मातृ देवो भव ...Once again

With all the recent well deserved hype around the issue of rapes in our country, I went back to read a post(मातृ देवो भव) of mine from 3 years ago. I realized that my anger is unabated, and my ideas are unchanged. It is true that we need tougher laws and more responsible law-enforcers. But, what about us? What about the disease in the minds of these men of my country? What sort of hell breeds such base monstrous evil in human minds? For the women's sake we need tough laws, but for the men, is there any hope? Can the evil in their minds be cured?

Education is undoubtedly a pillar of progressive thought, but there is evidently a missing component of moral upbringing. I am curious to know what section of  society these offenders come from, what sort of family setting they grew up in, and their childhood experiences. This statistic will be useful ,not as a political agenda of discrimination, but to analyze and possibly chart a method for improved morality.

As a developing country, we concern ourselves with improved quality of life, higher literacy, and a higher number of college graduates (irrespective of whether the purpose of education is achieved), but in-spite of the very obvious decline in morality in all sections of the society, we neither hear nor ask for improving that. We can safely agree that growing up in a "good" family plays a big role in an individual's sense of right and wrong, but it is not just the fact  that the parents are righteous people, it is the importance they gave to moral and spiritual education. I have said before in other posts, and I only grow more convinced of it, there is no hope for us as a nation when we insist on turning our backs on the importance of moral and spiritual development that is inherent to our nature.

As more and more NGOs are reaching out to the economically backward sections of our society, and taking modern education to their doorstep, I pray that there is some emphasis on moral education as well. It can be done without obeisance to any particular religion, Jataka tales can be as instructive as stories from the Ramayan.

Our laws and policies must be geared towards an ideal society, where evil is not contained, but eradicated; where men and women live with mutual respect; where all cravings of the mind and heart lose to our love for mankind. 

Mockery of Politics

Does the word politics sound negative, unwholesome and give you vibes of something shameful? Why have we degraded a noble institution into lower-worldly mechanism? Every new day is a testimony to how our laws and policies are completely purposeless and lack any coherent vision. The latest finesse of our government is to invite Sachin Tendulkar to be a member of our parliament's upper house.

Firstly, this is nothing against Sachin. He is only the latest of the celebrities to be offered this dummy post. He comes behind an illustrious line of the Bachans, Lata Mangeshkar,etc. It is almost as if the government has decided that the people have already reconciled to the fact that we are not even allowed to dream of a politician doing something good for the nation. So we may as well have some well known and well loved names as members of the Parliament instead of only rogues and crooks.

Welll, guess what? There are some of us who would like to believe that there are worthy people out there who want to do good, and are not being given the chance due to "politics". If indeed, these illustrious men and women are expected to use their stature among the common men to do good, they should have offered this post to him after he retired, and not when he is traveling out of the country 250 days in a year. That proclaims that they do not expect him to do anything special for the country. Which is why, my respect for this man has dimmed. He took this post as an obviously honorary post, and has joined hands in this mockery. He has plenty of time ahead of him, and he should have only accepted the position when he was in a position to do justice to it.

Curing Only the Symptoms

The world has been spiraling in one long downward roller coaster ride ever since the industrial revolution. Perhaps  there have been a few breathers where we have coasted along and felt pleased at all the achievements and exhilaration, but I do not believe that the power holders have once looked forward to see where we are headed. I say world here because no country has proved to be an exception.

Undoubtedly, one may argue that it has been progress like progress never been seen before. But all the new technologies and gadgets have come with a price. We have become so consumerist in nature that most people feel that buying and owning new things can truly make them happy. It does, for a while and once the euphoria wears out, we are back for more and then for more and now we have trapped ourselves into believing that all of this is an essential part of life without which we cannot live. We are in a worse state than drug addicts, because we have no one to cure us. The rare ones who transcend are also labeled as the society’s parsimonious outcasts.

It is common crisis of the mid twenty-ists and the mid forty- ists to be unsure of where they are headed, and what would make them really happy. They all end up making a few life style/ career changes which keeps them going for a few years, and to that sporadic nagging voice murmur connivingly that happiness is after all a disciplined state of mind, and nothing more. Have we spotted the trap yet? How many people really examine the purpose of this ride? Why are we really doing the things we are doing? Ask yourself five consecutive “whys” to your answers and see where you stand.  Even while we have become so good at analyzing complicated problems at work and common mishaps, why do most people shy away from collating their own lives? I think it is because people believe there are no real answers. And that could make one feel even more discouraged than when they started. But I believe that the darker path will have a light at the end, while the seemingly lighter path really goes on forever.

And I think it is this inherent human nature that reflects on everything the society does, on everything a terrorist or a common thug does, on every bill passed and every shallow reform. I am not trying to insinuate that we as a human race are incapable of finding permanent solutions, but yes I do think that the ability is only restricted to simple and straightforward issues.  For instance, let us look at the first few news headlines of today. I am going to quote here random picks from today’s news, but you are free to add yesterday’s and tomorrow’s news to the corollary.

1.       US Debt Ceiling and spending cuts to cut costs of ~$2.1T over the next ten years- How did that solve any problem? No Congressman has had the guts to stand in front of the American people and tell them in as many words “Friends, we have been spending way more than we can afford, and unless we change this in every single home, we are completely doomed”.  Unless the problem is openly acknowledged, there is never going to be a long term solution. The reason being that people are so used to this lifestyle and wastage inherent in a capitalist society, that even the notion of examining this could careen the nation.

2.       Cabinet yet again cleared a Rs.1200 Cr bailout for Air India- This could give rise to multiple questions. First, is money Air India’s biggest problem? When people fly over 25 hours round the globe, nobody wants to be stuck in an aircraft with uncouth and rude air hostesses, perennial flight delays, baggage misplacements and dirty toilets! While the government continues to hire inefficient people based on recommendations and reservations instead of merit, there is no hope for the future. Another more pertinent question: Is it the business of the government to run airlines? Has the government in India ever been good at running or managing anything other than individual bank accounts? If Manmohan Singh is really an honest man trapped in a stronghold of corruption, why does he not dare to come forward and testify against every corrupt politician of his acquaintance? Empty statements and thoughtless policies will not take us anywhere forward.

3.       Dhoni laments tired India- ???.  I have idolized Sachin nearly all my life but this man who is supposed to be the master of all preparation has finally fallen in my eyes. He claimed back in April that everything he has ever done was all towards that moment- the moment where India would hold the world cup. Sadly, it seems he along with everyone else in the cricket team has lost sight of the goal of excellence. How would any conscientious person prefer to tire themselves playing IPL, the most deplorable form of cricket to make a quick buck, choose to sit out the West Indies tour and play test matches in England against a top English team with no preparation what so ever?  West Indies might play a vapid bunch of 11 people, and yet playing them on Caribbean grounds would have been preparation at the very least. Zaheer’s hamstring injury and Harbhajan’s abdominal tear were no accidents.  Why again, are they all playing cricket for the country? Personal pride? Money? If they asked themselves this question, they might hope to realize that national pride is not even among the answer choices.

 “Too much Cricket/too much terror/ too much competition” are symptoms of the real problems, and those need to be addressed, but they are not the causes.

The Great Hunger Debate

Three year olds in Ganne, a village south of Allahabad eat dried mud and silica because they are hungry. Tribals in Madhya Pradesh are increasingly found on the doorsteps of hospitals and are being refused treatment because of their social and economic conditions. Even as you finish reading this sentence, 5 more people in the world have died as a direct or indirect result of malnutrition, according to the United Nations economic and Social Council. On an average they estimate that malnutrition kills one person every second, 4000 every hour, and one can do the math for the rest. India tops the list of under-nourished countries way above Sudan, Angola and the rest of sub-Saharan Africa. India contributes to more than 5.6 million child deaths a year, more than half the world’s total. The finance minister has promised an economic growth rate of 9 percent in the following year, an upturn from the global recession, and yet political parties continue to disregard this ubiquitous evil, and the death tolls just remain statistics.  Even after almost a decade’s advocacy, why is “The Right to Food” still only a vision?

The debates still rage in the Indian Parliament over the passage of such a bill. Hard core activists believe that India can afford to feed its poor for free, and that it would only cost about 1 percent of its GDP to do so. It is a question of prioritizing issues and deciding where to spend the money. But, unfortunately it is not quite as simple as allocating a budget, a view shared by Dr. Kaushik Basu, the Chief Economic Advisor of the Finance ministry. According to him, simply throwing money at the problem cannot be afforded by the country. For any budgeting to be effective, we need a cleaner, corruption – free and responsible delivery system. But, that is not all…

The murk runs lot deeper than this. Decades of poorly planned laws and un-minded development in the name of progress have been few other reasons for the exponential escalation of this problem. For instance, tribals who have been historically used to hunting and fishing in their forests for food are now banned by law from doing that and hence have been forced to buy bread and vegetables from local markets. For those “lucky ones” who have procured small farm lands to grow crops, the soaring fertilizer and seed prices no longer have a sustainable cost- benefit ratio. The public distribution shops at the ration stores have cut down a family’s supply from 35kgs to 20 kgs of rice a month. In some states, these shops are only open 3 days a month which means that if some one is late for one distribution day, his family can go hungry for a week! Right to Food” seems a long and daunting task.

After years of cross discussions, we have at least taken a step in the right direction with regard to the right to education. But, what use is guaranteeing education to those who may be too weak to drag themselves to school or pursue anything with passion and vigor, if their stomachs are empty? With every step forward, we seem to need to take one step back and re-examine our situation. How far back do we need to look before we can begin to move forward?

Malnutrition in the country by some estimates lead to an economic loss of $29 billion a year, about 4% of India’s GDP. Lack of basic nutrition is in fact a much more serious and urgent problem in need of pro-active and aggressive solutions.

What can “Right to Food” provide?  A food security act may provide food at subsidized cost for very poor families.  Those unable to obtain food may go to a court of law to demand food and the responsible officials may be punished for this offense. Even if such a law is enacted, I would be interested to note how the law would fairly distinguish those who are really in need of food, and those who are not, and how accessible the court is to such people. It would be ironic if the plaintiffs need to wait for ten years for their plea to be heard before they can get food and corrupt officials have meanwhile deprived other families of more food. We undoubtedly need a serious reformation in the way we treat corruption in our society. The right to be heard in a court of law within a person’s life span is still a distant prospect for most common individuals of the society. Where do these reforms need to start? How many reforms do we need before each right can be a reality?

Although we have a long way to go before every citizen can get adequate food of good quality, it cannot be denied that there have been a few successful measures taken. The Mid-day Meal scheme is one such initiative, and has been well adopted in all states. Albeit the presences of issues like food quality, there has been slow progress. There are some NGOs who solely work for the eradication of hunger and malnutrition. The Akshaya Patra foundation is an example of exemplary work. From feeding 1500 children in 2000, today they feed over one million children in the country every day. 

However, this is not enough! The ten year old campaign needs a new spark and more support. This can only be achieved with more awareness. It is a debilitating epidemic for the country and her people, and it is about time we stand up to push for a change.

 

Sources for quoted statistics:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8682558.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7747313.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8130595.stm

Lunch Time Muse on the News

HC dismisses PIL against Shiv Sena, Thackerays over 'MNIK':
"The court also remarked, during the argument, that "majority of people are following them (Shiv Sena). What can be done?""

The court is here to please the majority rather than render justice, is it? The weights are definitely no longer balanced...

No entertainment tax on IPL this year, says Chavan:

""It is not possible to levy tax on IPL since the season is over," Chavan told reporters in Mumbai.
To a question on whether the IPL season 4 will be taxed, he said the cabinet will take a decision on the issue."
The Comptroller and Auditor General of India in its latest report has said that the state government lost Rs 4.99 crore by not levying entertainment duty on IPL's first season where ten matches were held in Mumbai.

Wonder what was Chavan's cut?

Lalu wants Rs 1 lakh pension for MPs:

"According to parliament officials, MPs now draw a salary of Rs 16,000 and their pension is Rs 8,000. However, a MP draws a considerable amount in the form of allowances.
Referring to the salary being drawn by the civil services officers after the implementation of Sixth Pay Commission, Lalu Prasad said: "MPs' salary should be increased to Rs 80,000 and pension to Rs 1 lakh. I'm making this demand because many MPs will lose their job once the women's reservation bill is passed.""

Do even highly educated personnel who have actually contributed to the country's economy and who have never indulged in corruption, disruption of peace get paid that much? And what about all the money made that does not appear on the pay sheet?

Did Madhuri Gupta, diplomat-spy, convert to Islam?:

Come on media...Really now, is this even relevant?

The Shame of a Nation

 This is not democracy, for majority do not subscribe to it. This is not socialism, for the taken money is not distributed to the needy. What then is this new fanged atrocity? It sparks in me an extreme level of disgust and anger at the injustice of it all..and every time I read or hear about it.

It is disgust at the perpetrator of the crime and disgust for all those masses who revel in it. I have nothing against anybody calling themselves a dalit or of scheduled castes/ tribes. I lived all my life in a city and only in very exceptional cases, knew the castes to which my friends belonged. While the evils of untouchability have eluded my direct contact, I can understand that they still continue to a large extent in rural India. All  newspaper reports cannot be fabricated. In that sense, I see why those people even after 60 years of independence need separate constitutional laws and special concessions. But, aren't those who support Mayawati's insufferable atrocities a little too pea-brained to deserve sympathy?
Yes, educated people see the fallacy of allowing someone to spend 2000 crores on building ugly monumental statues, statues of herself, scores of statues of rows of elephants, statues of people who have not done much to help any mankind, statues of thieves...These thieves are not only thieving from taxpayers, but also from the very "depressed classes" who applaud her, and alas too narrow minded to even realize that.The fact that dalits of UP still vote en-masse for her is testimonial to this fact. This picture appeared in the Washington Post and the UK telegraph as well.

What irks me is that these people fail to see that the money designedly to "claim the dalits' rightful space in  the society" could well be used in a manner that could give them a more respectful and untainted space. I am at a loss to understand why they do not stand up to demand good schools, good rural hospitals, good sewer systems and electricity and water supplies to their forgotten lands. Will that not empower them to be as good as the "city sahibs"?
As if her monstrous statues are not enough to defile the city, she also needs to create a special police force to guard them? How about a special police force for a corruption-free vigilante? Or how about a special police force for people only?
Even while the supreme court and the home minister rebuked her, she tacitly replied that it would be a further waste of all the money to now remove/ abandon all  the statues...How true! How unfortunate! How distasteful!The feeble attempt to petition to the election commission is going to have even more disgraceful outputs.
But, can one file a petition to disallow obvious thieves from contesting in elections ever again? Is a mass awakening possible? Can all tax-payers file a robbery case against this tyrant? After all, aren't they now the oppressed classes of the society in this new era?

Response to Comments on Previous Post

This is in response to many comments I got(not just the ones who were good enough sports to share their views openly)on my last blog. For the record, I would like to note that so far I have more approvals. This is heartening for I could have wept otherwise.

Firstly, that blog was not a personal attack on anyone. I am too out of touch with all your lives to know or care how you live. So there is no need to get offended . Just like you claim your right to break a few more links in the society to which I also have a right, I have my right to express my opinion and hope a fool's hope to keep people like me from being extinct. I cannot always tone it moderate to appease my readers.

Secondly, I donot care a cent about how you live, I want you to care about how you live. There is a difference, and you need to understand that.

Thirdly, do read and post comments only if you care to go through the whole thing and respond with an open mind. I am not here to preach to anyone, but just to influence atleast 1 reader. If you have already made up your mind, go no further and continue your blissful existence.On the other hand, if you too hope to change my mind, then read on!

This particular post is not a debate between love and arranged marriages, I might like to take that up on some other day, but not here. It is about being in a relationship and being married/ with intentions to get married or being in a relationship and deliberately choosing to be unmarried.

I shall reiterate that if one spends enough time understanding how any culture evolved and degrades, one will have to figure the family system in the equation. Are people disagreeing with me of the opinion that our mothers lead a worthless life. Did they make all those sacrifices for us ,encouraging us to be what we are proud of being today just so we can stand on our "independent" feet and claim that they added no value to the society. So if they too had been selfish and had thought only about themselves, I gather our world would have been a better place to live in. For believe me, maybe the next generation will not see the impact of this shortsightedness, but a few generations down will..that too only if they are lucky enough to realize their loss.

OK, I understand when people say they donot want the hassle of a marriage, the whole big package, the responsibilities and the commitments, and that they are not ready for it. I DONOT have an objection to not getting married. That is indeed one's personal choice. But I have an objection to spreading the epidemic of a mindless and meaningless existence in the same society where I have a part, and my children will too. If one doesnot want to perform their dharma, then one should atleast have a damn good excuse up their sleeve for their time on this Earth. Be it Mother Teresa style or Isaac Newton style or Mirabai style.

I currently reside in a country where this started spreading maybe about two generations back. Not all people I know approve of this, but they already do not even have a choice. Some of their parents and grandparents lived without the concept of a family. One person I know was at his work all day instead of at the funeral when his sister died, because he said he was not close to her. That is all very well, but look at his life and grapple a meaning out of it. He makes loads of money, he does not have any ties that he can be sure will not break, so he tries to lead his life for himself because only that is permanent for him. I pity him and many others like him. I cannot even blame him, for he did not have the choice that our generation is faced with today. What, may I ask is the purpose of this purely materialistic and carnal way of life? We might as well be born animals, if we cannot do something better with our intellect.

No matter which type of lifestyle one chooses, there should be a constant aim to transcend from one mental plane to the other. Random wandering without any bearing of where you are going is futile. I am not talking about this body, but one's soul..for it has a much longer journey , the length of it depending on how much time one aims to waste without any progress in mental level. Acknowledging that is the very first step. Acknowledging a futile existence is better than simply living through it. One needs to look at the bigger picture.

One person actually said that staying married to one single person is no longer a viable option because of globalization and our mobile careers, and claims that this is better than repeatedly obtaining divorces. Any comment I make here on this statement will be inappropriate in my blog.

One person says we are mature enough to not be influenced by others. I am afraid we over estimate our race, and there is a lot of rot involved in the statement (Sorry for the rudeness, but so were you). Because wherever I look in the world, people are influenced by something or someone and there is this mad craving to "fit-in". If history shows anything, it is that people are easily influenced. Why, history itself is written by the most influential piece of write-up.What is easy becomes popular, and what  is popular becomes an accepted norm of life. One's political knowledge is limited by what the media presents to us. Our consumer knowledge is limited to what the advertisements present to us. One cannot buy a simple product or good without reading/ obtaining a 100 other reviews and suggestions. One would not go to a business meeting in summer in cotton T-shirts and shorts just because it makes sense. We do it, because we have to follow the norms at some places. One will not wear a dress if the whole world says it makes them look ugly. If the human race is indeed above such dependence, why is there a furor every time somebody influential makes an inappropriate remark. He/ she is accused of causing discord among people. Why care if Raj Thackrey makes insane remarks, the human race is above all that, isn't it? Why does not someone tell S.Tendulkar that he is wasting his time and efforts in setting an example, for people cannot be influenced. Most of today's adolescent and youth problems ranging from drinking to anorexia are a product of peer influence. If indeed people cannot be influenced, there would not have been a Hitler, a Gandhi or a Karl Marx. The human race thrives on influence.

There is no "right or wrong" in this situation: Wrong period

When one is faced with two options in life, the easier one is most likely the wrong one. One who cannot stay married to one person, will find the option of not mating with anyone harder I suppose.

I cannot force anyone to my views, and I would not grab hold of some one and give a lecture, for I have no wish to preach like I said. Someday, maybe this will be a part of the digital remains, and  someone might atleast realize their loss and what might have been.. This is not aimed at any individual, so please tone down your comments.But I wish I too had the right to live the way I like and bring up my children the way I like but that becomes more and more impossible when we live not in seclusion.

A Right to Live, Not Live-In

The Supreme Court has done away with the need to use the term “illicit relationship”, and to satisfy whom this time? I cannot believe that a purely immoral and illogical behavior can now be justified as a fundamental right. I am not afraid of social censure here to suit “modernists”.

Our whole society and culture has been built over 1000’s of years with certain basic building blocks. There is no doubt that the concept of morality has been waning exponentially, but that is no reason to make a wrong-doing legal in order to artificially free people’s mind of any guilt, or to encourage it as acceptable.

Indian culture and society has been built on the family-system as the foundation and to take that away ensures the demise of our only stronghold in this world. One needs to reflect on his/ her life and acknowledge that the strongest impacts on their character and way of living come from the ones closest in blood. It is the way our parents have lived that sets an unattainable example to us. It is the attempt to ape an elder sibling’s virtues that salvages a younger one, and the elder’s knowledge of this fact and hence the need to remain an example that provides a balance to this tightrope act in life. Of course in later years, friends play a large impact, but for most of us, the ability to distinguish right from wrong has already been deeply ingrained. But, even the spirit of independent thought never really came independently.

Making live-in relationships a right is just modernistic trash and perhaps the most short-sighted constitutional right ever. The repercussions of this are enormous and I mean it in a bad way. If two people are in love, what is to stop them from getting married? It is the fear of commitment, and responsibilities. With any kind of sustainable happiness, comes along a certain amount of responsibility. One cannot turn their backs on their duty towards their families and the society. It sounds alright to say that people have a right to live their lives the way they want to. I cannot but disagree. If one’s actions bear an impact on people around, they need to be conscious of the right way of life. Every society is a dynamic, intricately complicated and inter-linked mechanism. People learn their virtues and tolerance for virtues by accepted norms among others in their line of sight. Perhaps, in today’s generation, there are still a lot of people who can relate to what I am saying. But the moment we are forced to turn a blind eye towards this sort of rampant immorality, we endanger the coming generations. Love, trust and responsibilities can give society a foundation, not lust. A hundred years from today, we will have nothing original in our country to boast of, no identity. A few hundred years later, we shall have nothing more than digital remains to show for ourselves.

No doubt, one has a right to live his life, but only to live it responsibly.

Please read next blog for possible rebuttals to your arguments. Thanks!

The Inequalities of Equality?

The recent surrender by the Indian government to KCR's "fast-unto-death" raised a lot of fresh questions in my mind about the purpose of the Indian Constitution and the relevance of fundamental rights and the selective applicability of certain sections of the Indian (Ranbir) Penal Code .
Fasting unto death is by no means a new form of political agitation. The earliest and most quoted and probably the most inspiring of such fasts was that of Mahatma Gandhi. The British who wrote-in section 309 of Indian Penal Code back in 1860 did not deem it fit to imprison MK Gandhi because they maintained that his purpose was justified and the law should be employed judiciously. Over the centuries, our law makers have regularly debated on whether an attempt to suicide is really a criminal offense or whether it is a law meant for political misuse. The supreme court's verdict in 1994 making section 309 unconstitutional was reversed in 1996. Over the decades, a number of civilians and politicians have attempted the 'fast-unto-death' blackmail for various political reasons and very noticeably, while the politicians get their way, the civilians have been arrested and tortured even when critics have maintained that their causes remain just. I am talking about the likes of Medha Patkar and Irom Sharmila.
Irom Sharmila's case to me is particularly shocking and cruel. Her protest ,unparalleled in world's history of political agitations has evoked nothing but world wide horror at the treatment meted out to her. Her 10 year fast to protest against the Armed Forces Special Powers Act has been acknowledged just simply because of the excesses committed by the army in the state of Manipur under this act's protection. She has been imprisoned for the last 10 years under section 309 of the RPC (released periodically every year as required by law and then re-arrested), secured in a high security vault and has been force-fed through pipes and tubes. Even with support from the United Nations and human rights activists across the globe, there have been nothing more than empty promises assuring changes in the vague future from every prime minister since she began the fast in November 2000.
The issue of whether or not Irom Sharmila's treatment is humane is wholly different, but I am a little confused about the relevance of Article 14 in the Indian constitution, known to the common man as "Equality before Law" as part of every Indian citizen's right to equality."Article 14 of the constitution guarantees that all citizens shall be equally protected by the laws of the country. It means that the State cannot discriminate against a citizen on the basis of caste, creed, colour, sex, religion or place of birth." Is it a deliberate loophole that the constitution does not mention that a citizen cannot also be discriminated based on his/ her political influence?
Why did the government not only not arrest KCR for his attempt to suicide but also "gave-in" because they were "concerned" for his health. If they were indeed that concerned, why did they not force-feed him through tubes like they do to Sharmila? Can Irom Sharmila or anyone else on her behalf file a petition with the court for the upholding of our fundamental right to equality before law? I do not think there are any answers to these questions...but we can indeed draw some conclusions. This is just another glaring example of how we are governed..it is not true that all citizens are equal before the law. Some laws like section 309 appear more to be for the protection of the state than for the individual.

Fire the Gun

A friend of mine recently enlightened me about the seriousness of certain constitutional rights in the US and the inability of the federal government to ban the right even when they wanted to. I am referring to the right to carry fire arms allowed by the second amendment of the constitution of United States of America.
The subject of guns has always been sensitive with me. I am apalled that there are so many men and women who feel that there is need to carry a gun for any reason other than shooting at dart boards. Now every state in the US has minor variations of the laws pertaining to guns. I am not sure how many states have similar laws, but the state of Arizona allows the citizens to carry firearms without a license as long as it is visible and they do not use it. I believe no federal law can over ride this. Okay, this seems all hunky-dory on paper but Obama's recent presence in Arizona just emphasized how risky this law is.
A few people who attended Obama's health-care conference openly carried guns. One person even carried an AR-15 rifle. These men said that they were just trying to uphold their second amendment rights. One man's explanation was" If you do not use your rights, you lose your rights". All of these men also incidentally happened to be protesting against the new health-care policy. Other people in the gathering viewed it as a clear act of intimidation and a threat to people who were there to uphold their first amendment rights. Eventually, people will forget this incident because nothing eventful happened.
The non-occurrence of a fatality was sheer luck I would associate with first time events. But now, this right has been so well publicized in a manner that it clearly opens up new vistas to potential troublemakers. I am afraid of future repercussions. Even a not-so-well informed man can guess how easy it is for a crazed terrorist (who has no fear for his life) to wreak havoc and further destabilize the world. While I am nervous that the possibilities for chaos are enormous, I am even more distressed that the federal government cannot even do anything about it. The Supreme Court ruled last year that an outright ban on carrying firearms is a violation of the second amendment!
I have heard similar arguments from the law-makers of other countries which revolve around an obsession to uphold constitutional laws written many decades ago. In this particular case, over two centuries ago. I doubt that the authors of the Bill of Rights envisaged the blood thirsty world we live in today two hundred years back. In those lost ages, while the law and order mechanism was not as well regulated, the inherent goodness among men was more prevalent. There weren't so many fundamentalist groups warring for causes they even don't remember.There was not such a clear hierarchy of power among different countries of the world. Globalization which brought different countries to war as much as they brought lucrative friendships amongst others did not exist then.( I pause to mention that I believe that the common kind of friendship among countries is the lucrative one). Well anyway, the point I am trying to make is that we need not trust the wisdom of our predecessors on every issue. their lack of foresight need not prevent us from having any. There must be a way for the Congress to bring in an amendment to get around the second amendment and various state laws at least so a national leader can travel in a weapon free environment.
On a personal note, even though I am not important enough to be assasinated, I would feel extremely uncomfortable to be among a group of people openly displaying weapons. I am sure there are a lot of people who share my feelings.

Blue Blues are Not Just Blue

Another Indian celebrity visits the US.. Another airport detention..another media circus. Somehow some people never tire fuming about how their favourite celebrity was once again humiliated and some others never tire idolizing the impartial and 'extreme'ly committed spirit of the men in blue.

I am definitely no great fan of SRk but I deinitely tend to look at this incident as another one of those unexplainable unjustifiable acts by the TSA. Let me first narrate a perosnal experience with the border patrol guards in the USA. I and a bunch of friends happened to be travelling near the Mexican border without any photo identity or documents to prove that we were legal immigrants in the country. As luck would have it, we were stopped and questioned by the border patrol and were detained for about two hours until they could completely verify our identities and our stories. I had no complaints against the border patrol then. I knew they were only doing their job.

I would not be complaining against them now if they had just pulled SRK out of line to verify his identity and let him go. The tricky part to gloss over is the fact that he was detained for two hours inspite of having all his documents in order, with ample proofs of his identity and his purpose of visit and without any apparent provocation. I am at a loss to understand why common people fail to have self respect enough to see that this was not an incident of common protocol.
Here is a frequent visitor of the US, claiming to be famous in his country. Is the claim so difficult to check that the Indian consulate needs to intervene to secure his release???

In my opinion, this was clearly not an incident of purely obssessive security measures. The official in question could have had any number of motives. He could have been one of those naive americans set out to teach the world who is boss...or he coild have an aversion to the growing Asian population in his country..or he could have just have left home after an argument with his wife.

In the end it just boils down to flouting of power which is a common probem worldwide. Only, the classes of affected people are different in different places. Although SRk would never have been detained or questioned in India, how many Indians feel as strongly about the numerous poeple among the low income groups in India being harassed by the Indian police for no valid reasons. Much like most other problems in today's world, we never try to resolve problems at grass-root levels and talk about meaningless isolated incidents. Why do such incidents occur? What is the pattern among all such isolated incidents? Even if we identify the problem, is there a solution?

Eyes Wide Shut

Ram Sena- are they hypocrites or simply misguided fanatics? All their recent 'moral' policing has evoked a lot of outrage and indignation but in the midst of it all, I find that the crucial point is missed...by all parties. The whole 'Pink Chaddi' campaign reminds me of the hindi movie ' Asthithva' of which I whole heartedly disapproved.
The movie disgusted me because of the moral it was trying to preach and the justifications given by Tabu for her perfidy and the expected sympathies from the audience towards her. I could see a whole bunch of other reasons to feel sorry for her but not the one point which formed the crux of the movie. Her extra-marital one-night stand was preached to the world as a pardonable offense. The reason? Simply that a man is pardoned for the same indulgence. The point the movie failed to make was that the act itself is unacceptable irrespective of whether a man or a woman performs it. One cannot justify the morality behind any offense stating that someone else is being allowed to perform it.
Ram Sena as well as the ' Pink Chaddi' supporters are in my opinion manifestations of the same hypocricy and badly reasoned arguments. What is Ram Sena actually opposing? Drinking itself or just women drinking? The later is obviously a hypocritic cause while if it is the former I would still find them objectionable. My reservations are against their methods no matter what their beliefs are. Let them make speeches or print booklets or host TV shows to reach to people. I doubt if modern men and women will be swayed by any of this but what have the Ram Sena achieved anyway? They may have provoked fear but not reformation. As for my objection towards the 'Pink Chaddi' brigade...well, I have already explained why I found Tabu's arguments inappropriate. Each of those women who said their cause was 'women liberation' or 'equality of men and women' could have donated 20 or 30 Rs or the cost of a pink chaddi towards the education of a poor village girl than indulge in this immature and pointless response.

Guards of Honor

There are some things we would do out of passion, some for honor, some to keep us from being idle and some merely for money. Materialistic as it may sound, the fact remains that working for passion and honor alone without money enough for happiness (not greed) will slowly eat through to the very roots of that passion and honor. And, even if not for any noble reasons, should we not as a nation in our own self interest pay our uniformed men enough to sustain their selflessness and stop them from walking out on us?
Indian army was once hailed as one of the world's best trained armed forces. Men serve in the army for only one possible reason..they care so much that allowed to stand guard is their biggest honor. We read and talk about wars on Siachen, but how many of us stop to think about the army men as humans with emotions, families, and dreams ? We have gotten so used to the strife around our borders that we have begun to take too much for granted. What men once considered as honor above everything else have understandably woken up to the fact that no honor can be sustained without money.
Another pay commission, another let down. Everyone saw noticeable pay hikes (everyone: read IAS officers, etc) except our armed and paramilitary forces. Am I wrong in thinking that it should have been the other way round? Sadly enough, our bureaucrats make enough money outside their pay checks. Did the government stop to think or did people bother to question what would happen if our armed personnel began to look for underhanded ways of making a living? A mental run on all our borders leaves little room for imagination...
It is still not too late to make amends, in my opinion..the worst that has happened yet is that people are quitting the army prematurely and young blood is not even interested in joining. The NDA and the IMA which are still very difficult to be recruited into is not going to remain so for long. Last year, both these prestigious institutions saw only one third the number of applicants (not recruits) as the number of vacancies. Officers are quick to frankly point out the fundamental problem...the job is not remotely lucrative. Colonels after 27 years of experience can hope to take home a meager 25000 Rs a month. After all the tough years of sacrifice and hardship, all they ask is to be treated on par with IAS officers (although in my opinion they deserve even more), and our government thinks it is unreasonable, and our people and media were more concerned with who was going to win the elections in the USA than addressing this more important problem. I think we have trained ourselves to address an issue only when it gets out of hand and beyond the reach of a simple solution. Unfortunately this is one of those issues which have to be nipped in the bud. We simply cannot afford to have unskilled or dispassionate personnel in our BSF or in our defense forces. We will be ripped apart from every single direction and left with a country half our current size. If we want to continue having an army to fight for us, for once we civilians should fight for them, and keep their dreams and passion alive.

Its the Cool Way to Die

The subject of debate these days is whether you are more likely to die of tuberculosis or from lung cancer. The undisputed fact is that this classy way of making a statement,a symbol of women liberation WILL lead to death. Death it may be but atleast it is a cool way to die. And the deceased will forever be remembered as a passionate, bold and glamarous person who puffed in until he snuffed out.
I do sometimes wonder why I waste time reading news articles that quote the extraordinarily foolish thinking of my generation.Those who deign to agree that they smoke not for "cooldom" harness a strong disbelief for the fact that smoking surely kills.Even if its just people like me who strongly disapprove of smoking who read thse articles, there is enough hue and cry made these days about the murderous nature of tobacco( I do not mean the hypocritic statutory warning on cigarette covers).
A lot of interesting/shocking statistics are being thrown around everywhere by everyone.I shall not quote them all here(there are links for those interested) but would like to mention a few measures taken by some governments that caught my attention.I have indicated before that I find the idea of warnings on cigarette covers insincere. However,cigarette covers from Canada apparently have gory images of damages that are caused to internal organs!France made progress with their anti smoking measures whe they raised the prices of cigarettes by about 20 % and imposed a COMPLETE ban on public smoking(not conditional like closed room/restaurants/cafes imposed in a lot of other countries) and Bhutan is the first country to impose a complete ban on sale of all tobacco products...this is the kind of stuff that I like and approve. The fine imposed on people flouting the ban in France is 450 euros and people who donot bring smokers to law are liable to be fined 750 euros!From my previous blog, it should be evident to readers that I support heavy punishment, for I have little faith in self discipline.A whole list of less impressive measures by other governments can be found on the internet.
India is one among the countries in this list and is one that definitely should not be. Time for statistics...the projected number of deaths in India due to smoking in the year 2010(thats only two years away) is 1 milliion. Cynics who laugh that this is a service to the nation in terms of population control would definitely do greater service by shutting up.The "will be dead" will fall under the age group of 35-59, which is the most economically contributing age sector.The Indian government is trying hard...there is a public ban with a fine of 200 Rs for anyone who disregards it(I doubt many law enforcers are aware of this)...smoking scenes are banned from movies...there is more hullaboo about it's unnecessity(I personally think the cooldom did evolve from film stars, how many people try imitating Rajnikanth's "awesome" way of lighting a cigarette?)...tobacco is still the most valued cash crop.
If we are serious about preventing harm from tobacco, why are we not imposing a complete ban like Bhutan? Why do we still allow the growth of a crop that not only damages the health of people, but also make land unfit for growing anything else worthwhile?The answer is that there is big money involved...the relationship of law makers with tobacco barons...the contribution of tobacco to the economy(kill some to make money for others), etc, etc...
While people continue to die, the rest of us can atleast debate on whats right and whats wrong for we cannot take actions while we are lamed with kleptocracy, lack of self discipline and belief in the existence of a smart way to die...

मातृ देवो भव

An unadmirable growth rate of 700 percent over the last 30 years... grown from 7 reported a day to 53 reported a day and growing...children and grown ups treated alike...villages,cities,everywhere...India's fastest growing crime.

Welcome to Incredible India, a glorious civilization degenerated; a land of integrity and culture, in posters and presentations,the land where values from time immemorial are still remembered, in books।It is the country whose earliest scriptures describe women as a divine race. Even by the rules of the detestable caste system, women were not allowed to lower their status.Today, even as women are expanding their presence into every field imaginable, they are being lowered to mere objects of play by the physically stronger human species.

My outrage has been fed by the lately regular reports of foreign women being raped and murdered in my country.The anger is not directed at the fact that the victims are foreigners, but that every woman, no matter the color of her skin has a right to walk anywhere on god given land without fearing for what is not her fault, and yet has to. The foreign victims have only brought the shocking statistics to light.The fuss made by the foreign media have sparked retorts that rape rates in India are by no means the highest in the world(sexual assaults are reported in the US about every 6 minutes). I shudder to think that there are people who justify the worst crime in the world in such a crass manner!and I donot wonder that justice has not been meted out even in publicised cases like that of Jessica Lal.
Everybody knows why such crimes occur, but why do they continue to occur? Even after the victim, if alive and has answered humiliating questions, the culprits walk free sooner or later. I am not being an extreme feminist but I do believe that only extreme punishments can rein these uncontrolled acts. Anything less than capital punishment will not suffice. I am sure Christ did not think of this when he asked us to show the other cheek when slapped on one...this is what we are precisely doing. The culprits are certainly among the lowest breed of mankind, but are the adjudicators any better? I wonder how they can bear to hear about lives being ruined in this fashion and not exercise their power when they can.Atleast the knowledge that a kid who has no clue why she is suffering should melt a human heart.
These stories are told by statistics, and they do not tell half the story. The victims are put to shame more than the culprits.The family is ashamed and try to hide her than bring her justice. If they do try for justice, the media without discretion capitalize on another's misery under the pretext of reaching out to the public.I wonder,would the women have been better off if they had been murdered?
I am sorry if this article makes an extremely unpleasant reading, but these are my thoughts on these gory crimes. I wonder if people who wrote the taittiriya upanishad wrote what was or what should be when they wrote "मातृ देवो भव "