a while we will mutally agree to escalate tension. Otherwise, we will keep snipping at each other. This will be called the Great Art of Peaceful Mutual Disagreement. The logic: it's better than fighting a costly war.
In short, Indian and Pakistani politicians will live happily ever after. Damn the people of both countries.
Honk Nation
Automobiles here, automobiles there
In all colors and designs
But one thing in common
It's the horn
We honk in a crowd
We honk in solitude
We honk to move man
We honk to move mammals
In sound and cacaphony we live
We have hands, so we will
No Honk boards on the way
We honk the rule away
My car cost me a bomb
I paid too for the horn
If not for nothing
I'll honk to make my money talk
We honk when it's red
When there's no where to go
We honk in the night
When the streets are quiet
Yet so many accidents
Lives lost in vain
Yet we honk for no reason
You see, we're Honk Nation
In all colors and designs
But one thing in common
It's the horn
We honk in a crowd
We honk in solitude
We honk to move man
We honk to move mammals
In sound and cacaphony we live
We have hands, so we will
No Honk boards on the way
We honk the rule away
My car cost me a bomb
I paid too for the horn
If not for nothing
I'll honk to make my money talk
We honk when it's red
When there's no where to go
We honk in the night
When the streets are quiet
Yet so many accidents
Lives lost in vain
Yet we honk for no reason
You see, we're Honk Nation
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
QOTD YES, QOTD NO
For most Indians today, the favorite way of exercising their franchise is the mobile phone. On every channel you have newscasters, VJs, or anchors exhorting us to make a difference.
Vilasrao Deshmukh visited Siddhivinayak Temple this morning and was accorded VIP treatment. Is it correct to accord VIPs special treatment? SMS QOTD Y or QOTD N to 6838 or some such number and make your voice heard.
MS Dhoni is BCCI's new 50-50 captain. Are the selectors right? SMS QOTD Y or QOTD N.
Suburban Mumbai is drowning as a cloud burst. Why should the cloud burst over Suburban Mumbai and why not over South Mumbai? Is the government responsible for the cloud burst? SMS QOTD Y or QOTD N
A pipeline has burst and millions of liters of water have gone waste. Is the municipality responsible? SMS QOTD Y or QOTD N
You can see many such issues, some more trivial these, being aired on live television as breaking news and channels literally using sublimal messaging to get the viewer to respond. How necessary are these polls?
Agreed that in cases such as that of Jessica Lal, Nitish Katara and others where recourse to law had failed the media played a major role in generating public opinion that saw justice being done.
But how right is SMS QOTD Y or QOTD N for anything and everything? We viewers must also understand the dynamics behind these SMSes. Do you think that channels are really interested in our views? 99% of the times the answer is no.
There is TRP to be managed, money to be made. Or do we think that these channels are purely helping our telecom companies grow their businesses? No, I say. Most viewers may not be aware that such SMSes cost Rs 3 or more per text message. Are we to believe that the news channels have no revenue-sharing deals with telcos?
In short, 99 of 100 times SMS QOTD Y or QOTD N is an easy way of earning a quick buck while making the viewer feel important. So viewers, think before voting for anything and everything. All that you will achieve is in helping channels and telcos laugh their way to the bank. And for what, giving us a false sense of being in control?
Vilasrao Deshmukh visited Siddhivinayak Temple this morning and was accorded VIP treatment. Is it correct to accord VIPs special treatment? SMS QOTD Y or QOTD N to 6838 or some such number and make your voice heard.
MS Dhoni is BCCI's new 50-50 captain. Are the selectors right? SMS QOTD Y or QOTD N.
Suburban Mumbai is drowning as a cloud burst. Why should the cloud burst over Suburban Mumbai and why not over South Mumbai? Is the government responsible for the cloud burst? SMS QOTD Y or QOTD N
A pipeline has burst and millions of liters of water have gone waste. Is the municipality responsible? SMS QOTD Y or QOTD N
You can see many such issues, some more trivial these, being aired on live television as breaking news and channels literally using sublimal messaging to get the viewer to respond. How necessary are these polls?
Agreed that in cases such as that of Jessica Lal, Nitish Katara and others where recourse to law had failed the media played a major role in generating public opinion that saw justice being done.
But how right is SMS QOTD Y or QOTD N for anything and everything? We viewers must also understand the dynamics behind these SMSes. Do you think that channels are really interested in our views? 99% of the times the answer is no.
There is TRP to be managed, money to be made. Or do we think that these channels are purely helping our telecom companies grow their businesses? No, I say. Most viewers may not be aware that such SMSes cost Rs 3 or more per text message. Are we to believe that the news channels have no revenue-sharing deals with telcos?
In short, 99 of 100 times SMS QOTD Y or QOTD N is an easy way of earning a quick buck while making the viewer feel important. So viewers, think before voting for anything and everything. All that you will achieve is in helping channels and telcos laugh their way to the bank. And for what, giving us a false sense of being in control?
Water Today, Air Tomorrow?
Equity analysts, newspapers, especially the pink papers, and the general public at large have been talking a lot of Water as the next big investment idea. In the last few days, I have received many calls from investment advisors and friends asking me to add stocks of companies in water or related areas to my portfolio.
That set me thinking. Wasn't water in the first place supposed to be for free? Isn't water a basic necessity for life on earth? Then how come this life saving commodity has turned into a great investment opportunity?
As in everything else, I found the answer in greed. Twenty years ago when I was in college, the concept of bottled water had just hit the market. We friends used to laugh at this concept and call the companies engaging in this business as fools.
I won't be too harsh on myself for then dismissing this idea as twenty years ago there was no cable television and our fathers did not have disposable incomes that could enable us to take off on European and American holidays every year or at least every alternate year. Isn't that the norm now?
Twenty years ago, which I would call the beginning of the era of unparalleled opportunism, we hadn't yet start mapping all successes in life with material possessions and gains. Hence, we never thought of water as the next big "opportunity".
We were wrong and how I wish that this one instance our judgment wasn't so off the mark. The reason: India as a country is already groaning under the weight of its own people. Hence, resources are scarce. Governments are talking about alleviating poverty and uplifting the "aam aadmi". Businesses are spouting gyan about coporate social responsibility or CSR.
And on the ground, these very politicians and businessmen are getting together to cash in on the next big thing, WATER. I have just one question: If governments can't ensure the supply of at least free potable water, forget food, for its people, then why should they be in power. If businessmen are trying to make their billions by capitalizing on people's thirst, how different are they from common criminals.
Many common criminals we may argue are driven to stealing by abject poverty. Agreed, but is that what is driving politicians and businessmen to sell water and fill their coffers? I say no. It's simple and plain GREED.
We as a people look up to politicians and businessmen with the vast power and wealth in their possession to help their fellow countrymen live a life of dignity. Is building water cartels and profiting from this unholy trade the way to serve people?
Politicians are meant to help the country grow, take the people forward, while businessmen are meant to help society enrich their lives even as they grow. However, when politicians and bussinessmen collude to benefit from the miseries of this very people, then forget 9.5% GDP growth, even 20% GDP growth will not lead to much change on the ground.
And after water, I believe AIR would be their next big opportunity even as they first parch the land and then quench your thirst for a few silvers. Don't be surprised if the government if not today but five years down the line says that India will need to import water to meet its needs. It's possible, if we as a nation can import wheat after a year of bumper in-house wheat production, anything is possible.
Now coming to Air. I may sound paranoid, but I have every reason to be and so should you be. What guarantees do we have that this politician-businessmen nexus would not pollute our environment to an extent that air in its normal form becomes a killer, unfit for human inhalation?
Then we will see business houses with their CSR spouting masters sitting in some part of Europe or America, sell oxygen tanks and gas masks, and launch millions of related businesses. They will open oxygen bars, already common in places such as Tokyo. Who knows, Oxygen could be the next big outsourcing opportunity. Only here, we would be procuring Oxygen. A huge outsourcing opportunity for th Western world.
The logic would be: those who can pay will live. The others will perish. An extremely efficient way of population control. What say friends?
I know people will say what's the use of writing? What are we going to do to counter this problem.
For starters, we can all decide not to buy bottled water. Promise to carry water bottles from home when we travel. Didn't all of us carry five-liter cans when we took long journeys not so long ago? So what's so wrong in doing so now? Promise to ensure that our vehicles are maintained well so that they do not add to the pollution. Promise to car pool, and wherever possible use public transport. Promise to use less polluting fuels like CNG, LPG over petrol and/or diesel. Promise to not smoke and for those with this habit, try and kick it.
Now, it's in our hands friends to defeat these opportunists who are trying to profit from human miseries. Maybe we can't prevent them from exercising their right to earn a decent livelihood. But we can at least not buy from them. They can only sell if they have a market for their products. Friends, it's time for noncooperation. Unfortunately, this time not against the British, but our very own.
That set me thinking. Wasn't water in the first place supposed to be for free? Isn't water a basic necessity for life on earth? Then how come this life saving commodity has turned into a great investment opportunity?
As in everything else, I found the answer in greed. Twenty years ago when I was in college, the concept of bottled water had just hit the market. We friends used to laugh at this concept and call the companies engaging in this business as fools.
I won't be too harsh on myself for then dismissing this idea as twenty years ago there was no cable television and our fathers did not have disposable incomes that could enable us to take off on European and American holidays every year or at least every alternate year. Isn't that the norm now?
Twenty years ago, which I would call the beginning of the era of unparalleled opportunism, we hadn't yet start mapping all successes in life with material possessions and gains. Hence, we never thought of water as the next big "opportunity".
We were wrong and how I wish that this one instance our judgment wasn't so off the mark. The reason: India as a country is already groaning under the weight of its own people. Hence, resources are scarce. Governments are talking about alleviating poverty and uplifting the "aam aadmi". Businesses are spouting gyan about coporate social responsibility or CSR.
And on the ground, these very politicians and businessmen are getting together to cash in on the next big thing, WATER. I have just one question: If governments can't ensure the supply of at least free potable water, forget food, for its people, then why should they be in power. If businessmen are trying to make their billions by capitalizing on people's thirst, how different are they from common criminals.
Many common criminals we may argue are driven to stealing by abject poverty. Agreed, but is that what is driving politicians and businessmen to sell water and fill their coffers? I say no. It's simple and plain GREED.
We as a people look up to politicians and businessmen with the vast power and wealth in their possession to help their fellow countrymen live a life of dignity. Is building water cartels and profiting from this unholy trade the way to serve people?
Politicians are meant to help the country grow, take the people forward, while businessmen are meant to help society enrich their lives even as they grow. However, when politicians and bussinessmen collude to benefit from the miseries of this very people, then forget 9.5% GDP growth, even 20% GDP growth will not lead to much change on the ground.
And after water, I believe AIR would be their next big opportunity even as they first parch the land and then quench your thirst for a few silvers. Don't be surprised if the government if not today but five years down the line says that India will need to import water to meet its needs. It's possible, if we as a nation can import wheat after a year of bumper in-house wheat production, anything is possible.
Now coming to Air. I may sound paranoid, but I have every reason to be and so should you be. What guarantees do we have that this politician-businessmen nexus would not pollute our environment to an extent that air in its normal form becomes a killer, unfit for human inhalation?
Then we will see business houses with their CSR spouting masters sitting in some part of Europe or America, sell oxygen tanks and gas masks, and launch millions of related businesses. They will open oxygen bars, already common in places such as Tokyo. Who knows, Oxygen could be the next big outsourcing opportunity. Only here, we would be procuring Oxygen. A huge outsourcing opportunity for th Western world.
The logic would be: those who can pay will live. The others will perish. An extremely efficient way of population control. What say friends?
I know people will say what's the use of writing? What are we going to do to counter this problem.
For starters, we can all decide not to buy bottled water. Promise to carry water bottles from home when we travel. Didn't all of us carry five-liter cans when we took long journeys not so long ago? So what's so wrong in doing so now? Promise to ensure that our vehicles are maintained well so that they do not add to the pollution. Promise to car pool, and wherever possible use public transport. Promise to use less polluting fuels like CNG, LPG over petrol and/or diesel. Promise to not smoke and for those with this habit, try and kick it.
Now, it's in our hands friends to defeat these opportunists who are trying to profit from human miseries. Maybe we can't prevent them from exercising their right to earn a decent livelihood. But we can at least not buy from them. They can only sell if they have a market for their products. Friends, it's time for noncooperation. Unfortunately, this time not against the British, but our very own.
Monday, September 17, 2007
A Giant Spitoon Called India
What's is it with us Indians that we think the whole country is a huge public toilet or one large spitoon? Many may have written and spoken about this topic in length, but little seems to have changed on the ground. Most of our brethren continue to defecate, urinate, and/or spit as, when, and where they choose.
And believe me it has got nothing to do with being rich or poor. I have seen beggars have a go on our compund walls and I have seen guys owning Mercedes cars open the door or roll down the window and splash the ashpalt with red or brown paint, depending upon what their gutters, oops mouth, is masticating at that point of time. I just have one question: Why eat anything that is so inedible that you need to spit it out?
This malaise cuts across religious lines. I guess it mainly has to do with lack of ownership. You don't see this happening in most parts of the Western world and the Middle East. However, off late the bug seems to have bitten many in Sweden. But wait before we jump in joy; studies show that it is people from our part of the world who have decided to fertilize Sweden.
No wonder we find it extremely difficult to get visas to any country remotely Western. This reminds me of a Lalu joke that used to do the rounds a few years ago. It went like this: A Japanese prime minister on his visit to Bihar told Lalu, the then CM, that give us Bihar for three years and we will turn it into another Tokyo. Pat came Lalu's reply: Give us Tokyo for three days and we will turn it another Bihar. To my Bihari brethren, no offence meant.
As I said, it has to do with ownership, or lack of it. To me, we as a people don't think that anything that is not registered in our names is ours. Hence, roads and public infrastructure are not ours. So why bother about keeping them clean. It's the government's job, right?
The problem to this solution lies in people understanding that though it is public property and we do not own it, we do pay for it. For those smartalecs who believe that since I do no fall into the income tax bracket, I can deface public property, here is the answer. Dear friends, you also pay for the building and maintenance of public property. Remember the VAT and local taxes extra that you pay on almost every item that you buy?
Yes, that's right. It's your property too. So people take ownership. Even if you feel it's a waste of time advising people against it, you can refrain from doing so individually. That's all we need; if every one of us acts individually, we can and will make a difference collectively. The point is do we think strongly enough that we own more than our homes; we own India and India makes our home.
And believe me it has got nothing to do with being rich or poor. I have seen beggars have a go on our compund walls and I have seen guys owning Mercedes cars open the door or roll down the window and splash the ashpalt with red or brown paint, depending upon what their gutters, oops mouth, is masticating at that point of time. I just have one question: Why eat anything that is so inedible that you need to spit it out?
This malaise cuts across religious lines. I guess it mainly has to do with lack of ownership. You don't see this happening in most parts of the Western world and the Middle East. However, off late the bug seems to have bitten many in Sweden. But wait before we jump in joy; studies show that it is people from our part of the world who have decided to fertilize Sweden.
No wonder we find it extremely difficult to get visas to any country remotely Western. This reminds me of a Lalu joke that used to do the rounds a few years ago. It went like this: A Japanese prime minister on his visit to Bihar told Lalu, the then CM, that give us Bihar for three years and we will turn it into another Tokyo. Pat came Lalu's reply: Give us Tokyo for three days and we will turn it another Bihar. To my Bihari brethren, no offence meant.
As I said, it has to do with ownership, or lack of it. To me, we as a people don't think that anything that is not registered in our names is ours. Hence, roads and public infrastructure are not ours. So why bother about keeping them clean. It's the government's job, right?
The problem to this solution lies in people understanding that though it is public property and we do not own it, we do pay for it. For those smartalecs who believe that since I do no fall into the income tax bracket, I can deface public property, here is the answer. Dear friends, you also pay for the building and maintenance of public property. Remember the VAT and local taxes extra that you pay on almost every item that you buy?
Yes, that's right. It's your property too. So people take ownership. Even if you feel it's a waste of time advising people against it, you can refrain from doing so individually. That's all we need; if every one of us acts individually, we can and will make a difference collectively. The point is do we think strongly enough that we own more than our homes; we own India and India makes our home.
The Great Mumbai Auto Ride
I am a creature of the three-wheel autorickshaw. For some strange reason I simply love travelling by them. It doesn't matter that the four-stroke Re has given me lumbar and cervical spondilosis.
Everytime the wobbly tricycle runs over a pothole, my back and neck sink deeper into my body. Maybe I am a masochist, maybe plain stupid. But a rickshaw ride for me is akin to the little pleasures that one waits for in daily life.
They come in all types, new old, big, small, some even come with music systems attached, dishing out music of the DhinChack variety. They have pictures and/or idols of God near the handle. And as if to balance it, they have pictures of one or more Bollywood actors and actress in the back.
I guess the logic is when the ride gets rough, the traveler can lose himself or herself in the imaginary arms of these gorgeous looking women or handsome looking men. Now who prefers what, I leave it to the reader. It's a democratic country and it's getting increasingly difficult to determine who swings which way.
Another interesting part of the autorickshaw is the driver. I call them pilots because most of them do not drive fast, the fly low. And most engage their customers in conversations on topics ranging from the condition of the roads to their client's or their own sex lives.
On one such journey, I had a pilot who wanted to know if I was married. I said yes, least suspecting the next logical question and the jam I was about to get my self into. The next prompt question, How many children?
I said none. Immediately he asked, Just married? I said No and before he could ask I obliged, I have been married for 11 years. Immediately he looked back, as if to ascertain if all the right things were in the right places. He was driving at around 50 KMPH and my fear was he was going to crash into something. I told him to look ahed and drive to which he said, I have been married for 5 years and I have three children.
To me that sounded like if I can have three children in five years, I have the basics right. Hence, even if I go to sleep while driving, there is no way I will crash. Skill you see can be extended to all facets of life, provided one is skillful.
Next question, Have you seen a doctor? I didn't have the heart to tell him that may wife and I do not have children by choice. So I said yes, and both of us are fine. Immediately popped the next query, What's your profession? I asked him what does that have to do with not having children? He smiled and said, it's the age of the BPOs you see. If you work at night and your wife during the day the chances of getting into the act are non-existent.
Brilliant, I said to myself. Must talk to my friends who run BPO organizations and tell them to esnure that their employees get time to enjoy sex. Could hurt productivity otherwise. As I just got off that thought, he took off again.
Have you tried alternative methods. I said, pardon me, what do you mean by that. He sheepishly said, different positions. I chose to ignore that comment. But he was not one to give up. He said tongue in cheek, have you met Shri Shri 1008 Bababoothnath? What creature is that, I asked. He chided me for showing disrespect and said he was a man of great powers and has helped many a couple beget children.
I immediately thought, yeah I know how he must have done that. Some virile baba I thought. But kept that thought to myself to avoid a confrontation. That by the way is another middle-class trait, avoiding confrontation under the garb of nonviolence. The fact of the matter is I did not feel strong enough to get into an any kind of physical altercation with that guy though he was half my size.
I politely told him I do not believe in babas. I was expecting him to get aggressive, but luckily he changed track. He asked me if I have ever visited Ajmer Sharif? I said no and was hoping the conversation would end as I had almost reached my building gate. But no such luck.
I asked him to stop and paid him the money. As I was about to turn into my building, he stopped me and said, you must visit Ajmer Sharif. It will work. Within a year you will have a son. I just looked at him and said sure. That's all the energy that was left in me after 70 minutes of education on how to get my act right.
As I walked into my building, I had a silly grin on my face as I recapped the conversation. And as I reached the enterance of my wing, an aunty who lives on the groundfloor asked me, Haven't seen you wife in sometime. Is there some good news?
Everytime the wobbly tricycle runs over a pothole, my back and neck sink deeper into my body. Maybe I am a masochist, maybe plain stupid. But a rickshaw ride for me is akin to the little pleasures that one waits for in daily life.
They come in all types, new old, big, small, some even come with music systems attached, dishing out music of the DhinChack variety. They have pictures and/or idols of God near the handle. And as if to balance it, they have pictures of one or more Bollywood actors and actress in the back.
I guess the logic is when the ride gets rough, the traveler can lose himself or herself in the imaginary arms of these gorgeous looking women or handsome looking men. Now who prefers what, I leave it to the reader. It's a democratic country and it's getting increasingly difficult to determine who swings which way.
Another interesting part of the autorickshaw is the driver. I call them pilots because most of them do not drive fast, the fly low. And most engage their customers in conversations on topics ranging from the condition of the roads to their client's or their own sex lives.
On one such journey, I had a pilot who wanted to know if I was married. I said yes, least suspecting the next logical question and the jam I was about to get my self into. The next prompt question, How many children?
I said none. Immediately he asked, Just married? I said No and before he could ask I obliged, I have been married for 11 years. Immediately he looked back, as if to ascertain if all the right things were in the right places. He was driving at around 50 KMPH and my fear was he was going to crash into something. I told him to look ahed and drive to which he said, I have been married for 5 years and I have three children.
To me that sounded like if I can have three children in five years, I have the basics right. Hence, even if I go to sleep while driving, there is no way I will crash. Skill you see can be extended to all facets of life, provided one is skillful.
Next question, Have you seen a doctor? I didn't have the heart to tell him that may wife and I do not have children by choice. So I said yes, and both of us are fine. Immediately popped the next query, What's your profession? I asked him what does that have to do with not having children? He smiled and said, it's the age of the BPOs you see. If you work at night and your wife during the day the chances of getting into the act are non-existent.
Brilliant, I said to myself. Must talk to my friends who run BPO organizations and tell them to esnure that their employees get time to enjoy sex. Could hurt productivity otherwise. As I just got off that thought, he took off again.
Have you tried alternative methods. I said, pardon me, what do you mean by that. He sheepishly said, different positions. I chose to ignore that comment. But he was not one to give up. He said tongue in cheek, have you met Shri Shri 1008 Bababoothnath? What creature is that, I asked. He chided me for showing disrespect and said he was a man of great powers and has helped many a couple beget children.
I immediately thought, yeah I know how he must have done that. Some virile baba I thought. But kept that thought to myself to avoid a confrontation. That by the way is another middle-class trait, avoiding confrontation under the garb of nonviolence. The fact of the matter is I did not feel strong enough to get into an any kind of physical altercation with that guy though he was half my size.
I politely told him I do not believe in babas. I was expecting him to get aggressive, but luckily he changed track. He asked me if I have ever visited Ajmer Sharif? I said no and was hoping the conversation would end as I had almost reached my building gate. But no such luck.
I asked him to stop and paid him the money. As I was about to turn into my building, he stopped me and said, you must visit Ajmer Sharif. It will work. Within a year you will have a son. I just looked at him and said sure. That's all the energy that was left in me after 70 minutes of education on how to get my act right.
As I walked into my building, I had a silly grin on my face as I recapped the conversation. And as I reached the enterance of my wing, an aunty who lives on the groundfloor asked me, Haven't seen you wife in sometime. Is there some good news?
The Guru
My daughter is a doctor, son an MBA, . Many times a day I keep hearing these words. Parents proudly talking about their daughters and sons. It warms the heart to see parents speak so lovingly of their wards. But never have I heard a parent who talks about the contribution of teachers to the success of their children, not even as an afterthought.
That's a sad tale in a country which traditionally places the teacher immediately below the parents and just above God: Mata, Pitah, Guru, Devam. We are a race that prided on the Gurukul system. A race that to this day proudly tells the story of Eklavya the archer, who readily offers his thumb to his guru, a person who did not teach him, but in front of whose idol he practised to become an ace archer.
I was traveling by the local train when I heard a man tell his companion: Arre sir, do you know how greedy teachers of today have become? They are charging Rs.2000 a subject for private tutions. I turned around and asked him, have you bothered to find out why they have to give private tutions in the first place? He replied, how does it matter. I tell you these teachers are plain greedy and money crazy.
Before I could reply, he got up to disembark. I sat thinking. Are our teachers greedy as the gentleman in the train and many parents like him think? If they are, then why? It took me just a second to get the answer to my question.
Teachers are underpaid, and their contributions in building and molding society unrecognized. That's what drives them to give private tutions. It's our apathy towards our gurus that is driving them to turn the noble profession of teaching into a commercial venture.
I asked myself whether we as a society have treated our teachers the way they should be, with respect? No, was the answer.
We don't see anything wrong in making money, and our children making more money. But we certainly have a problem if the Teacher wants to make money. We proudly take credit for the success of our children, and only remember our Teachers should our children fail.
Like us, Teachers are human beings too. Like us, they too have families. Like us, they too have children. And like us, they too want to do well in life and want their children to succeed. And as a society what have we done to alleviate the problems of teachers? Nothing.
No wonder Teachers are slowly turning into businessmen and teaching is turning into a commercial venture. As a society what we should do is ensure that the needs of the Teacher is taken care of, the teacher is wellpaid and his future secure. Only then will the future of our children and Society be secure.
The Ambanis of the world can run International schools for the rich. I have no problems with that. But I do have a problem with the general population not treating Teachers with the respect they deserve and to add insult to injury, expecting them to be miracle makers.
So people, if we value the future of our children, then we must learn to value our Teachers. Reward them and recognize them. Believe me, you will be helping India write a new chapter. A country where people will learn to respect one another. Our children are what we make them. And if we are not going to repect our Gurus, we can't expect our children to do the same.
That's a sad tale in a country which traditionally places the teacher immediately below the parents and just above God: Mata, Pitah, Guru, Devam. We are a race that prided on the Gurukul system. A race that to this day proudly tells the story of Eklavya the archer, who readily offers his thumb to his guru, a person who did not teach him, but in front of whose idol he practised to become an ace archer.
I was traveling by the local train when I heard a man tell his companion: Arre sir, do you know how greedy teachers of today have become? They are charging Rs.2000 a subject for private tutions. I turned around and asked him, have you bothered to find out why they have to give private tutions in the first place? He replied, how does it matter. I tell you these teachers are plain greedy and money crazy.
Before I could reply, he got up to disembark. I sat thinking. Are our teachers greedy as the gentleman in the train and many parents like him think? If they are, then why? It took me just a second to get the answer to my question.
Teachers are underpaid, and their contributions in building and molding society unrecognized. That's what drives them to give private tutions. It's our apathy towards our gurus that is driving them to turn the noble profession of teaching into a commercial venture.
I asked myself whether we as a society have treated our teachers the way they should be, with respect? No, was the answer.
We don't see anything wrong in making money, and our children making more money. But we certainly have a problem if the Teacher wants to make money. We proudly take credit for the success of our children, and only remember our Teachers should our children fail.
Like us, Teachers are human beings too. Like us, they too have families. Like us, they too have children. And like us, they too want to do well in life and want their children to succeed. And as a society what have we done to alleviate the problems of teachers? Nothing.
No wonder Teachers are slowly turning into businessmen and teaching is turning into a commercial venture. As a society what we should do is ensure that the needs of the Teacher is taken care of, the teacher is wellpaid and his future secure. Only then will the future of our children and Society be secure.
The Ambanis of the world can run International schools for the rich. I have no problems with that. But I do have a problem with the general population not treating Teachers with the respect they deserve and to add insult to injury, expecting them to be miracle makers.
So people, if we value the future of our children, then we must learn to value our Teachers. Reward them and recognize them. Believe me, you will be helping India write a new chapter. A country where people will learn to respect one another. Our children are what we make them. And if we are not going to repect our Gurus, we can't expect our children to do the same.
Sunday, September 16, 2007
One India?
Arunachal Pradesh is back in the news. The Indian government has claimed Chinese incursions. Jammu & Kashmir has been repeatedly bombed for over two decades. There is uneasy calm in the Punjab; we will never know when Khalistan will up its ante again. The North-East believes it is a separate zone and most feel anything but Indian in those parts of the country. The south of the country stands isolated from the North, led by huge language and cultural differences.
Yes, this is the reality of India, today's India. Looks like we are all bound together more by political compulsions than by choice. As a country we stand divided in thought by geography, religion, caste, culture, and a feeling that we are all partners in a coalition country that is sticking together for economic reasons than for the love of being one.
Every state blames other states and the Central government for its troubles. So who is to blame? Or should we fall back on our favorite enemy, the British. Blame the British for all our ills; we are saints and if not for the Brits we would still be living in a land of peace and prosperity.
I am sorry to be writing this but that is as far removed from the truth as one end of a black hole from the other. In fact, we have the British to thank for a country called India. If not for the British, we wouldn't have been a country. But I don't think most of us would want to buy that argument. That is our problem. We are jingoistic in our feelings toward India, but living in the country most of our thoughts are antinational.
We have politicians who thrive in dividing the country along religious and caste lines to retain power and fill their coffers. We have businessmen who indulge in all kinds of trickery to make their billions and are happy as long as their glass castles are not stoned. We have the Babus who think it is their birth right to rape the country, and watch in glee at the illegal children of corruption, greed, and sloth that they sire sucking the country dry.
And how can one forget about the aam aadmi, including me, who will watch all this is mute submission and dance to the tunes of the corrupt politician and religious zealots. Little do the people of the country realize the power that they hold. They unfortunatelty are bound by the rope of inaction, and so strong is that rope that the powers that be know they can get away with bloody murder.
These conditions set me thinking about the logic behind being a nation called India. Is there a rationale in being herded together like cattle by a few people whose motive is to profit from this mess called India?
It's fashionable to be Page 3 patriotic and loot the country under that garb. It's fashionable to blame Pakistan, Bangladesh and everyone else for our troubles but ourselves.
If we were united in thought and actions would any other country have been successful in creating chaos and leaving a trail of destruction here? I say no. But the sad part is we would prefer to be divided, align with enemies to bring down our own house, and shamelessly seek asylum in someone else's home and ideologies.
My question to all of us so called Indians is, is there any point in being bound together if we at heart do not feel one? I know that all those who benefit from the chaos called India will oppose my argument and call me antinational. I don't have a problem with that, because I know that a dog's tail cannot be straightened. The only way to keep the tail from curling is to amputate it.
For us Indians, I think it is time to decide. Do we want to amputate that portion of the body that thrives in profiting by dividing us? If yes, then it's time for collective action against the forces of antinationalism. If no, then it is better that we disband as a country and live in isolated glory, waiting for another Great Britain to come and rule us. Maybe we are not fit enough to self govern. May be we are only fit enough to be servants to foreign masters.
I know that people may call me an irrational fool and dismiss my arguments. My only request to all is just for a second think and then cross your heart and say that what I think if wrong. If you can do that, then I will know what ails India. It, dear friends, then would be nothing but the virus of selfpreservation at any cost. That would explain why we prefer to keep our homes clean, but show no sense of responsibility toward keeping our surroundings clean.
What we need to remember is our homes will only be safe if the country is safe. And the nation is certainly not going to be safe through selfpreservation. Hence, it's for all of us to decide whether we wish to live as one country or as colonies of slaves to alien masters.
Yes, this is the reality of India, today's India. Looks like we are all bound together more by political compulsions than by choice. As a country we stand divided in thought by geography, religion, caste, culture, and a feeling that we are all partners in a coalition country that is sticking together for economic reasons than for the love of being one.
Every state blames other states and the Central government for its troubles. So who is to blame? Or should we fall back on our favorite enemy, the British. Blame the British for all our ills; we are saints and if not for the Brits we would still be living in a land of peace and prosperity.
I am sorry to be writing this but that is as far removed from the truth as one end of a black hole from the other. In fact, we have the British to thank for a country called India. If not for the British, we wouldn't have been a country. But I don't think most of us would want to buy that argument. That is our problem. We are jingoistic in our feelings toward India, but living in the country most of our thoughts are antinational.
We have politicians who thrive in dividing the country along religious and caste lines to retain power and fill their coffers. We have businessmen who indulge in all kinds of trickery to make their billions and are happy as long as their glass castles are not stoned. We have the Babus who think it is their birth right to rape the country, and watch in glee at the illegal children of corruption, greed, and sloth that they sire sucking the country dry.
And how can one forget about the aam aadmi, including me, who will watch all this is mute submission and dance to the tunes of the corrupt politician and religious zealots. Little do the people of the country realize the power that they hold. They unfortunatelty are bound by the rope of inaction, and so strong is that rope that the powers that be know they can get away with bloody murder.
These conditions set me thinking about the logic behind being a nation called India. Is there a rationale in being herded together like cattle by a few people whose motive is to profit from this mess called India?
It's fashionable to be Page 3 patriotic and loot the country under that garb. It's fashionable to blame Pakistan, Bangladesh and everyone else for our troubles but ourselves.
If we were united in thought and actions would any other country have been successful in creating chaos and leaving a trail of destruction here? I say no. But the sad part is we would prefer to be divided, align with enemies to bring down our own house, and shamelessly seek asylum in someone else's home and ideologies.
My question to all of us so called Indians is, is there any point in being bound together if we at heart do not feel one? I know that all those who benefit from the chaos called India will oppose my argument and call me antinational. I don't have a problem with that, because I know that a dog's tail cannot be straightened. The only way to keep the tail from curling is to amputate it.
For us Indians, I think it is time to decide. Do we want to amputate that portion of the body that thrives in profiting by dividing us? If yes, then it's time for collective action against the forces of antinationalism. If no, then it is better that we disband as a country and live in isolated glory, waiting for another Great Britain to come and rule us. Maybe we are not fit enough to self govern. May be we are only fit enough to be servants to foreign masters.
I know that people may call me an irrational fool and dismiss my arguments. My only request to all is just for a second think and then cross your heart and say that what I think if wrong. If you can do that, then I will know what ails India. It, dear friends, then would be nothing but the virus of selfpreservation at any cost. That would explain why we prefer to keep our homes clean, but show no sense of responsibility toward keeping our surroundings clean.
What we need to remember is our homes will only be safe if the country is safe. And the nation is certainly not going to be safe through selfpreservation. Hence, it's for all of us to decide whether we wish to live as one country or as colonies of slaves to alien masters.
Friday, September 14, 2007
President Bush, Osama is Winning
9/11 made a hero of President George Bush. He proudly stood before the world and proclaimed death to the terrorist Osama bin Laden. Six more 9/11s have passed and the world awaits Bush to deliver on his promise. Osama is believed to be alive if not kicking, and Bush is kicking ass but hardly alive.
9/11 gave Bush the license to declare war on terror. The only problem, it was Bush's definition of terror. And believe me it varies hugely from the dictionary meaning of terror. What Dubya failed to realize was fighting terror with terror was what the terrorist wanted.
9/11 saw Bush play into the hands of Osama. I say that because I do not believe conspiracy theories that argue Osama is of Bush, for Bush, by Bush. Yes, Osama was a US plant in the country's fight against the Soviet's in Afghanistan. But I don't think Bush has the gut to use Osama against his own people.
9/11, yes, Osama was the mastermind. But by openly declaring war against Osama, Bush accorded him legitimacy. A nation as powerful as the US was talking of waging war against one man. Either the US overestimated Osama or lacked belief in its own power.
9/11, anyway one looks at it, Bush's actions post the World Trade Center carnage smacked of the machismo that prevailed in the Wild West of the early twentieth century. First Afghanistan, then Iraq, Bush blundered his way through leaving behind a trail of terror and destruction.
9/11 and actions that followed saw hundreds of thousands if not millions of innocent civilians lose their limbs if not their lives. All because Bush woke up on the wrong side of the bed on 9/11.
9/11 if used rightly could have helped Bush emerge as a man of peace. Instead he chose to make terror his ally. What followed is more terror. For thousands of years one has seen that when humanity fights evil with evil, it becomes a part of the very evil that it set out to destroy.
9/11 saw history being repeated. Bush fought evil with evil, and has now emerged a larger evil. His actions have garnered greater support for Osama and his ilk among the Muslim world and fed his cause with dedicated children brainwashed to trade their lives for the luxury of knocking up beautiful women in heaven.
9/11 offered Bush a chance to lead the world to a new beginning. He instead chose to narrowly think of America first and humanity second, if he ever thought of it. So President Bush six years and billions of dollars down the line, Osama is winning and Americans are feeling no safer than they felt on 9/11. And yes, the world ain't feeling very safe either.
9/11 gave Bush the license to declare war on terror. The only problem, it was Bush's definition of terror. And believe me it varies hugely from the dictionary meaning of terror. What Dubya failed to realize was fighting terror with terror was what the terrorist wanted.
9/11 saw Bush play into the hands of Osama. I say that because I do not believe conspiracy theories that argue Osama is of Bush, for Bush, by Bush. Yes, Osama was a US plant in the country's fight against the Soviet's in Afghanistan. But I don't think Bush has the gut to use Osama against his own people.
9/11, yes, Osama was the mastermind. But by openly declaring war against Osama, Bush accorded him legitimacy. A nation as powerful as the US was talking of waging war against one man. Either the US overestimated Osama or lacked belief in its own power.
9/11, anyway one looks at it, Bush's actions post the World Trade Center carnage smacked of the machismo that prevailed in the Wild West of the early twentieth century. First Afghanistan, then Iraq, Bush blundered his way through leaving behind a trail of terror and destruction.
9/11 and actions that followed saw hundreds of thousands if not millions of innocent civilians lose their limbs if not their lives. All because Bush woke up on the wrong side of the bed on 9/11.
9/11 if used rightly could have helped Bush emerge as a man of peace. Instead he chose to make terror his ally. What followed is more terror. For thousands of years one has seen that when humanity fights evil with evil, it becomes a part of the very evil that it set out to destroy.
9/11 saw history being repeated. Bush fought evil with evil, and has now emerged a larger evil. His actions have garnered greater support for Osama and his ilk among the Muslim world and fed his cause with dedicated children brainwashed to trade their lives for the luxury of knocking up beautiful women in heaven.
9/11 offered Bush a chance to lead the world to a new beginning. He instead chose to narrowly think of America first and humanity second, if he ever thought of it. So President Bush six years and billions of dollars down the line, Osama is winning and Americans are feeling no safer than they felt on 9/11. And yes, the world ain't feeling very safe either.
Thursday, September 13, 2007
The Impatient Worker
Nothing succeeds like success, and what better proof to back that statement than India. But with success comes its own set of unique niggles. The Indian workforce is a huge example of what could rein in India's march.
People are in a hurry to rise the corporate ladder. Ask them where, and they will look at you as to what kind of a foolish question is that. Gone are the times when one joined a company and most likely retired from that same company.
The young generation of Indians, or GenX, are a confused and hard to please lot. On the surface, they come across as being sure of what they want. Probe a little and all the insecurities surface. Gone are the times when you rejoiced with your friend when he got a promotion or raise and patiently waited for your turn the next year or maybe the year after.
Today, logic dictates that if my colleague is good enough to receive a raise or a promotion, so am I. Damn the performance appraisals, the progress chart that tell a different story; the reason why your colleague and not you moved ahead.
That I guess is a factor of demand for skilled workers outstripping supply. It's an employees' market out there and companies are bending backwards to hire and retain talent, no matter how mediocre they be.
It's a classic case of a ball bearing, inconsequential by itself, but significant when part of a well-oiled machine. If that ball bearing falls out, the whole machine could stall, or function at maybe below 50% capacity. And that no company wants.
Patience is no longer a virtue, and staying put at one place for more than 18 months is equated to a person's lack of capability and inability to find better opportunity. Ask what is wrong with what they are doing or where they are working at present, and 9 of 10 times the answer will be, there's nothing wrong, it's just not in line with what the market demands.
The constant fear of being left behind in the rat race is all consuming. The mantra of the time is Rolling stones gather no moss. Wasn't that a negative 20 years ago? Yes, certainly, but no longer so.
This thought mirrors lifestyles in today's times. Everything, every decision is near term or in the immediate term. The virtue of investing time and energy in a venture and reaping the rewards as that investment blooms is history.
Employees now want the rewards first with no guarantee of deliverables. Freshers walk in for interviews and their first question is what's the package? We shall discuss other things only if the figure quoted is up to expectations.
No matter how fast the economy grows, not matter how times change, the golden rule of patience pays remains. People who fail to realize that may reap benefits in the near term, but in the long term their lack of loyalty to a cause will come to haunt them.
Another argument is there ain't much creativity in what I am doing. Ask them what's creativity, and they will sidestep that question. Ask them to be honest with themselves and say that they have done justice to the tasks on hand, most will be noncommital.
The logic is there is easy money to be made, so go ahead and make it. Tomorrow is another day, so why worry about it today. It's this attitude that could trip India and delay its transition from a developing country to a developed one.
People are in a hurry to rise the corporate ladder. Ask them where, and they will look at you as to what kind of a foolish question is that. Gone are the times when one joined a company and most likely retired from that same company.
The young generation of Indians, or GenX, are a confused and hard to please lot. On the surface, they come across as being sure of what they want. Probe a little and all the insecurities surface. Gone are the times when you rejoiced with your friend when he got a promotion or raise and patiently waited for your turn the next year or maybe the year after.
Today, logic dictates that if my colleague is good enough to receive a raise or a promotion, so am I. Damn the performance appraisals, the progress chart that tell a different story; the reason why your colleague and not you moved ahead.
That I guess is a factor of demand for skilled workers outstripping supply. It's an employees' market out there and companies are bending backwards to hire and retain talent, no matter how mediocre they be.
It's a classic case of a ball bearing, inconsequential by itself, but significant when part of a well-oiled machine. If that ball bearing falls out, the whole machine could stall, or function at maybe below 50% capacity. And that no company wants.
Patience is no longer a virtue, and staying put at one place for more than 18 months is equated to a person's lack of capability and inability to find better opportunity. Ask what is wrong with what they are doing or where they are working at present, and 9 of 10 times the answer will be, there's nothing wrong, it's just not in line with what the market demands.
The constant fear of being left behind in the rat race is all consuming. The mantra of the time is Rolling stones gather no moss. Wasn't that a negative 20 years ago? Yes, certainly, but no longer so.
This thought mirrors lifestyles in today's times. Everything, every decision is near term or in the immediate term. The virtue of investing time and energy in a venture and reaping the rewards as that investment blooms is history.
Employees now want the rewards first with no guarantee of deliverables. Freshers walk in for interviews and their first question is what's the package? We shall discuss other things only if the figure quoted is up to expectations.
No matter how fast the economy grows, not matter how times change, the golden rule of patience pays remains. People who fail to realize that may reap benefits in the near term, but in the long term their lack of loyalty to a cause will come to haunt them.
Another argument is there ain't much creativity in what I am doing. Ask them what's creativity, and they will sidestep that question. Ask them to be honest with themselves and say that they have done justice to the tasks on hand, most will be noncommital.
The logic is there is easy money to be made, so go ahead and make it. Tomorrow is another day, so why worry about it today. It's this attitude that could trip India and delay its transition from a developing country to a developed one.
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